Pizza cutters tend to lose their acuteness very easily since they are not made to be that sharp in the first place. This handy accessory loses its edge after a couple of uses; thus, it’s important to know how to sharpen a pizza cutter.
Unfortunately, sharpening your regular knife is much easier than a pizza cutter due to its wheels and circular shape.
Keep in mind that different types of pizza cutters are made of different materials and might not be suitable for sharpening.
Hence, I’ll discuss, in this post, how to sharpen your pizza cutter to help boost your pizza-slicing dexterity.
Can You Sharpen a Pizza Cutter?
Most people know that you can sharpen knives, but did you know that you can also sharpen pizza cutters? If your pizza cutter is not cutting through cheese or crust, it may be time for a new blade. You can find the appropriate sharpening stone at any hardware store. Just wet the blade of the pizza cutter with water, rub some soap on it, and then use the sharpening stone to remove metal from the blade.
Kitchen IQ Red Pizza Wheel Sharpener
I love this product! The Kitchen IQ Red Pizza Wheel Sharpener is easy to use and does not require any additional tools. The surface has a non-slip base for stability and quickly realigns and polishes the edge. It can sharpen most styles of pizza wheels and I am confident that it will work on mine. I recommend this product to anyone who needs their pizza wheel sharpened or wants to keep it sharp.
How To Sharpen a Pizza Wheel?
If you have a dull pizza wheel, then slicing your pizza might just be frustrating. Thus, let’s check out the ways to regain your pizza cutter’s edge.
Knife Sharpener
Today, it’s pretty common to find a knife sharpener in every kitchen, but these appliances exist in different kinds. This means, only knife sharpeners that allow users to slide their knives through are the ideal choice.
The pizza wheel’s rotating blades make regaining the edges tricky and challenging with most types of knife sharpeners. Consequently, it’s better to choose the right knife sharpener by asking the sales attendant or making adequate research before splurging on one of these.
Whetstone
A whetstone is a sharpening tool for regaining different metal tools’ acuteness, including pizza cutters and knives. This tool often features a flat surface and is available in a plethora of grit options that determine the stone’s coarseness or fineness.
Place the whetstone on your desired angle before you start grinding the wheel of the pizza cutter. All you’ve to do is grind the wheel’s edge, but you should expect a learning curve because of its round shape.
Puck sharpener
The puck sharpener is a bit similar to the traditional whetstone discussed above. In fact, they have almost the same working principle – the only difference is that puck sharpeners are hand-held.
Despite not being the appropriate sharpening tool for your pizza cutter, the puck sharpener is said to offer a more decent performance compared to the whetstone.
Belt grinder
If you need an option with a bit of power, then you can go wrong with a belt grinder. This cutting tool is best used for sharpening and finishing metal products. That’s not the only reason why people opt for the belt grinder. This option offers incredible ease of use. Nonetheless, it would help if you were careful when using this tool because of its spinning edge.
Sadly, the price and size can be a deal-breaker for people looking to purchase an effective tool for sharpening their pizza cutters. If regaining your pizza cutter is all you want, then purchasing the belt grinder might not be the best idea.
Pizza Cutter Sharpener
The name of this tool should give you enough insight into why it earns a spot on our list. These tools are designed for the sole purpose of sharpening your pizza wheels with the least effort. With the pizza cutter sharpener, you don’t need to worry about imperfect slice cuts and cluster toppings.
More so, it’s very easy to use and nearly impossible to create a mess. Its simple sharpening mechanism is another thing to love about this tool. It requires you to roll the cutter’s wheel across the tool.
The pizza cutter sharpeners share a similar working principle to the knife sharpeners and are intended for sharpening the pizza wheel’s rotating blade.
Honing steel
Unlike a draw-through sharpener, the honing steel is a much faster way of regaining your cutter’s acuteness since it allows you to work on more of the blade edge.
When sharpening your pizza cutter, place the beveled side up on your left hand and use your two fingers to keep the wheel’s backside stable and flat. With your right hand, grab the honing steel at the apt angle matching the bevel of the cutting edge of your pizza cutter.
Pizza Cutter Wheel
The best sharpening options for people with a pizza cutter wheel include a Knife Sharpener, Whetstone, Puck Sharpener, and Belt Grinder.
Pizza Cutter Blade
The knife sharpener and whetstone are the two best options for sharpening a pizza cutter blade.
Why Do Pizza Cutters Become Dull?
Pizza cutters do not hold their sharp edge for a long time and get dull after a couple of uses. So, if you are wondering why your pizza cutter becomes dull easily, here are a few reasons:
Low-quality materials
Cheap pizza cutters are not designed to be durable and have poor edge retention. An economical wheel cutter might even lead to imperfect slices and ruin your pizza. Also, not all materials can be sharpened. Therefore it’s best to purchase a pizza cutter made of steel.
Equally important, you shouldn’t just purchase a pizza cutter because it’s expensive but of high-quality construction.
Wrong use
Using your cutter in the wrong way might be another underlying reason. It’s advisable not to slice your pizzas on hard surfaces such as stone or plastic. We recommend using a wooden platform to help retain your blade’s edge.
Poor storage
This is often ignored but plays an integral part in edge retention. The pizza cutter shouldn’t be kept with other kitchen tools in your drawer. The blade tends to get damaged as it hits other cutlery or kitchen accessories.
Another likely scenario that might be experienced due to poor incorrect storage is chipping off of the blade. This damages the blade, which leads to poor slicing performance, which might render this tool useless.
Frequently Asked Questions and Answered
What can you use a pizza cutter for?
People often associate pizza cutters with just one purpose: cutting pizzas. However, they can be combined with other kitchen utensils to create new and exciting dishes. For example, a bread knife can be used to cut bread, but it can also be used to cut tomatoes and mozzarella cheese. A pizza cutter can also be used to cut sandwiches in half.
What surfaces are best to use a pizza cutter?
In recent years, there has been a shift in the materials used for cutting pizza. Instead of using traditional metal cutters, many people are now opting to use a wooden board and a ceramic pizza wheel. It turns out that this is largely due to the health implications of using metal cutters that can harbor bacteria from raw chicken or raw beef. With a ceramic pizza cutter, you don’t have the issue of cross-contamination from poultry or beef.
Can I use my pizza cutter on a stone?
We are often asked, “Can I use my pizza cutter on my stone?” with the answer being, “No!” Pizza cutters are not made to be used on stones. The material is too hard for the tool and it will cause your blade to become dull quickly. After a period of time, you will have to purchase a new cutter because the old one will just break off.
Wrapping It Up
There are dozens of ways to sharpen a pizza cutter. But it’s important that you opt for an option that’s most comfortable for you. In this post, we’ve discussed a couple of simple ways to regain and retain your cutter’s edge.
Above all, you should only splurge on a sustainable and durable pizza cutter. That being said, I hope you found this guide helpful.