What is the best tool to cut pizza? It's not what you think. (Jessica Dodell-Feder/Yahoo)
For six years, I worked as an editor at Food Network magazine, where I got to write about restaurants, cover culinary trends and interview dozens of chefs. One of my favorite projects was our special pizza issue, devoted to all things cheesy, saucy and doughy. I learned many excellent tips while researching and reporting stories for that issue, but only one elicits shock (and a bit of delight) when I share it: The best way to cut pizza is with scissors.
Think about the last time you tried to slice a hot-from-the oven pie with a pizza cutter wheel. Did it make it all the way through the crust on the first try? Or did you have to roll it back and forth several times, dragging the cheese and dislodging the toppings? My guess is the latter. Even the sharpest wheels aren't foolproof, and who really needs one jamming up their utensil drawer?
The far better option is kitchen shears. They give you control over the size of each slice, and they cut cleanly through even the thickest dough. I can speak from experience: I recently organized a blind taste test with nearly 20 Yahoo staffers to find the best frozen pizza. Because I was serving a crowd, I needed to get out small slices quickly. Our resident cookware tester, Lisa, brought her chef's knife for cutting, and I brought both kitchen shears and a pizza wheel cutter.
Within minutes, the scissors became our go-to, even for deep-dish pies with 2-inch-thick crusts. The blades of the shears were far sharper than the pizza wheel, plus they eliminated the need for a cutting board. Scissors also give you maximum control over toppings. Want to split that last blob of mozzarella in half? No problem.
If you don't want to take it from me, lots of actual pizzerias (in Italy, no less) use shears too. At Pizzeria Vincenzo Capuano in Naples, certain pies come with a pair of golden scissors, so you portion out a slice without crushing the puffy crust. Bonci in Rome uses scissors to cut its slab pies, which are sold by weight.
Perhaps the most winning feature of pizza scissors is that they obviously come in handy for countless other cooking tasks. I use kitchen shears to snip herbs, cut off the ends of vegetables, trim pie crusts and open packaging. Here are my go-to pairs — they'd make a sharp gift for any home cook.
These KitchenAid shears are a No. 1 Amazon bestseller and include an ergonomic, rubberized grip and protective sheath for storage. You can toss them in the dishwasher when you're done snipping and slicing.
"I've had a pair of these for years and reach for them for both kitchen use as well as other general scissor needs. They are comfortable, stainless, sharp and cut most everything exceptionally well," raved a sharp shopper.
I also own a pair of these scissors, which I tend to use for more delicate tasks (though they'd have no problem snipping through pizza crust). The handle is easy to grip, and the top of the blades features a little hole for quickly stripping herbs.
Unlike the KitchenAid pair, the blades on this one come apart, making them a snap to clean.
In my experience, a sharp pair of kitchen shears is all you need, but if you want a little more leverage for slicing, these pizza scissors earn rave reviews. The bottom blade has a spatula-like cover that slides under the pizza and protects your plate or baking pan, and the handles are slightly elevated to keep your hands from touching the toppings.
The real benefit of these scissors to me is the extra-long stainless steel blades. At 5 inches, they give you more control over your pizza slices than standard shears.
If you have Amazon Prime, you’ll get free shipping, of course. Not yet a member? No problem. You can sign up for your free 30-day trial here. (And by the way, those without Prime still get free shipping on orders of $35 or more.)
