Get on your tiptoes to take a sneaky peek of a Costco food court kitchen and you’ll likely spot the genius tool used to slice their pies into even portions — a pizza fence. This nifty, circular utensil is placed over each pizza before it’s sliced to ensure that all of the pieces are identically sized.
Similar to a cake portioner (which bakers place on top of gateaux to mark out evenly spaced lines that indicate where they should make their cuts), a pizza fence is a raised circular ring with downturned legs and equally placed divisions running straight through the center to the edge. Think of it like a metal pie chart that’s been split into equal segments. In between each division is a groove where a pizza wheel can be inserted to cut perfectly straight lines from one side to the other. These grooves act as a stable guide for the blade to glide across making it impossible for it to deviate and make an uneven cut, sort of like the bumpers at a bowling alley that prevent bowling balls from veering off. A raised pizza fence also has handles on either side and a large radius, which makes it big enough to sit over the top of an entire Costco pizza without disturbing the gooey cheese and toppings on the surface of the 18-inch pie.
A Costco pizza fence makes it easy to double cut a pie
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The foremost benefit of using a pizza fence to cut Costco pies is that it guarantees customers don’t feel short changed when they purchase their slice because every portion on the serving dish at the counter is the same size. What’s more, it’s perfect for double cutting a pizza. This is the term used for when a full sized pizza is cut into twice the regular number of slices, enabling those customers who have ordered an entire pie to get more mileage out of their cheesy circle of goodness. Costco pizzas are normally cut into six slices when bought as individual triangles or twelve when purchased as a whole pie. Thanks to the pizza fence, making those extra slender portions is a breeze — pizza chefs can simply lift the fence by the handles, turn it and place it back on top of the pie to make additional cuts along the grooves.
Easy to clean, pizza fences are available on Amazon and in restaurant supply stores in six and eight portion options, which means they’re likely used in other restaurants and cafes besides Costco. If you regularly make pizza at home and have the extra space to store one of these useful tools, they’d definitely make an awesome purchase because they can also moonlight as cutters for cheesecakes, quiches, tarts and more.
