Pizza from the Grill & Pizza Oven: How to Make It Truly Delicious

Pizza Oven vs. Grill: The Better Alternative for Pizza?

Traditionally, pizza is baked in just a few minutes in extremely hot stone, wood, or gas ovens. These high temperatures make the thin crust beautifully crispy while keeping the toppings juicy. With a grill, you can easily recreate these ideal conditions. Smaller charcoal grills or gas grills with a lid are best, as they help concentrate the heat.

Crucial tip: When making pizza on the grill, your best bet is to use a pizza stone. Made from heat-resistant material like cordierite, this plate gets super hot and ensures the dough bakes quickly and evenly.

It gets even easier with a pizza oven. It features the same design as the professional models in pizzerias, but is more compact—making it a great addition to your backyard grilling station. The baking chamber is exceptionally low, delivering concentrated heat from both above and below. The oven heats up quickly and comes with its own pizza stone included.

Grilled Pizza: What You Need to Know

The most important thing is that heat can build up inside the grill. This raises the temperature, cooking the pizza to perfection in no time. While this happens naturally in a pizza oven due to its low cooking chamber, you can achieve the same on a grill with a high lid using a pizza stone and a few handy tips:

• Preheat the grill properly. Set gas burners to maximum power or use a mix of briquettes, charcoal, and wood logs. The briquettes will glow first, then the charcoal provides the next burst of heat, and finally, add wood logs on top.
• Sprinkle the pizza stone with a little flour or semolina. This keeps the fresh dough from sticking, making it easy to slide your finished pizza off.
• Place the pizza stone in the center of the grill right when you start heating it up. However, make sure the heat sources (coals or burners) only hit the stone indirectly so the pizza doesn't burn.
• Use a proper pizza peel. With this grilling accessory, you'll avoid burns and always keep the dough under control.
• Keep an eye on the pizza. The baking process only takes a few minutes. Keep checking to see if the toppings are cooked and the cheese is melted, while ensuring the crust isn't burning.

Cleaning Tip: Never clean your pizza stone with dish soap or too much water. Let it cool down inside the grill, scrape off any leftover dough, and simply wipe it down with a slightly damp cloth. Avoid extreme temperature shocks, otherwise the stone might crack.

Tips for Your Pizza Oven

With a classic pizza oven, you can unleash your culinary creativity. It heats up intensely to reach the highest possible temperature. Here are a few handy tips to make your pizza a real masterpiece:

• When shaping the pizza dough, gently stretch it from the inside out and do not press down on the crust. This allows it to rise and become light and airy.
• Go easy on the toppings. The less you load onto the pizza, the crispier and more balanced the result will be.
• Pre-cook meat, fish, and high-moisture ingredients. This extra step releases excess moisture so your pizza doesn't get soggy.
• Rotate the pizza. Let the dough bake for about 30 seconds before gently rotating the pizza around its own axis. This guarantees a more even bake.
• Let it rest. Allow the pizza to cool for one to two minutes before slicing and serving. This sets the structure and makes it even crispier.

Tasty Tip: In the Lidl recipe world, you'll find classics, trending ideas, and great pizza inspiration for the whole family. Click here to explore!