How to Grill Pizza: A Guide for Beginners

There’s nothing quite like the delicious, smoky flavor of a grilled pizza. This method gives you something you just can’t get in your home oven. And there’s something satisfying about making pizza in your backyard and eating a piping hot slice on a crisp autumn day. Though grilled pizza is certainly more delicious than pizza baked in an oven, it does require a little more attention. Here are some of our favorite tips to get the most out of your grill.

1. Pay attention to grill temperature. Grills need to heat up to at least 550°F to make a good pizza. And since grills heat up much more unevenly than most ovens, and many a pizza has been known to burn to a crisp simply because it was on the wrong part of the grill at the wrong time! The Perfect Pizza Grilling Stone is an excellent buffer between your pizza and the grill grates. It’s great at reducing hot spots and evenly distributing heat to your pie.

2. Make sure to turn the pizza halfway through cook time. This is elementary but often overlooked. The average grilled pizza will take between six and ten minutes, depending on how hot your grill is. Checking in halfway through will ensure the pizza is doing OK and prevent the back of the pie from overheating.

3. Dust the pizza peel with plenty of flour or cornmeal to prevent sticking. Don’t let a fresh, uncooked pizza sit on the peel for longer than five minutes. Otherwise, it’ll stick! If the pizza sticks on an aluminum peel, leave the peel and pizza on the grill for 1 minute to release the dough. Then pull out the peel. Some of our favorite peels are the Aluminum Pizza Peel and the Folding Stainless Steel Pizza Peel.

4. Add wood chunks for a smokier flavor. If you’re grilling on a charcoal grill, consider adding some wood chunks once the charcoal is lit. Your pies will acquire the same flavor that you get from a brick-fired oven at a fancy pizzeria. A kettle grill is the best way to try this method, and the PizzaQue® Pizza Kit for Kettle Grills the best tool for creating an optimal pizza environment.

Though grilling pizza may seem daunting at first, these tips are a good place to start. And we’re always here if you have any questions! We’d love to see what sorts of delicious creations you’ve cooked up at home.