Pizza on the Pellet Grill

[dale2242]

We are having temperatures 100*+ and we are wanting pizza without heating the house with a hot oven.
I have a Pit Boss pellet grill and would like to cook pizza on it.
Most recipes call for a pizza stone. Are they helpful?
At what temp do you cook your pizzas and approximately how long does it take to cook a fresh pizza? A frozen one?
All help appreciated.

[Winger Ed.]

You won't get the browning effect, but if you don't mind it being a little 'doughy' there's a few ways to heat them up.

If you aren't in a hurry, you can also cook them on the dash of your car.
Every year we have local news folks showing little video clips of cooking pizza, eggs, bread, cookies, etc. that way.

Most frozen pizzas call for about 20-30 minutes at 400 degrees, but they vary.
The pizza stone would keep the pizza from burning on the bottom, and help stabilize the heat.

[Shanghai Jack]

Well - how hot does your Pit Boss get. I crank my Memphis up to 500 or so to clean, leave the stone in, and once that's done throw the pizza on. Then I let it cool down to 350 and my wife takes over for a smoked pecan pie.

I also do a deep dish pizza in a cast iron skillet. Warm the pan slightly, place the crust, load it up with goodies and drizzle a little olive oil around the edge. I put it on the stove on medium high for 2 1/2 to 3 minutes (until the oil bubbles up around the edge) and then move it to the grill at 500. 10 to 12 minutes later its ready.

[nueces5]

Hello, I use an oven at 250-300 ° C, with a stone inside, and it takes about 10-15 minutes. I put the freshly stretched dough with a little oil and tomato sauce and cook it for about 5 minutes, and then I take it out and complete it with mozzarella, ham and slices of tomatoes for another 10 minutes.
If you have a Neapolitan type oven that heat to 500 ° C it can be cooked in 2 minutes.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3kXyCbbdtmU

[DougGuy]

Pellet grills are totally dependent on ambient temps for their high heat. The cooler it is, the cooler they will max out. But in 100F temps that thing is going to get HOT FAST. 500 - 550F quickly *IF* you are using straight hickory as it burns the hottest. I don't think you need a stone at those temps, and the pizza is cooked with indirect heat in a pellet grill so maybe just a baking sheet will be good enough. I would cook a frozen pizza until the top got melted then lift and look at the bottom of the crust to check for brownness, remove and serve when the top is bubbly and the bottom is browned. You'll just have to wing it Dale!

[Dunross]

It doesn't necessarily have to be a stone. I cut a piece of 1/4" aluminum plate to size about one inch in every dimension smaller than my oven rack. Run the oven up to 500 degrees then slide the dressed pizza onto the plate. Cooks quickly and has a fantastic crust.

If the grill will reach 500 degrees you can just put the pizza in a pan, put it on the grill, then close the cover. Maybe ten minutes or so to done.

[MaryB]

Frozen directly on the rack and the Pit Boss set to 425(or whatever the pizza maker recommends). At high heat it is basically an oven with a tiny bit of smokey flavor.

Homemade I use a pizza stone I preheat as hot as my Traeger will get(450ish) after making sure I clean the pit well. You want to burn off all excess grease or it will leave a burnt grease flavor on your pizza. Make dough, toss or roll out and I parcook the bare dough until it is slightly tan in color(starting to brown), pull it, add toppings, then back ont he pit to finish cooking. If I could get to 550 to 700 degrees par cooking the crust is not needed.

You can also make pizza on a gas grill, same basic steps!

It has been super hot here so I have been cooking outside as much as possible!

[lylejb]

I put a papa Murphy's take and bake directly on the grill, still on the tray it comes on. Set the traeger on 350 and just watch the time. It definitely cooks differently than the oven, and the taste is much better. No more oven for me.

[dale2242]

I ordered a 15" stone as most recipes call for one.
I will be trying pizza on the grill when it gets here.
Keep the advice coming.

[BigAlofPa.]

I make pizza on the propane grill. I have the burners all they down so it cooks slower.

[cheese1566]

Papa Murphy $10 Tuesdays!

I cook mine on a pizza stone according to their directions for grilling. @ 425 or so.

Keep an eye and use a large pizza peel to give the pizza a 1/4 every 5 minutes until it’s evenly cooked around and the crust is to your liking. Thin crusts cook better for me than deep dish.

[BJK]

Give the stone time to heat soak, 45 minutes or so. As already stated aluminum can also be used but while aluminum conducts heat great it doesn't hold much heat. That's why aluminum foil can be handled directly out of a blazing hot oven. To get more of a cast iron effect with heat retention that will translate into crispy crust use a piece of steel plate, 1/4- 3/8" is about right. The sell pretty plated ones for a lot of $, but I have used a simple piece of mild steel plate that was washed. I don't know what ailed me, but I bought a stone for the indoor oven and I also have a much thicker pizza stone for the ceramic grill. I don't know that the stone that replaced the steel plate works any better but it cost more. You can also go to Home Depot or Lowes and get quarry tile and lay them in the oven for the stone effect (so I've heard). Getting off subject, but I still use a 1/4" thick piece of steel to grill (fry) English muffins on (from scratch).

[Cast10]

I’ve recently purchased a Recteq 590 for same reasons! Texas summers are HOT!

Did some Papa Murphy’s pizza a few weeks back. One was a thin crust, the other a stuffed pizza. Friend with same pit told me the thin soaked up more smoke. Used the temps they said. I think it was 425-ish. But, I presmoked it on the lowest setting/most smoke for 30 minutes, then with pizza left in pit, cranked the heat up to finish it. The Recteq has vent holes in the back so I can gaze down and see what’s cooking. Soon as it browned the crush, it came out. Super! The stuffed crust tasted better than the thin, as far as smoke.

Now, I bought a smoke tube and am going to try the pizzas using smoke tube prior, then cook normal with smoke tube going.

[dale2242]

I put my new pizza stone to it`s first test yesterday.
I cooked my Marie Callenders chicken pot pie on the stone in the pellet grill.
I set the temp at 400* and preheated the grill and stone.
Cooked the pie uncovered for 30 minutes and inserted the temperature probe.
I cooked it covered with aluminum foil until the internal temp was 170*.
The crust turned out nice and brown.
I am liking this stone already.