How To Use A Pizza Stone On A BBQ (A Quick Guide)

The Pizza Stone revolutionizes the art of grilling and BBQing pizza, making it easy to create perfectly crunchy crusts, smoky flavours and delicious toppings.

If you’re looking to take your outdoor cooking to the next level, using a pizza stone on a barbecue or charcoal grill can give you restaurant-style results. And in this short guide, I will walk you through a full tutorial on how you can use a pizza stone on a BBQ.

Let’s take a closer look.

How To Use A Pizza Stone On A BBQ

Whether it’s a charcoal or kettle grill, using a pizza stone on your BBQ is an easy way to get the perfect crispy crust – plus that coveted smoky flavour.

Preparing The Pizza Stone

Preparing the pizza stone is an important step before using it on a BBQ in order to ensure even cooking and prevent burnt crusts. It is essential to clean any excess flour, oils or spices off your stone so that it’s ready for use.

Seasoning the pizza stone helps create a protective layer of oil which can help to prevent the dough from sticking when placed onto the hot surface. Preheating the pizza stone – either in an oven or over direct heat – allows the surface of your pizza to cook quickly without burning and ensures crispness on both sides.

When preheating, be sure to leave enough time for your stone to reach at least 260°C or 500°F as this will help achieve optimum results.

Preheating The Stone

Preheating a pizza stone is essential for delicious results when cooking on a BBQ. A pizza stone works by replicating the effects of an oven and evenly distributing the heat from your grill to cook the pizza perfectly.

A Head Grill Master at Weber recommends preheating a pizza stone over direct heat for 30 minutes before cooking with it, although this time can vary depending on your grill’s temperature.

Preheating your stone to 220°C or 425°F or higher will help you achieve optimal cooking results, including ensuring that the dough reaches its highest potential level of crispiness.

It is also possible to preheat a cold pizza stone in an oven set on high (up to one hour). This method works just as well as preheating over an open flame and ensures maximum absorption of your barbecue’s heat by the baking surface, leading tp perfectly cooked pizzas every time.

Transferring The Pizza Onto The Stone

Transferring the pizza onto the stone can be a tricky task. The key is to use a fast and smooth motion, taking extra care not to tear apart your carefully constructed pie.

To begin, dust the surface of your preheated cooking stone with either cornmeal or semolina for better adherence – this will also help prevent sticking later on. Place your authentic pizza dough on top of a well-floured pizza peel then add desired toppings and fixed ingredients like cheese and sauce.

When ready, hold up one edge of the pizza peel slightly tilted towards your cooking stone so that you’re able to start sliding it off in one smooth gesture – aim for no more than three seconds before all surfaces are safely placed atop the hot stone! If desired, sprinkle additional seasonings across its surface then monitor closely as it bakes within 3-5 minutes until lightly golden brown around the edges (this depends on oven temperature).

For an even baking result try adjusting heat when necessary using tongs while keeping food at least four inches away from the flame too close to ventilation holes surrounding the open firepit or BBQ ring.

Adjusting The Heat

It is essential to adjust the heat when cooking pizzas on a BBQ with a pizza stone. This helps to ensure that the pizza cooks properly and evenly, preventing it from burning or undercooking.

The most efficient way to adjust the heat is by using a temperature gauge, which will allow you to monitor the internal temperature of your grill and make any necessary adjustments as needed.

It is important that pizza cooks at an even rate along its surface area, meaning that constant adjustment needs to be made throughout its cook time in order for it not to burn one area while another remains raw.

For example, pans heated up over 220°C should no more than 10 minutes before adjusting their position; those heated up over 190°C can go up 15 minutes without being adjusted (according to Weber’s guidelines).

Monitoring The Pizza

When grilling pizza on a stone, it’s important to keep an eye on the progress of the pizza. You should check it every minute or two and rotate it if necessary to ensure even cooking.

To tell when your pizza is done, gently press down on the top with tongs; when fully cooked through, there won’t be any give in the dough anymore. Brown spots should have formed under careful monitoring as well.

The Benefits Of Using A Pizza Stone On A BBQ

Grilling pizza on a BBQ is an easy and delicious way to enjoy restaurant-quality pizza at home. Using a pizza stone helps to elevate the dish even further, creating the perfect crispy crust, heat distribution, and that unique smoky flavour you can only get from a barbecue.

Pizza stones are made from a special composition of material that’s designed to withstand very high temperatures without cracking or breaking apart; far higher than what traditional metal pans can handle.

This allows for your food items such as pizzas to be cooked evenly and with optimal results within any heated chamber like an oven or a BBQ grill. Pizza stones also absorb moisture in baked goods which will create crispier outcomes for your dough-based meals due to less steam being used during cooking time.

Cast iron skillets have been popularly used in the kitchen for years, yet traditionally they would not suffice when using appliances consisting of direct flames such as barbecues due to their inability to stay hot long enough without overheating over prolonged periods of time.

Dos And Don’ts When Using A Pizza Stone On A BBQ

It is essential to follow the correct Do’s and Don’ts when using a pizza stone on a BBQ from preparing the Stone properly, preheating it correctly, transferring the pizza safely and monitoring its cooking progress.

Using A Pizza Peel

The pizza peel is the best way to transfer a pizza from its preparation area onto a hot stone on your BBQ. To properly position the pizza, make sure you slide it sideways onto at least half of the flat surface of the pizza peel before lifting four corners of the crust and transferring slides away from you onto the hot stone.

It’s important to avoid trying to get the peel into a gap that is a few inches tall as this can cause mishaps with needing something taller than what is necessary for getting hold of your delicious masterpiece.

In addition, since pizzas don’t take long to bake on your BBQ/Pizza Stone – having one hand firmly on top (so not slipping off) and one hand just pulling back (to create momentum) while retaining balance are key steps in successfully guiding it onto your preheated stone.

Using a Pizza Peel has many advantages over alternative methods such as using tongs or a metal spatula; for example, time saved no longer struggling with flipping heavy pizzas or overly-crumbly toppings which have been known to significantly drop overall heat levels when trying other options.

Preheating The Stone

Preheating the pizza stone is key for delivering perfect results when using it on a BBQ or grill. Temperature control plays an important role in baking and grilling pizzas, so ensuring that the stone has reached an optimal temperature before cooking will make all of the difference.

Heating up steadily and gradually over direct heat for at least 30-45 minutes ensure that no thermal shock occurs which can break apart the stone. The ideal temperate to reach is 220°C, as this will provide enough heat to absorb moisture while cooking which produces a crispy crust, without burning your pizza.

A preheated stone also gives you more control over how quickly your pizza cooks and avoids ending up with either a soggy base or overcooked toppings from being exposed to high temperatures too soon.

Cleaning The Stone

Taking proper care of a pizza stone is essential to preserving its non-stick properties and maximizing its lifespan. After using it on the BBQ, the first step in cleaning it is wiping off any remaining residue with a cloth.

It’s important to never use soap as this can leach into food cooked later. For stubborn remains that refuse to budge, use a metal dough scraper and lightly scrape them away.

Avoid immersing the pizza stone in water for extended periods of time; instead, let it sit for five minutes before gently scrubbing away any remaining food particles with a brush or kitchen sponge without causing too much thermal shock – where rapid changes in temperature cause cracking and internal damage.

Avoiding Thermal Shock

Thermal shock is an important consideration when using a pizza stone on a BBQ as it can cause the stone to quickly break due to rapid temperature changes. To prevent thermal shock and ensure optimal performance, it’s best to gradually preheat the stone before introducing it to the intense heat of direct fire or charcoal.

This process should be done slowly in order for the baking surface of the pizza stone to adjust. Hot spots created by sudden changes in temperature can destroy your pizza crusts and even expose your family to unwanted food contaminants.

Conclusion

The use of a pizza stone on a BBQ can help you create the perfect pizza with a smoky flavour, perfect crust, and golden toppings. Preheating is essential to ensure that you get an even bake across the entire surface of your pizza.

Additionally, it’s important to be aware of some tips when using a pizza stone on a charcoal grill such as monitoring the temperature and adjusting heat as required while cooking your pizzas, as well as avoiding thermal shock by allowing your pizza stone to cool off slowly before cleaning it after use.

To make sure that everything runs smoothly during grilling time outdoors, follow these dos and don’ts for best success whether you are using an oven or BBQ grill.