How to Cook a Perfect Pizza on the Grill
Alright, so if you love pizza, and you love to bbq, you may be wondering how to cook pizza on the grill. And hey, even if the thought never crossed your mind, I’ve got some good news for you! I’ve done it, it was delicious and you can do it too!
Everything seems to taste better when it’s cooked on the grill. Whether it’s perfectly seasoned chicken, fresh crisp vegetables or a mouth watering steak, the bbq just seems to add that extra layer of flavor that can’t be beat. Or at least that’s my opinion.
Provided that you already have a grill, gas or charcoal, it doesn’t matter, there are only a couple of things that you will need in order to cook pizza on the grill. Luckily these items are easy to find and generally inexpensive.
Thing You’ll Need to Grill Your Pizza
First of all, and most importantly you will need a decent pizza stone. Pizza stones are available in a wide variety of sizes and typically come as either a circle or squares. Just take note of the total surface area of your grill, as you will want to find a pizza stone that is able to sit flat on the grill, and be big enough to cook a 12 to 14 inch pizza.
Second, and there are substitutions for this, but ideally you’ll have a 14 – 16 inch pizza peel. The pizza peel is important because it allows you to transfer the freshly prepared pizza, from your kitchen, onto the hot pizza stone on the grill.
Now, if you don’t have a pizza peel, or paddle, you can use a rimless baking sheet to get the pizza onto the grill. Or, I suppose if you’re really in a pinch you could use the bottom side of a standard baking sheet. I’ve not tested the last option and I foresee a challenge as the pizza may have a tendency to roll as it slides off the baking sheet, and besides, you’ll want something suitable to peel the pizza off the pizza stone once it’s done cooking.12
How to Cook a Delicious Sweet Smokey Hawaiian Pizza on the Grill
And yes, I realize that this is somewhat controversial, but I’m going to use pineapple on my pizza. Hahaha. Having said that, one of the beautiful things about pizza is that you can substitute any, or all of the toppings to make your very own special creation. Just have fun with it!
By Josh @ The Quick Dish
Serves 4 – 6
Prep Time: 30 Minutes
Grill Time: 15 to 20 Minutes
Ingredients:
- 1 ball of your favorite prepared pizza dough, approximately 1 pound
- ½ a purple onion finely chopped
- 1 green pepper thinly sliced
- 200 grams of medium slices ham
- (optional) Either 1 grilled chicken breast, or up to 3 boneless grilled chicken thighs
- 3 strips of cooked bacon, coarsely chopped
- Either freshly sliced pineapple bits, or 1 can of pre-chopped pineapple bits
- Approx 8 ounces of pizza sauce, I often use a pre-made sauce.
- Up to 2 cups of Mozzarella cheese, or half and half cheddar cheese
- Triple Smoke – Sweet Smokey Heat spice blend
- Unbleached all purpose flour
- Corn meal (optional. However I find it really helps the pizza slide off the peel onto the pizza stone)
Instructions:
1. Prepare the dough
If you’re the kind of person who makes their own pizza dough, well, you’re already way ahead of the game. Personally, I buy my dough pre-made and refrigerated.
Assuming you are dealing with refrigerated dough, let it stand for about an hour or even two before attempting to roll it out. Letting it stand makes it much easier to deal with.
Dust the counter with a nice coating of flour so you can work the dough and shape your pizzas. I like to split the dough into two pieces as I prefer thin crust, and they are much easier to manage this way as well. It really all depends on how thick you like your crust and how big your pizza peel, and pizza stones are.
2. Preheat the grill
You definitely want to start with a medium temperature, with the stones in place on the grill. Preheat your grill to around 375° to 450°F. It shouldn’t take more than 10 minutes to reach that temperature with the grill lid closed.
3. Prepare the pizza toppings
Pizza toppings are an entirely personal preference. I like my toppings nice and thinly sliced. So go ahead and slice up the onion and pepper.
** A note about the chicken. I like to add bbq chicken to my pizza, and this has worked best for me is if I have bbq chicken the night before, the leftover chicken makes a great protein addition to the pizza.
Also, I love bacon on my pizza. Who doesn’t love bacon?? If you find yourself cooking up some bacon and eggs earlier in the day, toss in a few extra strips of bacon to use later on pizza. If not, no worries, heat up a skillet on the stovetop and add three strips of your favorite bacon.
Once the bacon is cooked, pat it down with some paper towel to remove the excess grease and let cool before coarsely chopping. Grate your cheese and chop the pineapple bit down a bit if necessary. A helpful hint with the pineapple is to soak up the excess juice with a paper towel so as not to make the pizza soggy.
4. Prepare the pizza peel
With all the ingredients chopped and prepared, it’s time to put your masterpiece all together. First, dust the pizza peel with a nice coating of either flour, or corn meal. I use corn meal, it seems to work better with the stainless steel pizza peel I have.
The flour, or corn meal will allow the pizza to slide off the peel, onto the pizza stone. Make sure to cover the peel well, the last thing you want is for the pizza to stick as you’re trying to transfer it to the stone.
5. Prepare the pizza
Carefully lift your rolled out pizza dough and place it on the pizza peel. Spoon on some pizza sauce and spread it across the entire surface of the dough, right out to the edge. I like to sprinkle on a little cheese next, and then lay on the sliced ham.
Next, sprinkle on the finely chopped opinion and green pepper. If you have BBQ chicken on hand, add some now. At this point, I like to add some cheese, just enough to bind the toppings. Add the pineapple and bacon next.
Then the secret (not so secret) Ingredients. Sprinkle on the Triple Smoke, Sweet Smokey Heat spice blend. I’ll provide a link and discount for the spice blend. Finally, top off the pizza with a nice layer of cheese.
6. Cooking the pizza on the grill
Carefully transfer the pizza from the pizza peel, onto the pizza stone. If you added enough flour, or corn meal, the pizza should slide off the peel onto the pizza stone. Close the lid to the BBQ and let it cook for about 7 minutes.
Lift the lid and have a quick look to make sure it is not burning. A bit of smoke is normal as the flour, or corn meal will burn a bit. If you’re worried, gently slide the pizza peel under the pizza and have a look. Close the lid and let cook until the cheese starts to turn a nice golden brown.
The total cook time should be no more than 12 minutes. Remove the pizza from the pizza stone and transfer to a large wooden cutting board to sit for a few minutes. Cut into wedges and serve.
Repeat for pizza number two. Enjoy!
