Stone Fired Pizza on the Grill

If you're looking for a crowd pleaser then look no further- everyone loves getting a chance to make their own pizza and getting to cook it on a hot stone on the grill is even better. We hope you enjoy this guide as much as we enjoyed making these pizzas with our family.

Ingredients:

• Pizza dough (If you're feeling adventurous, you can make your own, otherwise you should be able to find pre-made dough at your local bakery or grocery store)
• Flour
• Pizza sauce
• Cheese (If you want to up your game, buy some artisanal cheeses and grate them at home.  Old aged cheddar is one of my favorites)
• Toppings of your choice.  Some ideas we suggest (you don't need all of them):
• Meats
• Pepperoni
• Charcuterie
• Sausage
• Bacon
• Prosciutto
• Onions
• Mushrooms
• Cherry tomatoes sliced in half
• Arugula (has nice peppery notes)
• Olives

Directions:

To start, prep all of your toppings and get them ready to go in little bowls or plates so that people can easily put toppings on their pizza when the dough has been stretched out.

Now fire up your grill and put the pizza stone right on to warm up.  You want to get the internal temperature of your BBQ to 600°F.  Give your stone 15 minutes to heat up so your stone is evenly heated and hot enough to bake your pizza from the crust all the way through to the center.  Ideally, use an infrared thermometer to check the temp of the surface of your stone so you know it's around 600°F. 

Before you get started prepping your dough, sprinkle a generous dusting of flour on the surface you're going to be working on.  This is a critical step otherwise you dough is going to stick to the counter top and you won't be able to slide it onto the peel/shovel to carry it to the grill (I learned this the hard way).  Start with the round ball of dough and using both hands, just press down in the middle to slowly start stretching it out.  Keep going until you have stretched the dough to the size and thickness you want.

Now for the fun part - topping your pizza to make your own one of a kind creation.  Traditionally, you start by spreading a thin layer of sauce over the dough followed by the cheese and then move onto the toppings.   

Okay, now for the tricky part - getting the pizza onto your pizza peel.  Get your peel and sprinkle some flour over it.  Now put the peel flush with the surface the pizza and move it towards the dough.  When the peel touches the edge of the dough this is where you need to move quickly.  As quickly as you can, shove the peel under your pizza - if you've used the right amount of flour it should slide on fairly cleanly. 

Take the pizza over to the pre-heated stone on the grill and slide the dough back off the peel onto the middle of the stone and close the hood to your grill.  Depending on the thickness of your dough, you should only need 3-4 minutes of cooking.  You'l know it's done when you stick your peel under the pizza and the crust is firm.  Remove it from the stone, put it on a cutting board and slice it up.  

Voila, your stone fired pizza on the grill is ready for you to devour it.

 

 

Gear:

Here's the gear you'll need to make stone fired pizza on the grill:

• Pizza Stone
• Pizza Peel / Shovel
• Infrared Thermometer
• Pizza cutter/slicer