You've Been Cutting Pizza Wrong Your Whole Life

How you slice up your pizza can be kind of dicey depending on who is eating it. From the geometric shape of your pizza slices (via Kitchn) to what you use to cut it up, who knew there was so much controversy over a simple slice of 'za? But when it comes to pizza, emotions can run high. And for good reason. Americans like their pizza. In fact, on an annual basis, we spend $38 billion on our beloved pizza pies and we eat about 46 slices of pizza per year (via The Sauce by Slice). Whether it's store bought, homemade, or made at the local pizzeria, we have a natural propensity to expect it to meet certain subjective standards.

We've all heard the complaints. The pizza cuts are jagged. It isn't completely sliced. What happened to all of the cheese? Who gets the biggest slice? His piece has more pepperoni; her piece has all of the olives. Not fair. Well, these complaints are rooted in truth. It's time to face facts. You've probably been cutting your pizza wrong your whole life. But the solution is pretty simple. It turns out this simple shearing tool that rests in your knife block or in a kitchen drawer will not only slice up your pizza perfectly, it will silence some of those complaints. How do you get the best cut and the optimal slice of cheesy, doughy goodness with the right ratio of toppings on each slice?

It might give you pause, but the kitchen apparatus that you should be using to slice-up your pie, and that has a strong contingency of pizza-loving supporters, are scissors. According to Love Food, a pizza wheel tends to drag the toppings off while using scissors help keep everything on top of the pizza, where it should be. Scissors ensure you get a clean pizza cut (via The Kitchn). Using food shears is also rooted in Italian tradition. Restaurateur Jim Lahey told Food & Wine that by using shears, Italian pizzerias can customize the slice size for the customer without disturbing all of the meat, cheese, and vegetable goodness that tops it. Lahey does caution that you might want to let the pizza cool a bit before cutting or the cheese could burn your hands.    

However, if you're part of the Internet crowd who find using scissors to cut pizza bizarre (via Delish) or who grew-up using the pizza wheel and nostalgia, along with fear of change, has you unable to cut ties, it's recommended you keep the wheel sharp to get a clean cut that goes through the pizza cornicione, or "end crust." Also, cut your pizza right out of the oven before the crust can toughen up. Additionally you can use a chef's knife that is the length of the pizza's diameter, and cut it using a rocking back and forth motion to ensure the cheese doesn't get stuck (via Food and Wine).