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Even for something as simple and delicious as a batch of brownies, an easy and clever kitchen hack is always useful. Those who have stood over a cooled pan of brownies with a knife know that it can be nerve-wracking or even downright difficult to cut them evenly or cleanly. Instead of Insta-worthy treats, bakers can be left with delicious, albeit uncleanly cut brownies because a knife wasn’t sharp enough or they stuck to the pan.
Fortunately, do-it-all foodist Alton Brown has an answer for that. Brown, who has a whole bag of cooking tricks up his sleeve, gets clean-cut brownies with the help of a pizza cutter, which he detailed in his recipe for cocoa brownies. Yes, the pizza cutter is prized for its ability to cut through peppers, pepperoni, and cheese with ease. But it can be a jack-of-all-trades that cuts through brownies without ripping or tearing the sweet treats.
Brown told Fast Company that his favorite cutter is the Zyliss Pizza Wheel. It can cut through a pan of brownies in just a few slices in one direction, creating uniformly sized brownies without having to hack away at them. Brown’s preference for pizza cutters isn’t limited to just brownies, either. He also uses it to slice up perfectly square burger patties for his favorite take on sliders, as he shared on “Good Eats: Reloaded.”
A pizza cutter can be used for more than just brownies
With pizza in its name, a pizza cutter can undoubtedly cut a freshly baked pie into perfect slices. However, a pizza cutter can also be one of the most versatile tools in the kitchen. As Alton Brown demonstrates, a quality pizza cutter can breeze through desserts like butter, but it can also be used for plenty more to make prepping and cutting a lot easier.
For perfectly cut, uniform pieces of cheese, a pizza cutter can be the go-to tool. After using it to slice a block of cheese in half, the cutter can slice the halves into bite-sized pieces that fit perfectly on a charcuterie board. With a few slides of a pizza cutter, cooks of all abilities can save time and frustration from cutting abnormally-sized slices or slivers with knives that aren’t equipped for the job.
A pizza cutter can also quickly become a salad lover’s best friend because it can significantly cut down on the time spent prepping ingredients for a chopped salad. Rather than lining up an endless parade of ingredients on a cutting board, salad preppers can toss their salad accouterment into a bowl and slice away with a pizza cutter until they reach the desired chop size.
