The Perfect Use For That Plastic Table In Pizza Boxes

As a child, I remember opening up takeout boxes and wondering why all these pizzerias included side tables for my Barbie house in every pizza they delivered. You know what I'm talking about: the tiny, white, plastic supports that get placed in the middle of pizza pies. While they serve a pretty brilliant purpose (we'll get to that in a minute), their usefulness isn't limited to one task. If you don't already have one, hang on to the next one you get and use it to prop up your phone in the kitchen.

When you turn the thingamajig upside down, the three prongs (or table legs) act as perfect supports for your cell phone. This is super useful if you're referring to a recipe app on your phone while cooking. While a Pop Socket will allow you to prop up your phone on its side, it won't hold it upright, but the pizza prop will do it with ease. You can even trim one leg so it doesn't obstruct your view. If I'm honest, I'm not always reading a recipe when I'm looking at my phone in the kitchen; I'm often catching up on Netflix cooking shows, so there's that, too. This little plastic gadget will hold your recipe cards, and even prop up thinner paperback books, as well.

While useful for holding up your phone, pizza tables were created for an entirely different purpose. In 1983, Long Island resident, Carmela Vitale, invented what she called "package savers" for pizza boxes. By 1985, she was granted a patent for her creation which has been included in takeout pizzas ever since. The devices are known as pizza savers, pizza tables, or pizza tripods, and they essentially keep the lids of pizza boxes from sinking and touching the cheese and toppings on your pie. Steam from hot pizza can weaken the cardboard box lid, causing it to sag. Once the lid touches warm, melty cheese, it tends to stick to it. When the pizza saver is in place, the lid touches this instead of your pizza, keeping your pie intact. (Honestly, a lot of people think pizza boxes suck for this very reason.)

Outside of repurposing it for your phone, you can also use pizza tables for transporting things like cakes, pies, or any other dish that needs to be wrapped in plastic or foil. Simply place the saver or savers on top of the food, cover it, and go. You'll be left with a few indentations in your cake, but that's better than leaving all your intricate icing work on the underside of a piece of foil.