The Pizza Therapy Forum and Pasta Therapy Forum

neonneon · Joined: 05 Jul 2006 Posts: 5

Alas, I can not afford a brick pizza oven. So, I have been experimenting with cooking the 'za on the grill (charcoal).

In order to get the dough to cook evenly, I have to cook one side of the dough, flip it OVER and top the pizza (on the cooked side), then finish baking the pizza. The problem with this, is that my crust ends up very compressed... once I flip the pizza over, all of the lovely bubbles in the crust get smashed and disappear. If I top the pizza right away and DON'T flip it over, the bottom cooks PERFECTLY, but the top of the dough doesn't get fully cooked in time. Crying or Very sad

Any suggestions on how to cook the pizza on my Webber grill WITHOUT having to flip it over before topping it?

THANKS!

dfandreatta · Posted: Thu Jul 06, 2006 12:51 am Post subject:

When you say "compressed" just what do you mean? Is your dough normally thick and springy?

What you described is exactly what I do. While the first side is baking, I pop the bubbles with a fork. I do the crust to the degree of doneness I want, then flip it baked side up for the toppings.

One thing you really have to control when using charcoal is the heat. You want it very hot, and you have to watch your crust very closely. If you don't have enough heat, the baking time is going to be too long. You want a very hot fire.

neonneon · Joined: 05 Jul 2006 Posts: 5

dfandreatta · Posted: Sat Jul 08, 2006 8:35 pm Post subject:

I'm not a pro at this stuff. I do pizza on the charcoal grill almost exclusively now, and I don't see this problem.

I did do one recently with very little yeast, and it was pretty flat. Edible, yes; my best, no.

There are quite a few variables with this stuff. What dough recipe do you use, and how do you make your dough.

As I said, I am not a pro, but maybe someone can pick up on this and help you out.

slydog9us · Joined: 13 Jul 2006 Posts: 1

Would you recommend high heat(wide open)on a gas grill? Or is charcoal preferred? Sly

dfandreatta · Posted: Thu Jul 13, 2006 11:28 pm Post subject:

I prefer charcoal. I started with charcoal back in the dark ages, I graduated to gas grills, then I went back to charcoal. That's just it for me, I like it better.

Many say you want to bake your pizza at least at 500 degrees F, and I have seen as high as 700. Whatever you can get that gas grill to do..... I use a really hot fire.

Vince120 · Joined: 03 Jul 2006 Posts: 38

Hi Neonneon and DF, maybe I can help;

I grill pizza at home and at work, grilled pizza doesn't have "oven spring" (the additional amount the dough rises when placed in the oven for baking). Reason is that yeast is killed at about 138 degrees, and, the temp of your grill right at the grate when all warmed up is the 4 to 600 range of direct heat. The bubbles you see are actually steam pockets and should be broken. As a side note, the grill is a great place to take your pizza dough and make.... pita bread! Anyway, I believe there may be a solution for ya. You could par bake your dough in the oven to get the rise out of it (kinda like making your own Boboli crust) then top it and take it to the grill. Or you can insulate the dough slightly by not placing the dough right on the grid but instead placing it on an inverted cookie sheet that will fit inside your grill and bake it that way, but you give up the grill marks, and, might as well be baking it in your oven. One last thought, if you think you can put your baking stone on your grill, think again. That rock will get so hot that it'll burn any crust before the top is done unless you build a ridiculously low fire. (yes, i got that t-shirt MORE THAN ONCE).

hAPPY gRILLING

vINNY