How to Grill Pizza – 7 Tips for the Best Grilled Pizza

Now that Memorial Day is approaching, and Summer is right around the corner, many pizza and foodie fans will be starting up their grills for the first time.  There isn't a better time to try out making a delicious grilled pizza.  Pizza is the perfect food for gatherings small and large, or even just a normal weekday family dinner.

Grilling pizza has an additional benefit - it doesn't heat up the house during the Summer months!  Here are Pizza MacGyver's 7 tips for the best grilled pizza:

1)  It’s all about the oil.  Normally I use olive oil in my standard pizza dough, however olive oil doesn’t work as well when subjected to the higher heat that your grill provides.  For this reason, I use organic virgin sunflower oil when grilling anything, pizzas included.  Also, sunflower oil is neutral-tasting and one of the healthiest oils you can use in your diet.  If you don’t have sunflower oil or have a nut allergy, try canola oil.  Canola oil isn’t as neutral as sunflower oil, but it holds up well to high temperature applications.

Make sure you apply a little extra oil to both sides of your crust before throwing it on your grill.  This will help ensure it doesn’t stick.

2)  Speaking of sticking, don’t cook the pizza directly on the grates of your grill!  This is a sure-fire way to have the dough stick to the grates, fall through the grates, or well – start a fire. 

OK, so if you don’t cook the pizza directly on the grill, what do you do?  Use what you have!  You can use any stainless steel baking sheet, cookie sheet, pizza pan, cast iron pan, or something similar.  I actually use a 1/8-inch thick stainless steel vegetable grill pan I picked up at Sur La Table a few years ago.  Here’s what it looks like:

 Just make sure you oil your sheet or pan or grill pan very well with sunflower or canola oil AFTER it has had a chance to preheat on top of your grill.  Oh, and do not use anything with a nonstick coating on your grill.  The high heat of your grill will ruin your nonstick pan or sheet.

You can use a pizza stone or baking steel on your grill, but there is no need to spend big bucks on these things when you already have something in your house that will do the job.

Also, rectangular, or oval, or even amoeba shaped grilled pizza still tastes great!  Don't be worried about getting your pizza to be perfectly round.  Also, cutting the pizza into smaller squares makes it easier to share with a group.  Check out this perfectly crisp, rectangular slice of grilled pizza:

3)  Set the temperature as high as it will go.  Grilling pizza is all about getting a beautifully crisp, slightly charred crust.  Grilling pizza is as close as you can get to having an authentic brick oven or coal fired pizza at home.  To create the results you want, you need to use high temperatures.

4)  Be organized.  Have everything you need right by your side when you are putting the pizza dough on the grill.  Grilling pizza goes very quickly, and if you go back in the house to get something you forgot, you might find your grilled pizza burned to a crisp when you return to it.

Have everything lined up including oil, long handled grill spatula or turner, toppings, grill gloves or oven mitts, and the tray you’ll put the pizza onto after it has finished grilling.

5)  Flip the naked pizza crust once after one to two minutes.  Put your pizza dough onto your sheet or pan with nothing on it for one to two minutes.  Flip it over, and then put your toppings on it.  This will ensure your pizza crust is perfectly cooked and it is less likely to burn using this method.

6)  Go easy on the toppings.  The crust is going to grill up very fast.  You don’t want your crust to be done and your toppings not cooked through or the cheese melted.  Use at most one measured cup of shredded cheese on a 14-inch round pizza, and one to two toppings.  I sometimes go a little “topping crazy” when building my pizzas, but this isn’t one of those times. 

Also, I use a thicker sauce that is lightly applied to the crust.  I recommend my One Minute Easy Pizza Sauce - you will only need to use half of this quick recipe for your grilled pizza.  My One Minute Easy Pizza Sauce is the right consistency for the job and adds quite a bit of flavor as well.  If you use a sauce that is too thin, you run the risk of having a soggy crust or a pizza that falls apart when you try to take it off the grill.  Barbecue sauce is also great for a BBQ pizza.

7)  Use only cooked meats or very thinly sliced vegetables for toppings.  If you plan to use some kind of meat for your topping, such as sausage or bacon, make sure they are fully cooked.  The meaty toppings won’t have a chance to cook thoroughly before the rest of your pizza is done.

Veggies won’t cook through either if they are cut too thick.  Thinly slice your peppers, onions, or mushrooms (I know they’re technically fungi) to ensure your veggie pizza will be a success.

Need any other tips for how to grill pizza?  Or do you have a general question about homemade pizza?  Please feel free to leave a comment or contact me.

One Minute Easy Pizza Sauce

Part of what I do is take certain aspects of cooking and making pizza and simplify them for everyone to use.  Sometimes you can't spend all day in the kitchen or in front of the stove working on a recipe or one component of your dinner.  You just want to get your meal prepared and might want a few shortcuts to get dinner on the table.

Take pizza sauce for example.  It can be a labor-intensive experience, even if it is definitely worth the time and effort.  However, when you just spent all day at work, opening up a jar of prepared pizza sauce is so much easier than making it from scratch.

Save a trip to the store for prepared pizza sauce and make my easy one minute pizza sauce instead!  Cut out the artificial ingredients and ramp up the flavors with this easy recipe.  It is much tastier than anything you will get in a jar at the store.  I use all organic ingredients in my recipe, but you can use what you have on hand as well.

Check out my video on how to make this quick pizza sauce:

OK, now do you believe how easy it is?  Here's what you need to make it:

One Minute Easy Pizza Sauce Recipe
1 - 6 ounce can of organic tomato paste
1/2 cup room temperature water
1 Tb. organic olive oil
1 tsp. organic oregano
1 tsp. organic basil
1/2 tsp. organic thyme
1/2 tsp. organic fennel seeds
1/2 tsp. sea salt
1/2 tsp. organic garlic powder
1/2 tsp. organic onion powder
1/2 tsp. organic freshly ground black pepper (finely ground)
1/2 tsp organic crushed red pepper flakes (use less if you like it less spicy, or omit completely)

Just add all your ingredients into a small bowl and mix until combined.  It is that easy to make a homemade pizza sauce!

Questions or comments on my pizza sauce or anything homemade pizza related?  Please let me know in the comments or find me on Twitter @JonZiemba1

Can you freeze pizza dough?

This is a question I get asked often from friends and family.  Making homemade pizza dough takes some work and creates a bit of a mess in your kitchen.  Don't get me wrong, I'll gladly trade some flour spilled on the floor for a tasty slice of homemade pizza goodness any day.  However, is there a way to maximize your pizza-making output in one session to enjoy pizza at an undetermined date in the future?

Yes!  You can freeze homemade pizza dough.  I think if more people knew this fact, more people would opt to make a pizza at home rather than pay for some sub-par delivery or carryout pizza.  Plus, you control the ingredients that go into your food.

Now that you know that you can freeze your pizza dough, here's how to do it.

Make your dough as you normally would.  Need some pointers or a simple recipe?  Please take a look at yesterday's blog post, which is titled Triple Batch:  Make Ahead and Make Your Stomach Happy.

You can fit a double batch of the pizza dough into one gallon-sized freezer bags.  I prefer to use the ones that have the sliding zipper on top.  Before placing the dough into the freezer bag, double wrap the dough with plastic wrap.  This will help decrease the chances of any freezer burn.

I like to label the date that I made the pizza dough.  It will keep in the freezer for up to three months.  

When you want to make homemade pizza with your frozen dough, pull the dough out of the freezer at least a day in advance to thaw in your refrigerator.  On the day you are using the dough, let it sit out on the counter so that it can get to room temperature before you start working with it.  Cold pizza dough is very difficult to work with.

Set yourself up for pizza in the future and make extra dough the next time you make homemade pizza. It is easy to do and you're already making the dough, so why not?

Also, if you're in the market for some great cooking tools, cookware, pizza pans, baking sheets, or any other foodie must-have items please click the Sur la Table box at the top right of the page.  Pizza MacGyver readers get free shipping at Sur la Table for orders over $59.

Triple Batch: Make Ahead and Make Your Stomach Happy

The art of being of great cook is sometimes being able to improvise with what you have on hand.  It pays to be resourceful with your ingredients.  Think a few days, weeks, or even months ahead when planning your dinners and it will pay off in a big way.

Using what we had in our fridge, I decided to spend a couple hours in the kitchen setting us up for tasty pizza today and for the next few pizza dinners.  We had some leftover homemade lasagna meat sauce in the fridge, and decided to use that as my sauce.

It's a chunkier than what I normally would consider a pizza sauce, but it has great flavor and will do the job today.  Speaking of setting up, that's one tip I can pass on to the cooks at home.  Set up your work area with everything you need before you start preparing your dish.  This will ensure you have everything within reach and you won't forget to add something to your recipe.  Here's what my station looked like before I started making dough:

When you can, it also helps to measure out your ingredients before adding them all together.  Since I was making a triple batch of dough, I measured my yeast, salt, sugar, olive oil, and water before starting.  I don't measure my flour out beforehand for a reason - sometimes it takes more or less flour to do the job.  More on that later.

I use active dry yeast, which I buy in a jar or in a bulk package at the store.   Make sure your water is between 105 and 110 degrees Fahrenheit to get the optimal results for your pizza dough, and let your yeast sit in the water for 10 to 12 minutes.  I also put the sugar in with the yeast at this stage, which gives the yeast a nice boost.  Here's what you should see after 10 to 12 minutes have passed:

The yeast creates a bubbly, foamy on the surface of the water and it starts to smell a little like beer.  I use a KitchenAid with the dough hook attachment, which does a great job at making the dough.  I put half of the amount of flour, the salt, and oil in at this time.  If you're making the dough by hand, you might want to put in a cup or a half cup of flour at a time to make it easier.

The standard recipe, which is already a double batch, that I use for my dough usually takes 8 cups of flour --- use about 4 cups for a single batch (makes one cookie sheet sized pizza, or two 14-inch round pizzas).  When you get to 3 cups for the single batch, add a quarter of a cup of flour at a time to get it just right.  If your dough looks like the video below, add more flour:

Your dough is ready when it easily pulls away from the sides, like in the video below:

Rub a large bowl with some olive oil and put a little bit of flour on your hands and take the dough out of the mixing bowl.  Cover the bowl with a towel and let it proof for at least one hour.  Here's what it will look like when it is ready to use:

Lightly flour your hands and punch the dough down.  I prefer to stretch the dough by hand, but you can also roll it out with a rolling pin - just be sure to lightly flour the surface you are rolling the dough on.

For tonight's pizza, I decided to use a cookie sheet and a round, 14-inch pizza pan that I picked up from Sur la Table.  These are the best pans and cookie sheets - I always buy them at Sur la Table.  Please click the Sur la Table logo near the top right of the page for free shipping!  My double batch of dough was much more than needed, so I decided I would try for a thicker, "fluffier" type of crust on the cookie sheet pizza.  Make sure your cookie sheet and/or pizza pan are lightly coated with some olive oil and place your stretched or rolled out dough onto the pans.

Here's another pizza tip - if your dough is being stubborn and tough to work with, let it sit for 5 to 10 minutes and go back to it.

Now for the sauce.  I used the leftover sauce on both pizzas.  I put only a thin amount on the round pizza, which was a much thinner crust.  I heaped the sauce onto the thicker cookie sheet pizza.

I decided on using just cheese on the rectangular cookie sheet pizza.  However, on the round pizza I brought a stick of my homemade, uncured pepperoni out of the freezer.  The pepperoni will be the subject of its own article at a later date.  Here's what the succulent uncured pepperoni looks like:

Okay, so the pizzas are now topped and ready for the oven.  I can't stress this next part enough - make your oven as hot as it can go.  This is going to give you the best results on your pizza.  I preheated my oven to 550 degrees and planned on the round pizza taking about 10 to 12 minutes and the more robust cookie sheet pizza taking about 20.  

Pizzas ready to go in the oven

When you're making a couple pizzas at the same time in your oven at home, it is important to shift the pizzas once or twice during baking.  This will ensure you get even baking and so that your crust is finished at the same time your cheese is perfectly melted on the top.

The finished products:

Crispy thin crust.  Has a little chew in the middle.  

Pillowy, chewy thick crust.

Want to try making the standard dough recipe at home?  Here's what you'll need:

Single Batch of Pizza Dough

4 cups of bread flour

1 1/2 cups of water (must be 105 to 110 degrees)

2 1/4 teaspoons of active dry yeast, or 1 package of active dry yeast

1 1/8 teaspoons of sugar

2 1/4 tablespoons of olive oil

2 1/4 teaspoons of sea salt (not table salt or iodized salt)

Questions about any of my methods or ingredients?  Please feel free to contact me.

Pizza MacGyver - Something Delicious is Rising

Pizza.  It’s something you love and a dish that if you ended up having it for dinner for the rest of your life, you’d be just fine with that.  When was the last time you made it for yourself at home though?  “It’s too time-consuming,” you think to yourself.  Or maybe, “I don’t have the ingredients.”  Both thoughts are 100 percent false.  You have the makings of a tasty pizza right now in your fridge and you don’t even know it!

When you’re a pizza MacGyver like me, and like pizza as much as I do (and I like pizza better than most things in life), you can make a pizza appear out of almost thin air.

Sure, over the years I’ve taken some things to the next level of pizza-obsessed madness --- like making my own pepperoni from scratch or spending hours smoking a pork butt just to use on a barbecue-style pizza.  At the end of the day though, if there is some combination of dough-based carrying device (English muffin pizzas, what?!?), sauce, and cheese it is all good.

Pizza can be as simple or complex as you want to make it, and I am the person to show you the way to satisfying your need for cheesy, saucy, meaty (or veggie) goodness.  Plus, since you’re making it yourself, you know exactly what goes into the final product.

OK, so maybe you want to learn or sharpen a few of your pizza-making skills along our journey.  No matter what you have a taste for or what you have available on-hand at home, I’ll show you many different ways to your own personal pan pizza nirvana.

It starts with the dough, or bread, or the thing that will carry cheese and toppings from your hand to your face.  I’ll teach you a number of different scratch-made dough styles or things you can use when you don’t have the time or ingredients to make your own.  You’ll see how creative you can be.

Sauce.  It really carries a lot of the flavor you want in your pizza.  Again, you can be as simple or complex with your sauce and there are tons of awesome options. 

The toppings and cheese are really where you get to make a pizza an original, and you are in complete control of what goes on or what doesn’t.  Make it a veggie, make it with tons of meat, or nothing but cheese – let your mood and taste buds show you the way.  Take it easy or take it to the next level with homemade toppings.  You can even use up some leftovers in your fridge or pantry to get your pizza fix.

I’ve made pizzas in ovens, on the grill, on a stovetop, in a toaster oven, and even over campfires.  You don’t need fancy tools or equipment to make good pizza.  However, when you join me on the path to being a “pizza MacGyver” in your own home or own backyard I’ll teach you all the tricks I know.

Have questions or comments?  Have pizza ideas you would like me ponder?  Let me know!