Whether you’re making a delicious dinner for movie night, or having a big party, you can be sure that pizza will always be a hit with your crowd. And though we love a good takeout, making your own pizza can be just as delicious and way more fun.
What happens when you take your pizza creation out of the oven and realize that you don’t have a pizza cutter to get those perfect slices? Not to worry, there are more pizza cutting options than you might think. And with so many different methods and tools available, you’re sure to find one that works for you. Read on as we get creative and discuss some of the best ways to cut your favorite pie when you don’t have a traditional pizza cutter.
Use a Knife
A knife is a pretty obvious choice. When you don’t have the circular blade of a pizza cutter, a sharp knife is probably the first tool you’ll reach for. But there are a lot of great options to choose from, so let’s talk about what kind of knife will be the best option for cutting your pizza.
Chef’s Knife – If you do any kind of cooking on a regular basis, it’s a good bet that you have a high quality chef’s knife in your kitchen, and this tool will work for cutting your pizza. Go with the largest size you have. Ideally, you want a large knife that’s longer than the diameter of your pie, but it’s not absolutely necessary.
It will just make things a bit easier. Place the knife in the middle of the pizza and then rock it back and forth until the pizza is cleanly sliced. If your knife isn’t as long as your pizza diameter, you may have to move the knife up or down a few inches and repeat this step until it’s sliced all the way through.
Butcher’s Knife – It’s not necessarily a common household item, but if you happen to have a butcher’s knife in your kitchen, it will be one of the best knives to use to cut your pizza. The longer curved blade makes it ideal for cutting all the way through the pie in one chop.
Meat Cleaver – A meat cleaver has a blade that’s heavier and wider than a butcher’s knife, with more of a rectangular shape. Meat cleavers tend to be shorter than butcher’s knives, so they may not work as well with larger pizzas, but their weight and strength makes them great for cutting through thick crusts.
Paring Knife – The smaller size of a paring knife makes it a less than ideal pizza cutting tool, but it can work in a pinch. For best results, make sure the blade is very sharp, then press down firmly in the center of the pizza and drag the blade to the edge of the crust.
Rotate the pizza 180 degrees and do the same thing on the other side to slice your pizza in half. Continue slicing until you have the desired number of pieces.
Try a Rocker Blade
A rocker blade is a long crescent shaped blade that you’ve probably seen in restaurants, as it’s a very effective way to cut through a pizza. In fact, it might be an even better tool than the roller blade, particularly when you need a lot of smaller pieces.
You’ll place it in the center of the pie and slice through it cleanly with a rocking motion. Its length will ensure that it cuts all the way through most pizzas quickly and easily, so it’s great when you want to cut your pizza into a lot of thin slices.
Repurpose Your Dough Cutter
A bench scraper or dough cutter is another tool that, while not designed for cutting pizza, can definitely work in a pinch. It has a short, straight blade and a handle on top for easy gripping. If you’re going to use this method, I don’t recommend dragging it across the length of the pie.
Instead, use a firm grip and press down to cut one section of the pie, then lift the blade and move it several inches to cut the next section.
Cut it With Kitchen Scissors
This method for cutting pizza is one that may not be obvious, but is one of the easiest and most effective methods to cut a pizza. In fact, you can buy pizza scissors especially for this purpose, and it’s a method that’s commonly used in Rome. It’s one of my favorite ways to cut pizza, and you may find a pair of scissors to be even easier to use than a pizza wheel cutter or a knife.
Scissors work best on thin-crust pizzas, and since they’re gentler than dragging a knife through the pie, they make it easy to ensure that the cheese doesn’t slide off the pizza crust as you’re cutting it. But if you don’t have special pizza scissors or even a pair of kitchen shears, don’t worry. A clean pair of regular scissors will work too.
Go With Mini Pizzas
Another great idea if you don’t have a pizza cutter is to cut the dough before you bake it. You can use a cookie cutter to cut through the pizza dough and create cute little mini pies.
Or make things even easier and divide your dough into several smaller pieces to form them into mini pizzas. That way, you don’t have to bother with cutting at all. Or if you do want to cut your mini pizzas, you can easily do so with a knife, thanks to their smaller size.
Tips for Cutting Pizza
Even after you’ve got the right tools, there are a few more helpful cutting tips that will ensure that you get perfect slices every time. Follow these helpful hints the next time you make homemade pizza.
Sharpen Your Blade – Regardless of what cutting tools you’re using, you’ll want to make sure you have very sharp edges or a sharp blade. A dull blade can mess up your toppings and result in ragged edges on your pie.
Be Patient – I know it’s tempting to cut into your pizza as soon as you remove it from the oven, but it’s a good idea to wait for at least a few minutes before slicing it. This will allow the cheese to harden and solidify just a bit, so that it doesn’t slide off the pizza when you cut it.
Get a Pizza Cutting Board – Maybe you didn’t know that there was such a thing as a pizza cutting board, but once you try one, you’ll wonder how you ever lived without it. N
ot only does it help protect your knives and cutters from damage, but many pizza boards also have built in grooves in the board which serve as a guide to help you get perfectly equal slices every time.
Favorite Pizza Recipes
Now that you have everything you need to cut your pizza perfectly with whatever traditional or not so traditional tools you have on hand, there’s only one thing left to do! It’s time to get out your pizza stone, your pizza peel, and your favorite toppings and get cooking with a great pizza recipe. No matter the crust type, toppings, or cooking method, you can be sure that pizza is always a good option.
Leave a Reply