The Biggest Mistake Most People Make When Slicing Pizza
Perhaps the biggest pizza perk is that it's such an easy and inexpensive takeout order. Preparing your own pizza at home, however, lets you practice your cooking skills, and it's also quite fun to be in control of the pizza's size, shape, and toppings.
If you've accepted the challenge of homemade pizza, then you're also the one responsible for slicing it as evenly as possible. A pizza cutter is the best utensil here, though a sharp knife can be carefully used (more on that later).
The biggest mistake people make when divvying up that perfect pie is waiting too long to slice it. The moment you pull it from the oven, the pizza cutter should meet the crust. In one swift motion, without letting it cool, slice that pizza from one end to the other. In this case, impatience is encouraged; waiting too long results in a tougher crust and a more difficult slicing experience.
Slice your pizza immediately — and use a sharp pizza cutter
As you watch the crust rise and the cheese bubble, your patience to dive into your perfectly homemade pizza likely wears thin. Thankfully, that's a good thing; the moment you remove it from the oven, grab a pizza cutter and give it your best slice.
James Beard Award-winning chef Ann Kim of Minneapolis' Young Joni told Food & Wine that the crust starts to toughen the moment it's removed from the heat. Waiting too long means a greater challenge for the pizza cutter to break through that crust. Slice it immediately for ease, and press down hard on the edge of the pizza crust, using pressure as you slice through it.
Your pizza cutter does matter. If you make pizzas frequently, it's worth it to invest in a high-quality pizza cutter and sharpen it regularly. This might go without saying, but a dull, low-quality blade will only make it more difficult to get a good slice.
What if you don't have a pizza cutter?
Pizza cutters are certainly the most common way to slice a pizza, but not everyone owns one, and some people just outright prefer a different method. If you don't have a pizza cutter, you can use a high-quality, sharp chef's knife, but Chef Ann Kim says to wait until the pizza cools a bit (the opposite of using a pizza cutter) so that the cheese doesn't stick to the knife's edge.
The alternative is to use a pizza rocker. This tool is designed for cutting pizza, but it does so in a way that allows you to add more pressure than using a pizza cutter. It typically has either one long handle or two handles, one on each end, which means both hands can get involved to allow the right amount of pressure. Plus, there's no forward-rolling motion; this pizza tool is simply rocked in place to create the perfect slice through the dough. As far as price goes, pizza cutters are generally slightly less expensive than rockers, but many options for both fall within a reasonable $15-$30 price point.