Getting Pizza Out of the Pan

[gschwim]

Okay, I made my first square deep-dish pizza.  Now, how do I get the whole thing, intact, out of the pan?

[DNA Dan]

First of all, you should have used a lot of olive oil in the pan. If done properly, the crust will actually "pull" from the sides a little bit. If you lift up one end of the pizza out of the rim, you should be able to slide the pan out from underneath. I personally think a blackened seasoned pan work best.

If you didn't oil, then you're out of luck and you might as well get out the chisel

[gschwim]

Thanks, Dan.

That's what I tried.  I think I need to use a shallower pan than the 2" high cake pan that I was using.

[Pete-zza]

Gene,

You might want to invest in a pizza pan gripper like one of these: http://www.abestkitchen.com/store/pan-grippers.html. If you use the gripper and tilt the pan, you should be able to slide a spatula under the pizza and let it slide out onto a cooling rack. To prevent scratching your pan, you can put a piece of paper or cloth between the gripper and the pan, and also use a non-metal spatula. Or else get a plastic gripper, although I have never personally tried one.

Peter

[GIBBY]

With towel in off hand, Grab short edge of large square pan. Take metal spatula and slip edge between pie and all sides to separate pizza from sides of pan. Get your serving platter ready and tilt pan towards platter as you slide spatula underneath pie and lift out. The square pan should not be very far from platter-maybe 1-2 inches. If you are handy, you could do what my uncle did in his restaurant and have someone make handled wooden frames that the square pans fit into and you take that frame directly to the table and they use spatula to lift pieces right out of the pan. Similar to Pizza Hut.