mschrock
08-01-2010, 08:49 PM
After reading for most of the weekend about pizza on the grill, tonight was my first go at it.
Made the dough yesterday, and let it rest overnight in the fridge. OMG, it was the best dough I've ever made. I followed the recipe from http://www.101cookbooks.com/archives/001199.html. I used my bread machine to make the dough, since we don't have a mixer with dough hooks and I'm far too lazy to do it by hand. I simply weighed out the ingredients and dumped them into the machine, used the dough cycle, and when it was finished mixing and the first knead, I removed it and followed the recipe. I divided the dough into size portions and froze half.
We already had a 16" pizza stone, that my wife and I had received as a wedding gift. I think that it came from Bed Bath and Beyond. I've used it numerous times in the oven over the past few years. But this was to be the first time on the grill. I have a lowly 18.5" weber kettle, and the stone fits nicely on the cooking grate. It's not that thick, but it will have to do until it breaks...
http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4140/4851614578_4a079e758b_b.jpg
Prep.
I started one chimney of kingsford charcoal, and when flames started coming out the top of the chimney, I dumped the coals into the kettle. Spread them out and quickly put the cooking grate, stone, oven thermometer, and lid. I immediately started a second chimney of charcoal, and eagerly waited to see how hot the grill would get with the first load. After 15-20 minutes the second batch of charcoal was ready, and the stone was at 500F. I added the second load, and proceeded to assemble the first pizza. After another 20 minutes the stone was at 550F, and the first pizza went on.
http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4093/4851620714_9f7bd12ba6_b.jpg
Cooking.
I had three ~12 inch pizzas to cook. The grill slowly increased in temperature as the cook went on. By the last pizza it was running at 600F There was plenty of heat. I could have cooked into the night!
http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4102/4851628522_98b01d2d65_b.jpg
I used cornmeal to allow the pizza to slide off the wooden peel, and it really burnt. Next time I will use semolina flour, as the cornmeal imparted a bitter burnt flavor to the crust, and was not friendly to remove the burnt residue between pizzas. Cook time was about 4-5 minutes, and the crust was browning on the bottom, and the top was light, the toppings were done, with the green peppers being slightly crunchy. all in all, if the crust hadn't had picked up the burnt flavor of the cornmeal, it would have been perfect.
Made the dough yesterday, and let it rest overnight in the fridge. OMG, it was the best dough I've ever made. I followed the recipe from http://www.101cookbooks.com/archives/001199.html. I used my bread machine to make the dough, since we don't have a mixer with dough hooks and I'm far too lazy to do it by hand. I simply weighed out the ingredients and dumped them into the machine, used the dough cycle, and when it was finished mixing and the first knead, I removed it and followed the recipe. I divided the dough into size portions and froze half.
We already had a 16" pizza stone, that my wife and I had received as a wedding gift. I think that it came from Bed Bath and Beyond. I've used it numerous times in the oven over the past few years. But this was to be the first time on the grill. I have a lowly 18.5" weber kettle, and the stone fits nicely on the cooking grate. It's not that thick, but it will have to do until it breaks...
http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4140/4851614578_4a079e758b_b.jpg
Prep.
I started one chimney of kingsford charcoal, and when flames started coming out the top of the chimney, I dumped the coals into the kettle. Spread them out and quickly put the cooking grate, stone, oven thermometer, and lid. I immediately started a second chimney of charcoal, and eagerly waited to see how hot the grill would get with the first load. After 15-20 minutes the second batch of charcoal was ready, and the stone was at 500F. I added the second load, and proceeded to assemble the first pizza. After another 20 minutes the stone was at 550F, and the first pizza went on.
http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4093/4851620714_9f7bd12ba6_b.jpg
Cooking.
I had three ~12 inch pizzas to cook. The grill slowly increased in temperature as the cook went on. By the last pizza it was running at 600F There was plenty of heat. I could have cooked into the night!
http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4102/4851628522_98b01d2d65_b.jpg
I used cornmeal to allow the pizza to slide off the wooden peel, and it really burnt. Next time I will use semolina flour, as the cornmeal imparted a bitter burnt flavor to the crust, and was not friendly to remove the burnt residue between pizzas. Cook time was about 4-5 minutes, and the crust was browning on the bottom, and the top was light, the toppings were done, with the green peppers being slightly crunchy. all in all, if the crust hadn't had picked up the burnt flavor of the cornmeal, it would have been perfect.