So how can you replicate this in a home oven that lacks the heat capacity, stone floor, and domed roof of a commercial model? A simple workaround can give you some of the best homemade pizza you’ve ever tasted with minimal fuss and investment.

Restaurant-Quality Home Oven Pizza

First, you must replicate the floor — or hearth — of a commercial oven. For that, you’ll need a pizza stone or steel large enough to hold the biggest pizza you plan to cook. While a steel is more expensive, it’s more durable and arguably more effective. Place it in your oven at its maximum temperature (usually 500 degrees Fahrenheit) for at least 30 minutes before baking.

To recreate the tomato-blistering, cheese-browning top-down heat of a commercial oven, switch from the bake setting to the broiler. Your elements ordinarily heat the oven’s air, and it’s the air that heats the food. Your broiler uses infrared radiation from the red-hot element (usually a metal coil) to cook the surface of the food directly. 

The Best Homemade Pizza, Step by Step

Preheat the hearth: Put the pizza steel or stone in the oven and preheat to 500 degrees Fahrenheit (or as high as your oven will go) for at least 30 minutes.

Prepare the pie: Assemble your pizza and add your desired toppings.

Switch to the broiler: Once the oven is preheated, turn it off and immediately switch to the broil setting. If your broiler offers both high and low settings, select high.

Slide and bake: Carefully slide the pizza onto the hot stone or steel. Using cornmeal — or better yet, semolina flour — under the dough makes this easier. Take care not to burn yourself (a pizza peel is especially handy for this step). Broil until the cheese is bubbly and the crust is browned, then remove the pizza from the oven.

The Best Way To Store Leftover Cake

Storing leftover cake in its original packaging — especially a cardboard box — is a risky move. More often than not, the packaging isn’t airtight. In just a matter of days, your cake can dry out, turn stale, or, worse, absorb other food odors in the fridge.

An easy way to store leftover cake is to use a food storage container, but not in the way you’d expect. You could try to scoop some slices into the container the traditional way, but there’s a chance they’ll tip over or the frosting will smear.

For this hack, choose a food storage container tall enough to house your cake without squishing the top. This trick is particularly useful for stashing individual slices, allowing you to use the standard containers you already have on hand instead of hunting for an oversized one.

Take the lid of the food storage container and flip it over so the grooves are facing up; this will serve as the base. Slide the leftover cake onto the lid, then secure the container onto the lid like a dome. Think of it as a DIY cake stand, but with a much tighter seal. Your leftovers will stay moist and delicious, rather than drying out in a cardboard box.

In the past, ground beef was significantly cheaper than other meats, which helped make it a household favorite. According to data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics, however, the price of ground beef rose 15.5% between December 2024 and December 2025, suggesting it’s no longer the ultra-cheap protein it once was. By comparison, prices for poultry, pork, and seafood ticked up 1.4%, 0.8%, and 4.4%, respectively, during the same period.

The good news is you can stretch a pack of ground beef without sacrificing flavor by using a low-cost plant protein: lentils.

Beef (and Lentils): It’s What’s for Dinner

Lentils are small but mighty legumes that are rich in protein, fiber, and iron. Because of their nutritional benefits and mild flavor, lentils are commonly used as a meat substitute in American vegetarian cooking. But you don’t have to be a vegetarian to enjoy lentils. They are a reliable ingredient for stretching ground beef, making it go further while remaining virtually unnoticeable to those eating it.

Here’s how to do it: Use 1 cup of dried (uncooked) lentils for every 1 pound of ground beef. (This may seem like a small amount of lentils, but remember that 1 cup of dried lentils yields about 2 1/2 cups once cooked.) For example, if you’re making 2 pounds of ground beef, you will need 2 cups of dried lentils.

Cook the lentils according to the package directions until they are soft but not mushy; if a time range is listed, err on the shorter side. Next, brown the ground beef in a skillet and drain the excess fat. Once the meat is ready, stir in the cooked lentils along with your desired seasonings. You can also add a small amount of liquid, such as water or broth, and simmer for about 10 minutes to let the flavors meld. Then, serve as usual. This mixture works well for nearly any recipe that calls for ground beef, including meatloaf, chili, pasta sauce, tacos, casseroles, and more.

Tips and Tricks

Brown or green lentils are the best choice here because their mild flavor profile allows them to soak up the other flavors they’re cooked with. Avoid using red lentils, which have a more distinct taste and a texture that doesn’t blend well with ground beef. Also, keep in mind that lentils can cause digestive issues for some people. If you’re cooking for others, ask about their food sensitivities before incorporating the legumes into your meal.