It’s true that you must have pizzas when cheering with your friends in most of parties at weekends or in some occasions like camping. However, you cannot always order pizzas, which is costly and not interesting feeling because it’s more exciting to make pizzas and serve your friends.
So, why don’t we make pizzas by ourselves? It is not a very hard task like we used to think because nowadays there are many and many implements to help you make pizzas within a short period of time, but in great flavor!
I, myself, love to make pizzas at home at weekends to have fun with my friends or with my sweet family. Thus, I have some experience on this realm and I would like to share with you some essential items for making a true pizza like you order.
It took me much time and effort to gather all information from many pros and other sources to create an overview of accessories for making pizzas as well as some key features to consider when purchasing them to make sure that you will not regret for your choices.
Pizza slicer
Why do we have to use the pizza slicer or the mezzaluna to cut the pizza instead of using a standard knife or a pair of scissors? The answer is that you always would like to make your life simpler, easier and more convenient. The main benefit of the slicer is to provide you with a clean and streamlined cut without scrapping off the pizza toppings like other utensils.
How to choose a right pizza cutter depends on several features including the material, non-stick capacity, sharpness, safety, cleaning process, size and so on. I would like to share with you my experience on a well-performed pizza cutter.
The first thing you have to pay attention to is the material, especially the blade because it interact directly with your pizza, so the blade must made of food grade stainless steel which can utterly resist the bacteria and rust to protect your health.
The second feature withdrawing your notice is that the non-stick and sharpness. You use a dull blade to cut your pizza because it will destroy the whole pizza before you can eat. Plus, the pizza slicer must be non-stick to provide you with the smooth slides through the pizza for streamlined cuts. Otherwise, the slicer will work as the standard knife and not make your life easier at all.
Moreover, you should buy the one with big size blade so that you may use it to cut some super thick and huge pizza for your big family. Plus, the handle must be designed ergonomically to get held firmly and comfortably as well as give a particular safe distance with the blade to reduce the risk. And, you should check whether it can be tossed into dishwasher or no for easy and quick cleaning.
Nowadays, there are two types of pizza cutter meeting all of your satisfactions, which is the pizza slicer (wheel) and the mezzaluna (rocker or called “half-moon” by the Italia). And I will give you an overview of these two types with some strong points as well as drawbacks so that you can consider and choose the most suitable one for your taste and budget.
For the pizza slicer
Pros
- Comfortable grip
- Easy to wash
- Produces clean and streamlined cuts
- Cuts a wide range of the pizza
Cons
- The axis of the wheel is easy to loose
- Blade need sharpening usually
For the pizza rocker (mezzaluna)
Pros
- Sturdy to deal with heavy forces
- Versatile usage: chopping veggies
- Easy to clean
- Comfortable grip
Cons
- Heavy weight
- Large size leading to difficulties in storing
- Not cut the wide range of pizza
In my opinion, the slicer is more equivalent than the rocker because it’s light weight and easy to use for both kitchen and pizza store. The slicer can cut the pizza faster and easier than the rocker and it is so convenient that you can hold with one hand as well as store it in the kitchen drawer without difficulties.
Now I will give you some detail of two typical pizza slicers to help you know more about this product.
The Ultimate 14″ Pizza Cutter / Slicer, Rocker Style. Very Sharp Knife Blade with Protective Cover / Sheath
The blade is completely made of food grade stainless steel with rust-free service and properties of anti-bacterial protecting your family’s health. Besides, the blade is so sharp that can easily cut the pizza in one move, even for the large and thick pizzas. Plus, the knife with non-stick surface will never destroy your toppings and will provide you with professionally perfect and clean cut.
Moreover, the two handles are made ergonomically, which can help you hold firmly and comfortably when cutting pizzas. And, this design can provide you with versatile usages like mincing veggies or dicing tomatoes.
You don’t have to worry about any damages to the blade because there is a protective sheath accompanied to cover and prevent the blade from severe influences resulting from some cases like you may drop the tool or something else may hit the utensil as well as the sheath can keep the blade always clean.
Plus, there is an innovation added to the sheath, which is so helpful although you sometime ignore it. Some patterns on the sheath features as a piece or a whole pizza to decorate, but there are ridges on the top and around the patterns to keep you hand safe and avoid being cut while covering the blade with the sheath.
On the top of that, you will receive a full refund in case you find dissatisfied with the tool within 60-day use. Thus, you are totally worry-free when purchasing the tool for your home.
KitchenAid Pizza Wheel, Black
This pizza slicer features a super sharp wheel-blade so that you can easily roll the wheel to cut the pizza quickly, but professionally. The blade is made of stainless steel with non-stick ability that can help the blade move smoothly through the pizza without ruining the toppings. Besides, the material is anti-bacteria so that it is super safe to your family.
The handle has an outstanding design of built-in-finger and thumb guard, which can increase the stability, safety as well as accuracy because when you thumb press down, the tool will stay in the preset line and never slip the line so that it will produce the clean and streamlined cuts. Besides, there are two small sheaths partially covering the blade to protect your hand in case you may be reckless to put your hand near the blade while cutting.
The product is available in 3 options of color: red, black and aqua sky to diversify your choice. The tool is relatively small, so you can store it in the kitchen drawer or in the cutlery holder. And, with the red and aqua sky model, there is a hole for you to hang on the wall hook if your drawer is full of other stuff.
Moreover, this tool can be tossed into the dishwasher for cleaning to eliminate the odor so that the Neapolitan pizza won’t taste like the Chicago one. Plus, the dishwasher also helps the tool shine impeccably like a mirror.
Also, I used some products in the review having been posted on my site and I have to say that the pizza slicer for the Ulee will possibly bang for your buck and you won’t regret for your decision because the product have such outstanding features including ultimately sharp blade with super comfortable grip to give a sense of satisfaction.
If you want to find more same tools, you can get access to my site and get the most suitable for your budget.
Pizza oven
This is the most essential utensil for making a pizza, so getting a right one is not as easy as a piece of cake because you have to consider many and many features:
Size (small, medium, large)
The convection oven is one of the best choices for those whose kitchen space is small because this oven just taken on little room ranging from 15 to 60 cubic feet. Besides, this one is also used in some family restaurant with limited space thanks to its elevated height to provide precious floor space for other pieces of equipment or counters.
In some cases, if the space in your kitchen or restaurant is quite medium, you can choose deck oven to fit the room perfectly. The size of this type of oven depends much on the number of decks, so the ideal oven is from 2 decks to 4 decks which take on up to 160 cubic feet. The stacking design will not only help you make more pizza but also take on vertical space rather than horizontal one.
For those who have quite large room in the kitchen or have a particular large space for making pizza to cheer with friends, you can purchase the conveyor oven with stacking design to comfortably make pizza as much as you can. 1-stack oven can take on 150 cubic feet and three-stack one measures up to 330 cubic feet. However, if you love something traditional, the brick oven will be a good choice.
Material
There are many types of material used for making a pizza oven due to the benefits of the material or the taste of customer. For example, the manufacturers make the pizza of brick or wood with the aim to keeping the heat longer to bake the pizza perfectly. Besides, the pizza oven can be made of stainless steel to meet the modern requirements nowadays.
Placement
With some traditional pizza store, they usually spend much space to make immovable pizza oven by brick or wood burning. However, some restaurant or kitchens are, now, not very large, so people tend to buy movable or portable ovens instead because all of them are equipped with wheels so that you can easily change positions to fit the room greatly. Besides, some portable ovens are not very large and you can move or carry them without much effort.
Style and fuel options
If you would like to open a brick-and-mortgage restaurant, the gas pizza oven is a good choice for you because this one will produce pizzas with crisper crust and cook the rest evenly. Otherwise, with some particular mobile pizza stores like food trucks or concession carts, you have to choose the electric one instead because it’s not likely to get access to gas for the great safety.
And, here are 3 pizza ovens that will bang for your buck in my opinion, but if you don’t really get interested, you can get access to a whole collection of pizza oven that I spend much time gathering to diversify your choice.
Pizzacraft Pizzeria Pronto Outdoor Pizza Oven – PC6000
Besides, the tool comes in the outstanding dual-layer design. The special point is that the interlocking cordierite pizza stone features the heat-diffusing hollow core to provide you with the crispier crust while the reflective heat shield can redirect the heat to make sure your toppings is baked perfectly at the same time with the crust. Thus, there will be a heat circular existing in the oven over time to enhance the efficiency, which means that the pizza is only cooked within 5 minutes.
Moreover, there is a moisture vent on the top of the oven to release the moisture and prevent the sogginess. And, thanks to the vent, the air can go out and come in frequently, which can helpfully make your pizzas perfectly cooked
Plus, the oven runs on propane so that you don’t bother to gather the woods to make fires. Just switch on the pine leading the gas to the oven and preheat it in 10 minutes. Then, your pizzas are read to be cooked. The heat can reach 700F degrees and there is a heat indicator on the cap to help you know the recent temperature in the stove. Therefore, don’t need to worry much about what’s going on inside because the stove can be greatly in charge of it.
Presto 03430 Pizzazz Plus Rotating Oven
Plus, you can reheat other frozen food like chicken nuggets, fish fillets and so on along with some pieces of pizza. All the stuff is put on a detachable pizza pan with great size (13.25” diameter) so that baking a huge pizza to cheer with your family is not a problem with the tool. When the baking process is activated, the pan will rotate until the preset time finishes.
The oven runs on electricity with top and bottom heating elements baking food from both sides. The heating elements are working independently, which means that you can select the bottom with higher heat to make crispier crust while the top is lower heat. And, you can choose reversely as well as select both of them regarding to your preferences.
The rotating feature along with the independently controlled heat will make your pizza perfectly cooked because the heat spreads evenly on both sides. Besides, you can remove the pan for carrying pizzas or for cleaning and storing.
Betty Crocker BC-2958CR Pizza Maker, Red
The tool measures 12” diameter with the compact design and sturdy construction so that you can tuck it away easily when not in use. Plus, the cord-wrap keeps it neat and not to take over much space in your kitchen.
The product is so efficient that can make your pizza within a short period of time. Besides, it is relatively versatile because you can use it to make other cakes and breads, depending on your preferences. There is a self-regulated thermostat to ensure that your pizza crusts can reach golden and crispy perfection and there is a signal to help you know when to put the toppings on to get it perfectly baked.
The surface is non-stick that you can take the pizzas out easily and the cleaning process is not very hard to do.
Pizza paddle
To get a right pizza paddle for carrying the pizza in and out the oven, there are some features you should take into account:
Shape
Some professionals usually the rounded peel because the tool is easy to maneuver the pizza even in large stoves. However, there is the other choice for the other shape, which is the square-headed. This one is more practical and is used widely for small ovens and grills for home cooking.
Size
The pizza paddles vary its size between 14” and 16”, which depends mostly on the size of your stoves. For some advice, if you are a beginner, you should choose the 14” paddle, but not smaller than for safety, because it is a good opportunity to learn how to handle the paddle and try not to spill the pizza toppings while transferring. Don’t think that the bigger it is, the better it performs because if the paddle is too big, it will be super heavy to carry and horrible to rotate the pizza.
Material
There are two types of pizza peel including the wooden and metal. I would like to share with you the pros and cons of these materials so that you can consider carefully choosing the most suitable one for your situation.
The biggest advantage of the wooden tool is that it is super non-stick so that you don’t have to bother to cover the surface with some cormeal or flour. Besides, this one is more appealing than the metal counterparts because people sometimes think that the metal one is somewhat like the one used for the construction.
However, when choosing the wooden paddle, you should choose the hardwood like walnut, cherry, maple and so on because these woods can withstand the heat without being broken like the low-quality junks.
Unfortunately, this one requires a hard maintenance because after using, you have to air dry them to prevent the moisture causing the bacteria. Or you have to rub it with mineral oil usually to keep it in excellent condition over time.
On the other hand, the metal peel is much thinner than the wooden so that you can easily handle it in comparison with the wooden one. Plus, the metal is long lasting, does not absorb odor as well as not require meticulous maintenance. Just wash the paddle after using, which is more convenient.
But, you have to choose the stainless steel to prevent rust and you have to cover the surface with cormeal or flour because the raw pizza dough can stick to the surface firmly. The longer you put the raw pizza one, the harder the pizza slides off. Thus, you should prepare the pizza on somewhere else and use the paddle to put the pizza into the stove right away.
There are two typical paddles I would like to show you for different material to help you know more about the design as well as the benefits of each one.
Kitchen Supply 14-Inch x 16-Inch Aluminum Pizza Peel with Wood Handle
The handle is made of wood with property of moisture resistance and the handle is fitted greatly in hand so that you can comfortably hold it for a long time. And, the handle is not very heavy, so you won’t get hand pain while maneuvering pizzas. The length is about 8” to keep your hand away from severe heat of the oven.
For some notices, before using, you should cover the head with some cormeal or flour to make your pizzas, especially the raw ones, slide on and off without being stuck. Plus, after using, you can easily clean the head with water without much needed effort.
Pizza Royale Ethically Sourced Premium Natural Bamboo Pizza Peel, 19.6 Inch x 12 Inch
The tool measures 19.6”x12”x0.6”, which can handle your pizzas perfectly. Plus, the tapered edges help you move the tool easily under pizzas to take it out the oven without any damages on the toppings and the crust. Moreover, the handle is designed ergonomically to help your hold firmly and comfortably while maneuvering your pizzas in and out the oven.
If you don’t have much space for storing the tool, you can hand it on the wall hook or somewhere else thanks to the hole on the handle. Plus, you can use the paddle as a serving tray or a cheese board because it comes with the pretty appearance with some trenches of the bamboo.
On the top of that, you will receive 180-day guarantee from the brand to make you feel secure when purchasing the product as well as there is a pizza recipe accompanied, which can be useful for those who just start to make pizzas at home.
Although the bamboo is organic and safe to your health, there are some types of hardwood that can outrank the bamboo and possibly meet your expectations. I, myself, love the acacia so much because the wood is super thick, sturdy and stand the heat greatly compared with the bamboo. Besides, this wood features unique and significant trenches which can enhance the beauty of pizza paddle. Thus, if you have the same taste as mine, you can get access to my collection of pizza paddles of this material along with other hardwoods.
Pizza stone
The pizza stone is a specific usage of the baking stone, which is a portable cooking surface for baking. Your pizza will be put on the stone, which has been placed in the oven.
This utensil is an essential accessory for making a greatly baked pizza to cheer with your friends. The main reason for using the stone is that this one will spread the heat in the oven to give you a crisper crust and back the rest evenly. Besides, this one will absorb the moisture of the pizza and when finished, the pizza will not stick to the stone so that you can easily take it out.
To get a right pizza stone is not a very easy task because you have to take into account several features, especially the materials which I will give you as much detail as I can.
You can choose the rectangular or the round shape, which depend on your taste and your oven shape. If your oven is particularly round shape, you will have no choices rather than a round pizza stone. However, if the oven is the stacking design or standard shape, the rectangular and round utensils are well fitted.
The size of pizza stone depends much on the size of your stove, but the tool must be 1” smaller than the stove for each dimension because your pizza or other bakery needs the space for air circulation.
Plus, the most important feature for a best pizza stone is the material. Many people wonder which is the best material among these ones: clay, cast iron and steel. Now, I will tell you about these materials specifically form the strong points to the drawbacks so that the final decision depends on you after considering all points.
Clay/stone
- Absorbs moisture
- Produces crispier crust
- Varies different sizes, shapes or the price
- Can be made of inexpensive unglazed quarry tiles
- Must be preheated for a long time in an oven, 30 minutes or longer
- Can be broken
- Is difficult to clean
Cast iron
- Is Preheated quickly
- Is easy to clean
- Is not broken easily
- Has handle accompanied for maneuvering
- Is heavy
Steel
- Cooks pizzas quickly and evenly
- Stabilizes the low temperature
- Is not broken easily
- Is expensive
- Is very heavy
- Is hard to maneuver due to the lack of handle
And I also want to give you some products below to help you know more about this product:
Old Stone Oven Rectangular Pizza Stone
Plus, the stone is super durable and sturdy that cannot warp or break easily, even in the hottest situation (up to 2000F degrees). And, it can absorb the moisture while transferring the heat to produce a crispier crust and the perfectly cooked toppings.
Moreover, you can use the stone for making breads beside pizzas. When the baking process is done, you can take the pizza out of the stone easily because its surface is non-stick. However, you have to preheat the stone at least 20 minutes before putting your pizzas on. And, let it be entirely cooled before washing it with water to prevent discoloration.
15-inch Pizza Stone, Solid Cast Iron. TOTALLY FLAT. Heavy Duty
The surface is relatively flat to help your pizzas get a great form when finished. Plus, the exclusive no-rim structure will make your operation with your pizzas into and out of the oven in a snap. Besides, there are two handles accompanied to help you carry the pan easily and you can use it as a pizza serving tray.
Moreover, you don’t have to worry about the safety because the tool is tested several times to ensure that there are no toxic chemicals arising while using it in high temperature and the tool can resist rust and bacterial development for a long time. And, the implement measures 15” diameter, which provides you with a comfortable space to make your pizzas.
After producing pizzas, the tool will be easily cleaned as well as maintained with three steps: wash, dry and oil. The brand will give you a warranty for a lifetime survival of the tool if you simply follow this easy 3-step care instruction. Thus, your utensil will possibly remain in excellent condition over time and you won’t bother to buy another one.
For some notices, you have to cover the surface with cormeal or oil to make it easier for your pizzas’ sliding on and off the surface.
Pizzacraft Square Steel Baking Plate for Kitchen or Barbeque Grill, 14 by 14 – PC0308
The tool is totally made of stainless steel with rust free service and bacterial resistance to ensure that your family’s health is utter safe and you will feel more secure when enjoying your home-made pizzas. Plus, the material is high-quality and so durable that can last for a long time using without breaking or warping easily.
The product can absorb the moisture from your pizzas while spreading the heat evenly to make both crispier crust and perfectly baked toppings. After using, you can easily rinse it with water for cleaning. Besides, you can use this tool along with the pizza stone at the same time, which means that you will put the product with the pizza on the lower crack while the pizza stone are on the above one. Thus, the heat will redirect thanks to the stone to make a heat circulation so that your pizzas will be perfectly baked.
Besides, this tool can be hung on a wall hook for storing to save more space in your kitchen due to a hole at a corner of the product. However, before baking, you should preheat the plate at least 30 minutes and cover it with a little flour to take pizzas out when finished.
Beside these typical materials, there are some more materials with several outstanding characteristics on the market nowadays like Thermashock or core convection technology approved by FDA, which can help your pizza making not like a mess anymore. For some information, FDA stands for Food and Drug Administration. This is a federal agency of the United States Department of Health and Human Services whose approvals are super essential for every single product before being launched officially to the market to ensure that your health is utterly safe. Thus, if you are interested in this type of utensil and cares for your family, I have a particular collection of pizza stones Pans on my owned site.
Pizza pan
There has been a controversy between the pizza pan and pizza stone. Some people would like to use the pan rather than the stone, but others choose the opposite. Nothing in the world is flawlessly perfect, so there are always drawbacks along with the benefits of everything. And now, I will introduce to you the pros and cons of each utensil and the choice is yours.
For the pizza stone, you have to preheat it in the oven before putting the pizza on so that the stone can be heated entirely. Besides, the stone can absorb the moisture from your pizza, which can produce you with the crispier crust, but the toppings are perfectly baked. What’s more? You will form your pizzas on another counter before putting on the stone, so your pizzas will be freeform including any shapes like round, square, rectangular regarding to your creativeness. For that reason, the stone can vary many options of shape to meet your satisfaction.
However, when using the stone, you may suffer from hard cleaning because it is not very non-stick. Plus, this tool is somewhat vulnerable because It will break if you drop it. And, in summer with hot weather, the stone may take longer to get cool after baking the pizzas.
With the counterpart, it is relatively thin and lightweight in comparison with the stone. Due to the thinness, the pan will not take longer to be preheated, so you can put the raw pizzas right on it and take them to the oven together. Besides, the pan comes with the new version of perforated design to help it absorb the moisture to make the soft inner along with the crispier crust, so you don’t have to worry much about that. Plus, because the tool is not very heavy, you can carry it without much effort as well as the cleaning process is much easier than the stone thanks to the non-stick stainless steel.
Nevertheless, the pan also has some weaknesses. You cannot diversify the shapes as using the stone because the pan determines the size and shape of your pizzas. Unfortunately, there is a delay for the pan to get heated because it is put together with the pizzas into oven.
For some notices you should take, when purchasing the pizza pan, you have to mostly focus on the material like cast iron or stainless steel with the high non-stick rate to help you take out the pizzas easily. Besides, these materials can withstand the heat greatly up o 712F degrees or more, so the pizzas will be perfectly cooked. And, the tool with these materials will last a lifetime with your passion about pizzas, so you don’t bother to get another one.
Besides, you should consider the dimension of the pan because the size and shape of your pizzas will be determined properly by the pan. Thus, you can choose the large size one for variety of cases, but you have to check the dimension of your oven to get the most fitted pan because the pizzas need room for air circulation.
And, I would like to give you some typical pizza pans for your consideration:
New Star Foodservice 50837 Pizza Pan / Tray, Coupe Style, Aluminum, 16 inch
The product is available in many sizes from 8” to 20” diameter to perfectly fit to your oven. I think that if your oven is large enough, you should choose the product with large size for versatile usage for cooking both small and huge pizzas for your taste.
Besides, the gently sloped edge prevents the topping from spilling out and helps it cover the crust perfectly. And, the surface is relatively non-stick so that you don’t need to cover it with any oil or flour as well as it is easy to clean with water after using.
On the top of that, this one is the all-in-one pizza pan because you can prepare, bake, slice and serve on the same pan. How convenient and economical it is!!!
Chicago Metallic 16124 Professional Non-Stick Deep Dish Pizza Pan,14.25-Inch
The product is made of carbon steel which can take on heavy-duty in high temperature up to 600F degrees and this one is super strong and durable that can last for a life time without breaking or warping while using. Plus, the material is friendly to your health after being tested several times to help you feel more secure that no harmful things arise.
The surface is non-stick and silicone based to easily maneuver your pizzas and clean after using. Moreover, this one is safe to dishwasher, but I think that you should hand wash to prolong its life expectancy.
Plus, the tool can spread the heat evenly so that it can product perfectly cooked pizzas although your pizzas are a little thick.
Cuisinart AMB-14PP Chef’s Classic Nonstick Bakeware 14-Inch Pizza Pan
This product is made of aluminized steel that can take on heavy-duty easily without any damages. Besides, the material is carefully tested by the brand to make sure that it is super friendly to home use, so you don’t have to worry much about the safety.
The perforated surface help the tool can work well as a pizza stone, which means that it can produce a crispier crust because the heat can go through hundreds of holes leading to a continuous heat flow so that the pizzas can have enough heat for great bake.
Plus, the tool measures 14” diameter to greatly suit with most of standard ovens in the market. The surface is non-stick to help pizzas easily be taken out without ruin the topping as well as the golden crust. And the cleaning process is not as difficult as the pizza stone because you can toss it in to the dishwasher, but hand-washing is recommend to keep the tool last for a life.
If you are more satisfied with this tool rather than the stone, you can have more choices with my owned collection of pizza pans.
Because this is an overview, I just give you some basic information to consider when purchasing these items. However, you can get to some particular reviews for each item to have more detail. I hope that my work will somewhat help you to solve the problem when taking a first step in making pizzas.
