How to Remove a Pizza from the Oven

Whether you cook a frozen or a homemade pizza, you want to be able to take it out of the oven without burning yourself or making a mess. There are a few tips about how to do this that you will find helpful.

Instructions

Difficulty: Easy

1. Cook pizza according to the manufacturer's or recipe's instructions. Place the pizza directly on the oven rack or use a pizza pan, pizza stone or parchment paper between the dough and rack.
2. Sit the pizza directly on the rack to cook it. When the pizza is ready to be removed, place an oven mitt over your hand and pull the rack out slightly. Use a pizza cutter or wooden spoon to move the hot pizza towards you as you slide it onto the cardboard it came with or onto a large plate.
3. Cook the pizza on a pizza pan to easily remove it from the oven when it has finished cooking. Cover your hands with oven mitts and open the oven door. Grab the pan carefully. Allow the pizza to cool slightly before you cut into it.
4. Use a pizza stone as you would a pan to cook the pizza. Remove the pizza with oven-mitt-covered hands and allow the pizza to cool. Slide the pizza onto another plate to keep it from continuing to cook on the stone.
5. Put the pizza on a piece of parchment paper--larger than the pizza--before cooking, sliding it onto the rack. When the pizza is finished cooking, carefully pull on the parchment to slide it towards you on the rack. Slide it onto a plate or cardboard piece as you pull it forward.

Tips & Warnings

• Avoid placing uncooked dough directly on the oven wrack. Use this method only when cooking a pre-baked pizza that can stand up without a pan.