The 4 Best Pizza Cutters, Tested and Approved
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When the blade meets the crust and a good slice is a must, that’s amore!
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Pizza, though Italian in origin, has become an American family favorite. From flatbread to thin crust or even stuffed crust, the options are virtually endless. And if visions of pizza night evoke greasy slices, we have good news: Pizza can be a surprisingly healthy meal option. A whole-wheat or cauliflower pizza crust can provide you with essential fiber while loading up on nutrient-rich toppings like fresh vegetables, which can add valuable vitamins and antioxidants. You can also swap out your pepperoni or sausage for a lean protein like grilled chicken, and opt for part-skim mozzarella to reduce saturated fat.
Making pizza is surprisingly easy, requiring little equipment (you can even make pizzas in an air fryer) and giving you endless customization options. And for those busy nights when time is short and your family is going in all directions, takeout, delivery and frozen pizza can still be excellent options. But no matter which way you choose to get your pizza, a standard knife just isn’t as effective as a dedicated pizza cutter for breaking through layers of toppings and yeasty crusts.
To find the best, we tested 25 pizza cutters across both wheel and rocker varieties, rating each for its overall design and ease of use, in addition to its performance on a variety of crust types and thicknesses with many variations in toppings. Additionally, we looked at how easy each pizza cutter was to clean and store, how it affected various cutting surfaces and its versatility beyond pizza. Read on to see which ones made the cut.
Best Overall: Cuisinart Pizza Cutter with Barrel Handle
What we like: The Cuisinart blade made clean cuts on the first pass with little effort.
What to know: We could not find anything to change about this pizza cutter; we only wished this came in more sizes!
Fabricated of stainless steel with a nylon coating over the handle, this pizza cutter features a sleek, minimalistic medium-weight design with a 4.5-inch blade wheel. The barrel handle is attached to the wheel with a single curved arm and a bolt-like fastener. A small, curved shield at the top of the handle guards against food soiling the handle and provides a safe place for your forefinger and thumb to rest. The Cuisinart is dishwasher safe and comes with a blade guard for easy storage.
We were so impressed with the design and performance of this cutter—especially the comfortable handle, which is lined with nylon to create a non-slip surface. The wheel did not wobble or warp during our test, and the super-sharp blade made clean cuts in our thin- and thick-crust pizzas. None of the toppings were moved during the cuts, and the blade didn’t smash the crusts. As a bonus, the Cuisinart even aced the task of cutting a stromboli.
Style: Wheel | Materials: Stainless steel, nylon | Product Weight: 0.50 ounces | Dishwasher safe: Yes
Also Great: Ooni Pizza Cutter Wheel
What we like: The Ooni is well-designed with a comfortable and sturdy handle.
What to know: The cost of this cutter is on the high side, compared to other wheels we tested.
The Ooni Pizza Cutter Wheel features a single-beveled stainless steel blade with a glass-reinforced nylon handle. The curved handle has a semi-circle design that widens at the blade, allowing for comfortable and safe hand placement, and it's secured to the blade on one side with a bolt-like fastener. Additionally, the cutter is dishwasher safe.
We tested this pizza cutter on naan bread and both medium-crust frozen and homemade pizzas, and the Ooni was a great performer. It required little effort to make clean cuts that didn’t disturb our pizza toppings. Though we were skeptical of the plastic handle, it was surprisingly comfortable, non-slip and sturdy while cutting. The blade didn’t wobble or make excessive scratch marks on the underlying cutting board or pans, giving us the impression this cutter would last a long time. We also used the Ooni to slice some herbs and cut some vegetables, which it did cleanly and successfully.
Style: Wheel | Materials: Stainless steel, nylon | Product Weight: 7.44 ounces | Dishwasher safe: Yes
Best Rocker: Lamson Pizza Rocker
What we like: The rocker design made it easier to cut straighter lines.
What to know: Hand washing the Lamson was awkward due to the long blade.
With a 12-inch long carbon steel blade and wooden handles, this Lamson blade-style pizza cutter is not only very sturdy but also quite good-looking. Walnut handles are bolt-mounted above the blade at each end, keeping your hands far from the cutting action and preventing food from getting lodged in the joint. The single-beveled blade is a nice thickness with a gracious curve that doesn’t make the rocking action too extreme for clean cuts.
The Lamson is an equipment-lovers tool, with its dramatic blade and fine wood design creating a real “wow” factor. The rocking blade allowed for straighter, more controlled cuts than the rolling wheel cutters; however, extra rocking was required when we tested it on a thick-crust pizza. The rocker did not damage our thin or thick crusts, nor did it rearrange any toppings.
While the blade did not leave any marks on our metal pan during testing, it did make a noticeable cut in our wooden cutting board. Though it's easy to get clean, we thought having more handle space would make this cutter easier to hold while cleaning.
Style: Blade | Materials: Carbon steel, walnut | Product Weight: 12 ounces | Dishwasher safe: No
Best Rocker, Runner Up: Boska Extra Large Cheese & Pizza Knife
What we like: The Boska is a beautifully made cutter that would make a great gift for avid pizza makers.
What to know: The 17” length of this rocker may make storage a challenge.
Made in the Netherlands with European oak handles on either end of a stainless steel blade, the Boska rocker is also intended for cutting wheels of cheese. The single-beveled blade has indentations that allow cut items to fall easily from its surface. The unique double-handle design features one shaped like a traditional knife handle at one end of the blade and another shaped more like a lever at the far end. The lever handle allows for more control of the blade as it encourages the user to work forward instead of side-to-side. The handles are also designed to favor a dominant hand for power and the alternate handle for control, working for lefties and righties alike.
The Boska did well with our freshly-delivered pizza as well as a frozen, reheated one. We also tested it on quesadillas as well as grilled chicken and some vegetables to make them easy for a small child to eat. We needed little effort to get clean cuts with a few rocks of the blade. The cuts went through the toppings with ease, and there was no need to hand-separate our pizza slices. Cleaning the Boska was very easily done by hand, although its long design requires some strategization for storage, and we would have loved a blade cover to be included.
Style: Blade | Materials: Stainless steel, oak | Product Weight: 10 ounces | Dishwasher safe: No
The Bottom Line: The Best Pizza Cutter
If you enjoy pizza regularly, the Cuisinart Pizza Cutter with Barrel Handle (view at Amazon) is hands-down the best wheel-style cutter we tested. It made clean cuts on the first pass, didn’t mar the crust or toppings and was easy to clean and store. If precision cuts are more up your alley, the Lamson Pizza Rocker (view at Amazon) is our top choice for a rocker-style pizza cutter. The sharp blade makes clean cuts, and the two-handled design allows for excellent blade control.
Choosing a Pizza Cutter
Size Matters for Storing Your Pizza Cutter
Since your pizza cutter will spend a fair amount of time in storage, knowing where to keep it in the off-hours will help you decide what kind to get. Additionally, considering who will use the cutter will help you find the best one for your needs.
Wheel-style pizza cutters have the smallest design, making them very easy to store in an ordinary utensil drawer. Additionally, if you are cutting pizza with younger children or just want something light, the wheel-style pizza cutter is the better choice. Rocker-style pizza cutters have a very long design with lengthy exposed blades. They are also heavier and require more care when handling, making them less ideal if you have children.
Design Impacts the Utility and Safety of Your Pizza Cutter
Pizza cutters come mainly in one of two designs, wheel-style and rocker-style. Both can offer clean cuts with sharp blades. However, we found the rocker style pizza cutter offered a more precise cut because the two handles offer better blade control. While precision is high on some people’s list, the ease of the wheel-style pizza cutter allows kids and adults alike to use the cutter with less fear of an errant cut.
Durability is Key for Pizza Cutters
Whether you eat pizza once a week or once a month, your pizza cutter will need to be reliable and sturdy each time it is brought into service. Having a wheel style with a sharp, straight rolling blade or a rocker style with well-affixed handles will instill confidence that your pizza cutter will perform at a high level each time you use it.
Our Pizza Cutter Tests
To find the best pizza cutters, we evaluated each tool for ease of use, performance and ease of cleaning. Additionally, we looked at each cutter’s sturdiness, materials and overall design. We found the most important part of the cutter to be the blade, and we tested each one on multiple types of crust and ingredients to see if they produced clean cuts. Testing the blades on pizzas with multiple toppings was key in determining if a cutter could produce a clean cut without dragging the toppings or cheese or crushing the crust. We also looked at the cutting boards or pizza pans after each cut to see if there were any deep marks left behind by the pizza cutter.
The design of each pizza cutter was important to help us determine ease and comfort during use and how much effort was needed to make clean cuts, if possible. Where wheel-style cutters needed to have a well-affixed wheel that rolled without wobbling and a comfortable handle, rockers needed to have sturdy handles that were comfortable to grip without slipping and a blade that moved easily when rocking to cut. Both types of pizza cutters were evaluated on ease of cleaning. Although some were dishwasher safe, we felt that to keep the blades sharp, hand-washing would be the best long-term course. As a result, we hand-washed both styles to see if we had any issues with hidden debris after cutting.
We Also Considered
OXO Good Grips Pizza Wheel and Cutter ($14 at Amazon): In the spirit of the OXO brand, this cutter is thoughtfully designed, sturdy and well-priced. We loved that it was dishwasher-safe and practical. This cutter did, however, require several passes for a clean cut and did drag some toppings.
Gozney Pizza Rocker ($39 at Gozney): The Gozney rocker has a heavy-gauge stainless blade that is more angular than the other rockers we tested. The super-sharp, single-beveled blade made clean cuts on both pizzas and some wrap sandwiches without dragging. However, we did find storage a challenge because of the large size and exposed blade (this pizza cutter does not come with a blade cover).
Zyliss Pizza Wheel ($18 at Amazon): The Zyliss pizza wheel does not have a handle, but it got high marks for its ease of use, and we felt it was something we could trust a child with. It made clean cuts after a few passes, but no toppings or cheese were moved in the process. Some food was caught in the wheelhouse, but we used a small brush to remove it, and the blade cleaned up easily. However, we felt that for the price, the Cuisinart ultimately performed better.
Common Questions
How do you sharpen a pizza cutter?
A rocker-style pizza cutter is the easiest to sharpen because the large blade works more like a traditional chef’s knife. Using a sharpening stone will bring your blade to its original sharpness with little effort, or you can take it to your local sharpener to restore the edge. Sharpening a wheel-style pizza cutter can be a little tricky, but it is totally doable. If you have an electric knife sharpener, you rotate the blade through your sharpener to hone the edge. If you have a static sharpener and a good grip, you can sharpen in portions by holding the blade still and pulling through the device, rotating carefully until you've made your way around the entire blade.
Can I use a pizza cutter on a pizza stone?
To preserve the sharpness and integrity of your pizza cutter’s blade, you should not cut your pizza on a pizza stone. Move your pizza off the stone onto a cutting board, whether plastic, glass or wood, for a better cutting surface and to prevent damage to your pizza cutter's blade.
How should I store a pizza cutter?
If your pizza cutter comes with a blade cover, you should use it when storing your device. As with chef’s knives, blade covers helps to support the blade and keep it from warping over time, in addition to helping to maintain its edge.
What else can I use a pizza cutter for?
Both cutter styles are very versatile, with many alternate uses in the kitchen. A wheel cutter can be used to cut quesadillas, flatbreads, pies, quiche and frittatas. Additionally, you can use your pizza cutter to cut simple sandwiches and fresh herbs. A rocker-style pizza cutter is also good with quesadillas, flatbreads, sandwiches and herbs. It is also a great option for cutting wraps, cheese wheels, stromboli, galettes and cookie cakes. If you have a bowl to fit the blade's curve, a rocker-style pizza cutter is also great for chopping shelled nuts.
Our Trusted Expertise
Tiffany Vickers Davis is a chef, writer and food entrepreneur with more than 25 years of experience. Beginning in high-profile restaurant kitchens, she currently owns and operates a fresh-prepared meal company that ships nationally. Prior to starting her company, she was the test kitchen director at Cooking Light magazine, testing hundreds of products from stoves to knives during her 14-year tenure with the brand. She serves a lot of pizza at home to her young son.
The other testers included chefs, dietitians and dedicated home chefs. This article was edited by Katie Tuttle, a food editor and contributor to publications such as Food & Wine and The Spruce Eats.
Read the original article on Eating Well.
