Grilled Pizza Margharita
I tried making the grilled pizza margharita featured last week on WildYeast over the weekend. The recipe makes two pizzas so I grilled one Friday night and the second, Saturday for lunch.
Friday night's pizza was about a 10" round. I had difficulty getting our gas BBQ to heat evenly (it has three elements running front to back but the backs of all three are hotter than the fronts). Consequently, it cooked too fast, got too brown on the back side, and was slightly underdone in the middle (didn't cook all the way through).
To remedy the problem I decided to make Saturday's pizza into a rectangle and lower the heat so it would cook all the way through. My second attempt was much more successful: nothing got burned and the pizza dough was cooked all the way through.
Grilled pizza is definitely different than its oven baked cousin. It was thicker and the crust had a nice crunch, but the flavor of the mozzarella just seemed a little blah on the grill. Would I make it again? Yes, but with a stronger topping, e.g., sausage and firmer, perhaps marinated mozzarella or pesto and shrimp. It was nice not to have to preheat the oven for an hour on a day when the temperature was nearly 100ºF here!
--Pamela
Comments
Pamela, Your grilled pizza looks great! It's not easy regulating the heat/flames! I like the charring part just adds to the rustic way it was grilled but even that seems like it would be harder to control without the use of a pizza stone..look out Bobby Flay..for you first experiment..you did wonderful. Most the of the pizza's I have seen done directly on the grills are very successful useing a very thin cracker like crust! What do you think about baking one directly on a thin pizza stone in the bar-b-que or maybe adding some oak chips for that nice smokey flavor on your cheeses? It would add maybe the flavor you say is lacking! I know what you mean about moving the cooking and baking outside..it's been warming up here..I just turned my air on yesterday for the first time..summer has arrived!
I thought this was pretty cool from Williams Sonoma..expensive though about 65 to 75 dollars!
Sylvia
I did try a stone on the grill once. Unfortunately I put parchment under it and the whole pizza caught on fire. Plus I had the stone too hot. I've seen that device that you have. I bet it works pretty good. I might try using the stone in the BBQ again but sans parchment and with a lower heat. The pizza did have a smokey flavor to its crust just not to its topping. I might have just had some weak mozzarella. I have found that its quality varies depending on which brand I select.
--Pamela
That sounds great you got your stone good and hot just maybe a little to hot..just gotta find that sweet spot between the bottom getting charred just right and the top crown browning and cheeses getting and melted just right!...should make a great pizza. I think I would try getting it on the stone without the parchment paper when doing it on the grill. Do you have a super-peel? That would work great if don't want to try sliding it off of a floured peel?
Sylvia
No super peel. I can get it onto the stone without parchment, I just was acting stupid that night! The next time it's hot on a Friday night, I'll try the BBQ stone way again.
--Pamela
Pamela, I don't have this pizza stone from WS!..I just thought it was pretty cool!
I wondered how you pull up that picture of a pizza on the stone so fast. :-)
--Pamela
That's WS photo add for the stone..I can whip out a lot of pizzas at once but I'm not that fast..Ha,ha! I think if you wanted your stone a little higher from the grates like this photo..maybe just put some fire bricks on the the ends of the pizza stone!
Firebricks! That's a good idea. I'll let you know how it goes next time. It's cooled off here tonight--fog, nature's air conditioning--has rolled in.
--Pamela
the leaves add rich color to your pizzas. great job! i've never grilled pizza (baked one from KAF just this weekend, it was so-so).
thanks for sharing!
The basil is from one of the plants that has yet to get planted. We got everything else in a couple of weeks ago but the basil is still sitting there.
--Pamela
Nice lookin' pizza Pamela. It's always a favorite around here. Grilling it outside has a certain woodsy appeal. Dave
Thanks, Dave. I was happy I didn't burn it up this time. A few months ago I had a real disaster.
--Pamela
There is nothing wrong with grilling a pizza ON the grill. It does require slightly tougher/lower hydration dough but the effect is superb with a unique smoky flavor and crisper crust than wood fired ovens (if you do it right) and avoids all sorts of jury rig issues or long preheats for the stones. I have a WFO and use it routinely but I enjoy the grill as a different kind of pizza - especially in the summer when it is too hot to be out on my open patio for extended periods.
Biggest trick is to either wipe the grill with oil or spray it with Pam (be careful with sprays!) If you have problems simply put in on the grill on a cookie sheet until the bottom sets. Flip it to cook the other side. I cook one side harder than the other which will be the top. Pull the dough, put the toppings on the more cooked side, and set it on the hot (but cooler side of the grill to finish cooking. (It helps to have a three or four burner grill so one side is on high and one on low. You will probably have to rotate the pizza.) Gives a great pizza!
Using a dough recipe with a bit of oil can also help with sticking. As can starting with a CLEAN grill!
Good Luck and hope some find this useful!
Jay
I agree, Jay. Your advice is more or less what I did on my second try and it came out fine.
--Pamela