# Why does a round pizza come in a square box? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [May 8, 2020, 6:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-does-a-round-pizza-come-in-a-square-box/853387 "2020-05-08T06:25:18Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Dewey\_Finn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dewey_finn/32/4222_2.png) [@Dewey\_Finn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dewey_Finn)\ **Post date:** [May 8, 2020, 1:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-does-a-round-pizza-come-in-a-square-box/853387/21 "2020-05-08T13:54:17Z")
Incidentally, if you visit one of Apple’s campuses and get a pizza from the cafeteria, it will come in a [patented round box](https://www.theverge.com/2017/5/16/15646154/apple-pizza-box-patent-come-on) designed to keep it from getting soggy as you walk back to your desk. ---
**Author:** ![Rebo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rebo/32/13005_2.png) [@Rebo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rebo)\ **Post date:** [May 8, 2020, 2:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-does-a-round-pizza-come-in-a-square-box/853387/22 "2020-05-08T14:01:50Z")
Square boxes are cheaper. You stole this question from the [Constant Contact commercial.](https://www.ispot.tv/ad/ZrtB/constant-contact-big-small-biz-thoughts-bike-shop-pizza) ---
**Author:** ![Marvin\_the\_Martian](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/marvin_the_martian/32/2898_2.png) [@Marvin\_the\_Martian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marvin_the_Martian)\ **Post date:** [May 8, 2020, 2:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-does-a-round-pizza-come-in-a-square-box/853387/23 "2020-05-08T14:16:08Z")
> [@CalMeacham](#): > > Domino’s box has cut-off corners. The OP mentioned pizza, not PSO (pizza-shaped objects). ---
**Author:** ![CelticKnot](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/celticknot/32/3392_2.png) [@CelticKnot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CelticKnot)\ **Post date:** [May 8, 2020, 2:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-does-a-round-pizza-come-in-a-square-box/853387/24 "2020-05-08T14:20:13Z")
If the boxes were round, where would the dipping sauces go? ---
**Author:** ![bump](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/7c8e57/32.png) [@bump](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bump)\ **Post date:** [May 8, 2020, 2:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-does-a-round-pizza-come-in-a-square-box/853387/25 "2020-05-08T14:40:59Z")
> [@dtilque](#): > > Even if you don’t do the twirling in the air technique (which I believe many pizza restaurants do not), you still get a mostly circular crust by taking a roughly spherical blob of dough and flattening it out with a rolling pin. Put it in a round pan and trim off any overflow and it’s round. There’s a bit more involved, but that’s the essence. > > They could make square or rectangular pizza and some do, but as said above, it takes more work than a round one. You get a weird oval-ish thing if you just roll it out without turning it while rolling. Anyway, the point of the throwing it in the air and all that sort of thing is that they’re stretching the dough out and specifically not rolling it- it changes the texture of the final pizza if you roll it. So they stretch and fling it- it’s a good way to get a uniform stretch once there’s enough dough out near the rim. Nobody’s asking the real question though; what would the ADVANTAGE of a round box be? I can’t really see much- there’s not much dead space in the corners really, and square is a lot easier to deal with prior to actual shipment of the pizza, like others have pointed out. ---
**Author:** ![Bijou\_Drains](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bijou_drains/32/2814_2.png) [@Bijou\_Drains](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bijou_Drains)\ **Post date:** [May 8, 2020, 3:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-does-a-round-pizza-come-in-a-square-box/853387/26 "2020-05-08T15:06:38Z")
Wendy’s hamburgers start square but they way they are cooked they end up more rectangular. Still use round buns. ---
**Author:** ![Dewey\_Finn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dewey_finn/32/4222_2.png) [@Dewey\_Finn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dewey_Finn)\ **Post date:** [May 8, 2020, 3:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-does-a-round-pizza-come-in-a-square-box/853387/27 "2020-05-08T15:13:57Z")
> [@Aspidistra](#): > > Round pizza base is easier to construct than square. You just twirl it round and fling it in the air, in that way they do in the good pizza places. Centrifugal force does the work for you. Trying to make a square shape you have to push it out on the pan … I guess you could do a rolling pin technique, but that would probably take longer and would be bad for the fluffiness of the base. The problem with the twirling and tossing technique is that it requires some time to learn. I worked at Chuck E. Cheese after high school and before the fall semester of college started and we used a machine with rollers that first stretched it one way and then the other to make the roughly circular shape. It didn’t take very long to learn to do that. ---
**Author:** ![Dung\_Beetle](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dung_beetle/32/7945_2.png) [@Dung\_Beetle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dung_Beetle)\ **Post date:** [May 8, 2020, 5:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-does-a-round-pizza-come-in-a-square-box/853387/28 "2020-05-08T17:30:37Z")
> [@Acierocolotl](#): > > Because it’s part of a pot sobriety test, as related to me by a friend: > > “Why is the box a square, when the pizza is a circle and all the pieces are triangles?” Ever seen [square candies that look round?](https://squarecandies.wordpress.com/about/) That’ll really fuck 'em up. ---
**Author:** ![Thudlow\_Boink](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thudlow_boink/32/320_2.png) [@Thudlow\_Boink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Thudlow_Boink)\ **Post date:** [May 8, 2020, 5:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-does-a-round-pizza-come-in-a-square-box/853387/29 "2020-05-08T17:52:39Z")
The question has been pretty much answered. But, you know, this isn’t an issue that’s unique to pizza. CDs come in square(ish) jewel boxes (or at least they used to). LP records come in square sleeves. When pies are sold in boxes, those boxes are usually square. In fact, for most things that come in boxes, the boxes are square or rectangular. ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [May 8, 2020, 5:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-does-a-round-pizza-come-in-a-square-box/853387/30 "2020-05-08T17:54:15Z")
I worked in food service while in college, to pay for part of my tuition. A lot of that time, I was at the pizza station, and when we had time, we made the crusts starting from big balls of dough (when we were rushed, we had pre-formed frozen crusts we used). I can’t remember what the standard method we used was (probably a rolling pin), but a few times, I decided to try the spinning thing, just for the heck of it. I’m about the least coordinated person you’ll meet, and nobody ever actually showed me how to do it, but I still managed to do a passable job of it the first time I tried it. I’m sure it would have taken time to get really great at it, but it wasn’t hard. ---
**Author:** ![ticker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/d07c76/32.png) [@ticker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ticker)\ **Post date:** [May 8, 2020, 5:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-does-a-round-pizza-come-in-a-square-box/853387/31 "2020-05-08T17:54:44Z")
Wouldn’t square pizza cook irregularly at the corners? ---
**Author:** ![iamthewalrus\_3](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/258eb7/32.png) [@iamthewalrus\_3](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/iamthewalrus_3)\ **Post date:** [May 8, 2020, 6:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-does-a-round-pizza-come-in-a-square-box/853387/32 "2020-05-08T18:26:40Z")
> [@ticker](#): > > Wouldn’t square pizza cook irregularly at the corners? Yes, but not dramatically. The whole oven is hot, and the heat source is mostly above and below. The corner would be slightly crispier than the rest of the crust. In Italy there are lots of pizza shops where you can buy pizza by the kilo, and they are cooked in rectangles (presumably whatever the maximum size the oven will take) and cut in rectangles. Commonly eaten by cutting in half and putting the pieces together as a sandwich with the toppings on the inside. ---
**Author:** ![RioRico](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/f04885/32.png) [@RioRico](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RioRico)\ **Post date:** [May 8, 2020, 8:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-does-a-round-pizza-come-in-a-square-box/853387/33 "2020-05-08T20:06:50Z")
MrsRico and I attended a _Dia de los Muertos_ festival in a small town north of Guatemala City, situated in a steep cemetery. Gangs of young man ran through the graves hauling 10-meter kites into the sky; many folks flew smaller kites, including freebies from Domino’s. (The kites carry messages to the heavenly spirits of dead children.) Little kids roamed the crowd selling cans of beer and soda - and octagonal boxes of Domino’s pizza, the best ever, with a maize corn crust. The roundish boxes looked easier to lug in rebozos than square boxes would. (I saw a guy lug a big Selectric typewriter in a rebozo.) Different geometry boxes have their niches. ---
**Author:** ![RioRico](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/f04885/32.png) [@RioRico](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RioRico)\ **Post date:** [May 8, 2020, 8:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-does-a-round-pizza-come-in-a-square-box/853387/34 "2020-05-08T20:27:50Z")
err dupe ---
**Author:** ![Tim\_T-Bonham.net](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/46a35a/32.png) [@Tim\_T-Bonham.net](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tim_T-Bonham.net)\ **Post date:** [May 8, 2020, 9:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-does-a-round-pizza-come-in-a-square-box/853387/35 "2020-05-08T21:34:55Z")
> [@Elmer\_J.Fudd](#): > > I was working at Domino’s in the 80s when they adopted the box with the cut off corners. They took about twice as long to put together than the square boxes. That labor to cardboard cost ratio only works if you have drivers waiting around with nothing more productive to do than fold boxes. Note: unpaid drivers. Most of the Domino’s drivers are ‘independent contractors’ now, so they are only paid per delivery (& tips), not being paid for the sitting-around waiting time. So if they are willing to fold boxes, that’s free labor. ---
**Author:** ![psychonaut](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/psychonaut/32/4655_2.png) [@psychonaut](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/psychonaut)\ **Post date:** [May 8, 2020, 9:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-does-a-round-pizza-come-in-a-square-box/853387/36 "2020-05-08T21:44:13Z")
> [@Nava](#): > > There would be no savings in amount of cardboard How do you figure that? It seems self-evident to me that for a round pizza of a given diameter, a round box with that diameter will use less cardboard than a square box of the same length. But then again, I am no cardboard box engineer so I may be overlooking something. (Fun fact: I once attended a computer science conference at the Indian Institute of Technology in Mumbai. Directly across the street from our conference was the conference of the international industry association of cardboard box manufacturers. They had talks and workshops and poster sessions and keynote speakers, just like our conference. One of the great regrets of my life is that I didn’t wander in to see what sort of cardboard box-related stuff they could possibly be discussing for three whole days.) ---
**Author:** ![bob\_2](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bob_2/32/3341_2.png) [@bob\_2](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bob_2)\ **Post date:** [May 8, 2020, 9:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-does-a-round-pizza-come-in-a-square-box/853387/37 "2020-05-08T21:57:22Z")
> [@lobotomyboy63](#): > > I know a guy whose house is a geodesic dome. One selling point is that they use less require materials to build, a sphere being more efficient than a cube. However, he says, getting them worked on is murder. Making things square and plumb is one thing…but faceted is another, I guess. Imagine cutting and installing shingles, for instance, on this place: > > [https://images.app.goo.gl/ZtAKMFwCmgbfc6Er8](https://images.app.goo.gl/ZtAKMFwCmgbfc6Er8) On the other hand, with the right design and materials, a geodesic dome can be an excellent solution [![](https://img.youtube.com/vi/wuOjoU27wx4/maxresdefault.jpg "The Eden Project") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wuOjoU27wx4&t=217) ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [May 8, 2020, 11:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-does-a-round-pizza-come-in-a-square-box/853387/38 "2020-05-08T23:16:26Z")
The non-square pizza box designs mostly start off as squares, before getting their corners folded in. Hence the lack of cardboard savings. ---
**Author:** ![UncleBill](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/d26b3c/32.png) [@UncleBill](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/UncleBill)\ **Post date:** [May 9, 2020, 2:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-does-a-round-pizza-come-in-a-square-box/853387/39 "2020-05-09T02:04:01Z")
First things first. It is CORRUGATED, not cardboard. It has a fluted structure between the flat liners. Ignorance Fought. Secondly, the major cost of the pizza box is the sheet of corrugated board from which it is cut, so a round shaped is not inherently more expensive than a square one, since the customer buys the square from which the circle is cut. The problem lies in the hinged side of the square keeping the structure straight, while a more circular pizza box would have a smaller hinged side and the top and bottom halves could flop any which way. If you buy a pizza in a box in the United States, odds are my company made it. ---
**Author:** ![Tim\_T-Bonham.net](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/46a35a/32.png) [@Tim\_T-Bonham.net](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tim_T-Bonham.net)\ **Post date:** [May 9, 2020, 2:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-does-a-round-pizza-come-in-a-square-box/853387/40 "2020-05-09T02:48:32Z")
> [@psychonaut](#): > > How do you figure that? It seems self-evident to me that for a round pizza of a given diameter, a round box with that diameter will use less cardboard than a square box of the same length. But then again, I am no cardboard box engineer so I may be overlooking something. No, it wouldn’t save cardboard. The corrugated cardboard is made in long rectangular sheets. Round or octagon boxes would just be cut out of the rectangular sheets, and the corner piece scraps discarded\*. So the same amount of cardboard would be used up in making round or octagon boxes. - These days, the scraps would probably be recycled somehow. But it’s still original manufactured cardboard that gets used up. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-does-a-round-pizza-come-in-a-square-box/853387.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-does-a-round-pizza-come-in-a-square-box/853387.md?page=3)