The Biggest Mistake You're Definitely Making When Cutting Pizza

Eating a hot slice of pizza is unbeatable with the gooey cheese, sweetness of the tomato sauce, chewiness of the toppings, and the slight bend to the crust combining to make something delicious and infinitely customizable. However, there's one thing that can ruin an otherwise perfect pie: the cut. If you're looking for ways to make better pizza at home, it's important to know that a bad cut cause the cheese to pull off the slice and create a disappointing mess. The key to the perfect slicing, however, is all about timing — and you may be waiting too long.

For the best results, pizza should be cut just a few seconds after it comes out of the oven, according to professional chefs. As it cools, the dough and cheese will start to get tougher as they set in, making it more difficult to maneuver. A piping-hot pie, on the other hand, is at its most pliable and a few swift moves with the pizza cutter at this point will create clean slices without disturbing the cheese. Another added bonus: A cut pizza will cool faster that an uncut one, meaning that the time between oven to mouth is shorter. That's great news for pizza fans that have experienced one too many mouth burns because they couldn't wait long enough.

While a pizza cutter is iconic for cutting pies, not everyone has one at home. That doesn't mean that there aren't other methods for slicing. A standard kitchen knife works perfectly fine for cutting pies, but it has to be used the right way. Instead of a slicing motion that might be commonly used for vegetables, the knife should be pressed hard into the pie and rocked back and forth, similar to another common pizza slicer, the mezzaluna. 

No matter what tool is used, however, it should be seriously sharp. Depending on how often it's used, a good rule of thumb is that a cutting device should be sharpened at home every two to three months and further sharpened by a professional every one to two years. This includes pizza cutters. Also, it's important to remember that sharpness is all about safety; in fact, since a dull knife is harder to use, it requires more force to actually cut something, which can lead to an increase in errors that could result in injuries. 

In an age where we are constantly bombarded by an endless amount of new kitchen gadgets, the idea of pizza scissors may seem like a silly one. But it's actually one of the coolest ways to slice pizza. In Rome, pizza scissors have been in fashion for quite some time. The reason is many Roman pizzas are made al taglio, or by the cut. These large, square sheets of pie are cut to size for every customer, and the easiest way to do that is with scissors. Slices are served up fast, making al taglio pizza one of the most popular street foods in Italy's capital.

The United States has its own traditions of square pizza: Sicilian style, Detroit style, and Philadelphia style tomato pie are just a few examples. If any of these are on the menu for dinner, or if a square pizza is cooked right in the home oven, cutting them with scissors is the way to go. Just do so right after the pizza comes out of the oven for the best results.