One fine morning, you wake up wanting to eat a homemade pizza. Still, instead of using a standard oven, you would rather do it outside, in the fresh air, in the backyard with family or friends. What do you do? You can do it on your gas grill outside.
To cook pizza on a gas grill, you will need to make or purchase a pizza dough, prepare and put toppings on it. Preheat the pizza stone in the gas grill to 425-475F, depending on the durability of the pizza stone. Place pizza on the hot pizza stone sitting in a gas grill, and cook for 8-15 minutes, depending on the cooking temperature.
This is the right time to consider what is also called ‘The Emergency Oven’- your BBQ gas grill. Cooking outdoors not only serves as a new experience in good times but can also come in handy in the worst of times.
It is quite reassuring to know that you can pretty much cook anything on a gas grill, from boiling water to making a pizza. Even if you have an electric power outage, you can still cook pizza. And do not forget about the camping opportunities this represents!
Using a grill is a good choice. Pizzas are the best thing to make on a grill. It is easy, faster than many other grilled foods, and enjoyable. The grill may reach temperatures higher than a regular kitchen oven, which is better for making an excellent crusty pizza.
In this article, we cover all basics necessary for you to cook pizza on a gas grill, even if you are not an experienced chef.
How to Cook Pizza on a Gas Grill?
There are essentially three different methods to make a pizza using a Gas grill:
- On the pizza stone
- On bare grill grates.
- On a baking sheet or such other type of item.
Use a wide spatula or mobile surface that aids you in transferring the entire pizza in and out the pizza stone. This is to assist in the transfer of the pizza in and out of the grill.
Preliminary preparations:
Buy the pizza dough
We covered this topic extensively in our other pizza articles on this blog. You can buy them already made pizza dough, frozen in a grocery store, or fresh from mom-and-pop pizza-making places. Even large chains may sell you pizza dough.
If not, then you can use bread dough. But if you want to make the dough yourself, then see below.
Make or buy the crust.
You can also buy the crust online or in some grocery stores. Check around – some might have it. Or, make the crust yourself by creating and dough, flattening it, and pre-grilling crust lightly till very light golden brown before placing any toppings. But let us take it to step by step.
NECESSARY INGREDIENTS FOR PIZZA
- Lukewarm water -1/3 cup (Ensure it is not too hot, for it could kill the yeast. You should bathe them at a comfortable temperature!)
- Honey – 1 tsp (If you have some agave, then use that instead)
- Active yeast -1 tsp (Make sure it is far from moisture and is completely dry)
- Salt (Kosher Salt preferably) -1 tsp
- Flour -1 cup
- Olive oil -1 tbsp (It is preferable to use virgin oil, but if you do not have it, use the ordinary one)
- Pizza Sauce- 5 tbsp (NEVER use a watery sauce. You do not want a soggy pizza, do you?)
- Custom toppings (choose whatever you like, from cheeses, meats, olives to vegetables like tomatoes or pickles)
INSTRUCTIONS
Make the dough:
The first and foremost thing to make is a pizza base, which is essentially flattened dough. Be mindful of the expiry date of the yeast, for the results will not be as expected if they expired. To prepare the yeast mix, mix water and yeast in a clean bowl.
Add a pinch of sugar. Leave it alone for about 15-20 minutes. You should see a frothy texture if you did your duty correctly and checked the expiry date of the yeast box.
To make the actual dough, take a large bowl, add flour in it, and add some salt and the yeast mixture we prepared 20 minutes prior.
Add some olive oil and combine everything by mixing until you get a doughy texture – the dough ball should hold enough together when you take it out of the bowl. Then pizza dough is ready to be worked on.
Put a thin layer of flour on some clean, dry large surface and put the dough on. Knead it thoroughly for about 3 minutes and roll it into a ball.
Grease another bowl with cooking spray or just olive oil and cover the dough ball with the grease by tossing it around the bowl.
Take a clean towel and dip it in lukewarm water. Then press the towel as much as you can to remove extra water. Make sure the towel is not dripping.
Place a towel over the bowl with dough and let it sit for about 2 hours (depending on the weather, literally).
After two long hours, you should get two times the size of the dough you originally made.
Flatten the dough, leaving the edges rolled inwards if you do not want a thin-crust pizza.
Sprinkle with some flour periodically to avoid any annoyance from the stickiness.
Once ready, you can spray the pizza sauce all over the flattened dough – future pizza crust.
Add your toppings on top of that, and transfer everything onto the pizza stone after coating it with some oil.
Instructions for cooking your pizza on the grill
- You must begin your preheating process when your dough has already is still doubling up in size.
- Place the pizza stone inside your gas grill.
- Close it and heat it on medium-low flames.
- When your pizza is assembled, you put it on the stone directly
- Grill pizza for about 15-20 minutes until you see that crust has become golden brown, and toppings are cooked.
What temperature do you cook pizza on a gas grill?
You want your pizza to look beautiful on the outside and thoroughly cooked on the inside. Even cooking must always be the goal, mainly when you use raw vegetables for toppings. The
Temperature control can become quite tricky when you are cooking pizza on a gas grill. Because the required temperature depends on the grill you are using – maker, model, age, and so on.
But here are general recommended temperature settings for cooking pizza on a gas grill.
The temperature range used by different chefs is from 375 to 550 F degrees. Some chefs insist that the higher temperature is, the better. But we found that the consensus for the best temperature is around 425-475 F degrees.
When using indirect grilling, the temperature could be lower at about 375-425 degrees to avoid burning the crust. It might take longer, but it is worth it.
When using a pizza stone to make your pizza on a gas grill, the temperature should be higher at 450-500 F as the pizza stone must be heated well. Read below for details.
You should preheat the pizza stone for about 30 minutes and place the pizza in the grill after it reaches room temperature. Do not place cold refrigerated raw pizza straight onto the hot pizza stone directly on the hot grill as it may ruin the pizza. You may use a pizza peel to move pizza on and out of the grill.
Preheating is necessary in all cases, for about half an hour, or the pizza is ruined.
Once you put pizza on stone or directly on/in the grill, close the lid right away and wait until the temperature gauge reaches the desired temperature. Essentially, this creates an oven effect.
Still, you may cook frozen pizza on a gas grill. Read the instructions. You may thaw the pizza first at room temperature for 30-60 minutes.
If you use non-authentic but steel pizza stone, you can up the temperature to 500-600 F. Steel will distribute heat to pizza more evenly, and steel does not crack from sudden temperature changes. Read below for details.
Grilling methods and temperature summary:
Everything has style, even grilling. There are three options when choosing the grilling a pizza:
- As the name suggests, the direct method needs the pizza to be placed directly above the burners of the grill. Counter-intuitively, you may want to up the heat so that your pizza cooks faster and spends less time over the direct source of heat, reducing the chances of burning it.
- The indirect method has an indirect heat source that has a resemblance to your standard home oven. The indirect way suggests a lower temperature setting – 350-400F – and slow heating for pizza.
- The pizza stone method requires a half-hour stone preheat and then popping the pizza on the stone.
How to cook pizza on a gas grill with stone?
Can you use a pizza stone on a gas grill?
There is no simple answer to this question. Generally, you can use a pizza stone on a gas grill, but how well it will fare depends on the quality and durability of a pizza stone.
We have some information about types of pizza stones in another pizza-making article on this website.
A pizza stone will enhance the ease by preventing any stickiness and adds to the taste, as using a pizza stone is a proper way to cook pizza. Also, the stone helps to heat pizza more evenly, thus counterbalancing uneven grill heat distribution.
But some chefs or cooks do not use stone when grilling pizza because stones may crack. Please read below about it.
Will pizza stone crack on the grill?
Some reasons why pizza stone can crack on the grill are:
- Placing a cold pizza stone in a hot oven.
- Too much moisture within the pizza stone.
- Placing cold pizza on the pizza stone.
- Overuse of pizza stone.
- Removing it quickly from a hot oven.
- Too much heat.
You can prevent pizza stone cracking on the grill as follows:
- The sudden temperature change will cause thermal shock to the stone, therefore increasing the chances of cracking. You should counter that by preheating the stone on low-to-medium heat for at least 30 minutes, slowly, carefully, gently, and lovingly.
- Please wait until the stone cools down before removing it. Use a spatula to remove pizza from the grill while leaving the stone to cool down for 40-60 minutes.
- Minimal handling of the pizza stone. I know, this goes against the advice of moving pizza around for even cooking. You will need to find the balance depending on your specific grill.
- Do not oil or wash the pizza stone. This is a general rule for tone.
- Use warmer or room temperature pizza base (pizza dough base). Do not place frozen or fridge temperature raw pizza on the hot pizza stone.
- Use good quality stones. When buying, read the manufacturer’s instructions. Some stones are designed to withstand thermal shocks or high temperatures.
- You can use pizza stone made of modern, stronger materials (although not truly authentic pizza stones). You may use pizza steel stone for good brown crusting. Steel does not crack.
- But the truth is said, this is not a rule of thumb that pizza stones crack when used on a grill. May the pizza stone serve you for a long time!
Steps for making pizza on a grill with a pizza stone
Get your pizza stone according to your preferences.
Step 1: Choose the kind of dough you want to make your base. Most convenience stores provide you with different picks, usually located in the ‘Frozen’ section. If you are going healthy, then whole wheat is the better option. Make or buy your dough.
Step 2: Choose the sauce and toppings you want on your pizza. This depends on your taste, and honestly, you can customize it to your liking.
Make sure the sauce you pick is not watery, or else you will get a soggy boring pizza, and no one wants that. Expand your options. Make more than one if you can’t choose.
Step 4: Set raw dough aside to reach at room temp, if necessary. Or thaw it if frozen.
Step 5: If the dough is room temperature already, then stretch your dough and make a dough disc for the crust.
Step 6: Start the grill, set the temperature to 375-550, depending on your grill and type of pizza stone. Start preheating the pizza stone for at least 30 minutes while you work on pizza dough and cut and prepare toppings.
Step 7: While you are heating a stone, cover the dough pizza disc with a thin layer of sauce and place prepared toppings on it.
Step 8: Once the pizza stone is hot up to the level of grill temperature settings, you can get to cooking pizza by placing raw pizza with toppings on a hot pizza stone in a grill!
Indirect heating described earlier is the best method for pizza stone grilling. Remember, do not place cold pizza dough on a hot pizza stone!
Step 9: Be mindful that pizzas are quick to make on the grill. You may need to move the stone if the pizza gets browner, but toppings are not melted yet. Your pizza is ready when the crust gets brown, and cheese is melted.
Step 10: Enjoy the pizza!
What temperature do you cook pizza on a stone?
The temperature depends on the thickness of the dough and the durability of the pizza stone. The less thick the dough is, the higher the heat must be.
With the stone, it is recommended that your grill be preheated until it reaches 400 degrees.
After that, you should keep a constant heat of 400-450 degrees for about 10-15 minutes. This will make sure your pizza is cooked evenly and has a nice golden-brown color with cooked toppings and melted cheese.
But if your pizza stone is of excellent quality or made of steel, you may try to use higher heat – 500-600 F.
How long do you cook a pizza on a pizza stone?
You must cook it for about 8-15 minutes on a pizza stone, depending on the temperature you use. You may need to turn the pizza stone with the pizza around and watch out for that golden-brown crust.
Be mindful that pizzas are pretty quick to make on a grill, especially when you use a pizza stone. Do not lose track of time unless you want a burnt pizza.
How do you keep pizza from sticking to pizza stone?
When the pizza is sticking, it could be because the pizza stone was not preheated sufficiently, or it could be that the pizza stone is not hot enough.
The pizza stone should be made hot as much as that when you place your pizza over it, it should instantly start crisping on the outside without having a chance to do any sticking.
The primary reason for sticking is improper heat. Heat the grill oven properly before placing the pizza stone in it.
Suppose it sticks to the pizza peel, then you should dust the peel with little cornmeal or non-stick spray or flour. You can brush the pizza stone with a little bit of cornmeal or flour. Recall that too much cornmeal or flour may cause burnt crust. Just make a bit thin layer.
Shake the pizza a little before load in it into the oven. The ingredients over the pizza sometimes get loaded with several particularly wet ones causing a big mess. When you make use of tomato sauce, bring the sauce and toppings within just half a minute of placing the pizza on a hot stone to prevent sogging the toppings and pizza in it.
You can also use special baking parchment paper. The coating or the surface is treated to provide a non-stick surface and higher temperature resistance than a standard parchment paper. Slide it out before the bake is over.
On the other hand, I would avoid using parchment paper as it may not withstand the grill’s heat and will burn the pizza.
- You may buy non-stick pizza stones made from modern materials.
- The wet dough can also stick to a hot pizza stone. Hence, that is why you stretch the pizza dough into a disk on a surface with a thin layer of flour. See why now?
- Do not use oil for greasing pizza disks, as it may make things even worse.
- Let pizza crust a little before you start turning it on the stone.
Remember that we must place the pizza on the stone while the hit stone is in the grill. We do not remove a stone from the grill to put pizza on it.
How do you grill pizza without burning the bottom?
- Make sure your grill is clean.
- Some chefs recommend leaving some grill burners off to raise grill temperature slower to avoid burning pizza.
- Others also recommend oiling the bottom of the crust with olive oil.
- Do not put too much sugar as too much of it can cause a crust to burn.
- Do not put too much flour around the dough ball – just enough for a very thin transparent layer.
- Use indirect heat for less burning. For example, place pizza above the middle burner, turn off the middle burner and leave side burners. If using a large grill, turn on the middle burner, then move pizza to the side above the side burner, which you should keep turned off.
- Check the bottom of the pizza while grilling.
- If necessary, move pizza around with a spatula to prevent it from over-burning one side while undercooking another. But not in the first 4-5 minutes.
- Leaving the lid closed for the first 5-8 minutes will help distribute more evenly around the pizza. Even heat is less likely to result in the burned crust.
- Do not use too much heat as, unlike the oven, the grill does distribute heat evenly. Heat comes from the bottom. Use temp settings lower than 500 F.
- Do not place cold or frozen pizza dough on the grill. Thaw it or warm it up slightly in the microwave or under room temperature.
- You may place pizza on additional stone or stone on top of grates higher closer to the dome if pizza crust keeps burning. Or reduce the heat next time.
- Once you see pizza starts burning, shut off the grill, close the lid, and leave it for 5-10 minutes to finish off without a source of heat.
You can read more about how to avoid burning your pizza in another article on our blog.
How to cook frozen pizza on a gas grill?
Cooking pre-made frozen pizza on a grill saves plenty of time and because you do not need to mess with making dough and preparing toppings for pizza.
As a rule, you should use lower temperature settings if you cook the frozen pizza to avoid ruining it. Frozen and not thawed pizza should be grilled at about 375-400 F for about 15-20 minutes, away from direct flames below it, as it will drip water. This should be enough to allow you to cook pizza from frozen one.
Frozen pizza is excellent for large parties as you can quickly cook many pizzas like that. Grilling frozen pizza on a gas grill has nuances which you should keep in mind.
I prefer to buy premade frozen pizza crust. Then I would put my sauce, my fresh toppings on the frozen pizza crust and cook it. Sausages, kielbasa, tomatoes, pineapples – you name it. You are the boss!
Here are instructions for cooking frozen pizza on a gas grill:
- First, preheat the empty grill with the closed lid for 10-15 minutes at about 400 F degrees.
- Take frozen pizza, unwrap it, and add any extra toppings if you want.
- Use a spatula to put a pizza in the grill to the side of the working burner. Some chefs prefer to cook frozen right above the burner by turning down the heat a little after placing the pizza in the grill.
- Close the lid, and let it cook for about 7-12 minutes.
- Now use a spatula to rotate pizza half-time in the process of cooking it on a grill. Turning pizza in the grill will make sure pizza is cooked evenly.
- Close the lid and wait about another 7-12 minutes while the pizza is cooking.
- Once the crust becomes brown and cheese has melted, your pizza is ready.
- Take the pizza out of the grill with a spatula, and let it cool down 5-10 minutes on the table.
- You will cook it on indirect heat, although some cooks place pizza right above the working center burner, cooking directly above the burner.
- Be cautious of the heat when rotating or removing pizza from the grill. Use a metal spatula.
Useful Tips for cooking frozen pizza on a gas grill
The exact time for cooking pizza depends on your specific grill, the thickness of the pizza, and toppings. Cooking on indirect heat will take a little longer than direct. Thicker pizza will cook for about 1.5 times longer than a thin one.
For example, thin pizza with few toppings may be ready in a total of 6-8 minutes on a grill. Thick pizza with plenty of toppings may take 15 minutes or longer to cook on a grill.
Generally, chefs recommend using a thermometer to check the temperature when cooking frozen pizza on a grill. Pizza’s internal temperature should reach 160 F degrees to be ready. This temperature is also necessary for food poisoning safety reasons.
If crust became brown but cheese has not melted yet, turn on low or turn off the heat entirely and let grill with pizza stand for 5-10 minutes. You will avoid burning crust while still letting cheese melt and ingredients to cook through.
Suppose you have a large party and cook several pizzas simultaneously on a single grill. In that case, you may need a little bit more time until your pizzas are ready.
We already explained that you should not put a frozen pizza on an authentic pizza stone in a grill as a hot stone may break from thermal shock.
That is because you must preheat the pizza stone in the grill to make it hot. And its fragile stricture may break when it suddenly comes in contact with very cold frozen pizza.
You have several ways of grilling frozen pizza with or without a pizza stone.
- You can thaw the frozen pizza for 2-3 hours and bring it up to least to room temperature before putting on a pizza stone in a grill. Although, this method adds extra hassle. Alternatively, you can microwave pizza to thaw it.
- You may put pizza on a cold stone in a grill and then heat them together. This is also popular, but pizza may come out quite differently for different people using this method.
- Use steel pizza stone, artificial material stone, or other similar items instead of an authentic fragile pizza stone. Nowadays, manufacturers make pizza stone from materials that can withstand thermal shock.
- Grill frozen pizza without pizza stone. You may grill frozen pizza directly on grill grates on indirect heat by moving pizza to the side from the flaming burner. Note that frozen pizza will release some water dripping down.
- If you place pizza directly on grill grates, then use aluminum foil to prevent grates from the burning crust.
Conclusion
This is how to cook pizza on a gas grill on a pizza stone or spatula. While by no means comprehensive, you now have covered all the basics of making your pizza on a gas grill.
Now, you can experiment with toppings and the size of your pizza as much as you please. Try to make a couple of good pizzas on a grill before you invite your friends or family. Everything requires some training, including cooking pizza on a gas grill.