Over the holidays my friends at Mr. Bar-B-Q offered to send me out one of their grill accessories to use. They also offered to give another set of whatever they sent as a giveaway on the blog. I couldn’t pass up a chance to get my readers something nice so I accepted. (Note: This is my way of saying, so I’m in compliance with all stupid laws and rules, that the pizza grilling kit I’m going to talk about here was free to me.)
This isn’t so much a review of the Mr. Bar-B-Q Grill Stone Pizza Set they sent me, but a review of my pizza making skills, which are somewhat lacking. The pizza stone and giant pizza spatula, I hesitate to call it a pizza peel, worked great. Mrs. Grail bakes an awesome pizza in the oven so I attempted to duplicate her efforts on my 26 inch Weber Kettle. Take a look at how I did it and offer up some suggestions at the end in the comment section for your chance to win your own Mr. Bar-B-Q Grill Stone Pizza Set.
Keep in mind this is a Weber 26 inch Kettle which is considerably larger than the 22 inch most people have in their backyard. The first thing I did was fire up a whole chimney of charcoal and once it was ready form it into a ring around the bowl. Because of the size of the kettle I needed to add some extra charcoal. Once all the charcoal was hot I placed the pizza stone on the grill.
For some reason, I’m not quite sure why, I thought it would be a good idea to have the pizza stone a little higher up into the dome lid so I placed the pizza stone on top of my GrillGrates. I’m not sure if this was a good idea or not. I’ll need to try this again without them to see how the process goes.
The pizzas I cooked seemed to take longer than I would have anticipated, about 15 minutes. I don’t know maybe that’s the right time frame, but it just seemed like a long time.
The flavor was great and Mrs. Grail’s Pizza Dough Recipe was fantastic but for some reason I just wasn’t satisfied with the results. I was hoping for more of that “wood fired pizza” flavor. It just wasn’t there.
Here’s what I would do next time to try to improve.
I think I need a much hotter kettle than I had. I didn’t the get the temperature in the dome over 400 degrees. To do this I need to either use more charcoal or use my smaller 22 inch kettle. Is the ring of charcoal a good idea? Or should I have spread it out?
I’ll probably try using the pizza stone directly on the grate instead of trying to raise it higher. Thoughts?
Want to win a Grill Stone Pizza Set from Mr. Bar-B-Q so you can make great pizza outdoors? Here’s how to get an entry:
- Leave a comment here about cooking pizza outdoors. It can be a comment about how you’d like to do it for the first time, it can be a comment about how I can improve my pizza making skills. Just leave a comment. You can leave multiple comments for multiple entries, but not more than once a day.
- Next if you have a Facebook account you can get an additional entry by “Liking” this post on Mr. Bar-B-Q’s Facebook Page. (You’ll need to “Like” their page first, please do so.)
- You will also get one more entry if you “Reshare” the link on Mr. Bar-B-Q’s Facebook page.
On the morning of January 28th all entries will be transcribed into an Excel spreadsheet. A number will be selected using a random number generator at Random.Org. And that will decide our winner. Winner will be notified that morning via email and/or Facebook! Easy? I sure hope so…
Thanks to Contestgirl for the promotion!
Making pizza on the grill sounds like a good thing to try. It would definitely be a conversation starter and, whether or not the pizza works out well the first time, it could be the stuff of a “Do you remember when?” family anecdote…..
I have never cooked pizza on a grill, so it would be interesting to try
I have heated a previously frozen pizza from a local Italian restaurant (never frozen from supermarket – here in in NJ the neighbors would be out with the pitchforks and torches for such sacrilege!) as well as made my own. I simply use a pizza stone and lump charcoal; be forewarned: you want maximum heat and minimal smoke here, so don’t bother with wood chips. Leave the vents wide open to get your temps as high as you can.
The key here is hot and fast! A pizza oven is usually at 800+ degrees so you want to get as close to that number as you can before putting your pie in there.
Put a little corn meal on the stone to make it easier to turn before adding your flattened/stretched dough. You can also pre-cook the dough in the ‘cue for a few minutes before adding any toppings if you want it a little crustier. Note, you may need to pre-cook some toppings, like chicken breasts or meatballs, to prevent your getting sick; preserved meats, like pepperoni and sausage, don’t need this. Then check and turn every few minutes to make sure it doesn’t burn. Use a pizza peel to remove the pie and enjoy!
Also, forget about using propane (although natural gas works well) as it contains too much moisture and you will never get it hot enough!
I have not tried it but would like to.
I liked Mr. Bar-B-Q and this post on their facebook page (Christine Fidance)
We have never made pizza outside and this really looks like fun! Thank you!
we have never cooked pizza outside but would love to try! we grill all the time
Larry, I think you need more charcoal for sure. I’ve never down a pizza on the grill but, it sounds like it would not only be fun but tasty.
The best thing about pizza on the grill is the reduced time to cook. In the oven takes a long time. I can crank the gasser and get it done in half the time.
I love grilling frozen pizzas on the grill. The crust comes out crunchy and the pie is heated evenly throughout!
I like the post on Facebook.
I have never made pizza on the grill but I would love to try!
I’d love to give this a try!
I would love to cook pizza outdoors. I haven’t done it but I think it would be great for outdoor events.
I would love to try cooking pizza outdoors, especially on warm summer nights.
Awesome…I’ve done a pizza directly on the grates of my grill before. turned out pretty good for a first time…a point of note doing it this way is to make sure the grill is perfectly clean…someday i’m going to build an outdoor brick oven
like post on fb as shirley greenawalt zolenski
I have never cooked pizza on the grill(would like to) but I have tried it and it is good.
I’ve always wanted to try making a pizza out on the grill but haven’t had the nerve to try it yet!
longbarb1@aol.com
I love pizza on the grill
An outdoor pizza party would be awesome since it’s too hot to cook pizza inside in the summer.. mmm summer. can’t wait..
That pizza cooked on the grill, looks so good, I may have to give it a try. Thanks for the contest!
I have never tried pizza on the grille but would love too. I make pizza all the time indoors!
I love pizza on the grill!
shared on facebook via katie freebie!
i liked on facebook! via katie freebie
I would love to try this, looks yummy!
mr. bar b q fb fan brittney house
I’ve never cooked pizza outdoors but it sounds like it would be a fun activity to do in the spring with the kids.
I had a pizza stone before I dropped it and I put it straight on top of the grill and it worked very well. Loved the flavor it got, too.
I liked their Facebook page.
I have used a pizza stone before, but have always just placed it in the oven as I would any typical pizza sheet and pizza. I would like to try cooking a pizza outdoors. The only thing I would be concerned about is the dough actually cooking. I guess I could always have my first experience be with a frozen pizza, but I don’t think it would be the same.
So Yummy – Count me in again please
I liked & shared this awesome giveaway on my FB page (kcthelush)….
That grilled pizza picture is mouthwatering, wow.
I’ve never tried cooking pizza outdoors…but would love, love, love to! I’m a huge fan of pizza in general.
I would love to try grilling a pizza!
I haven’t had much luck cooking pizza on the grill due to uneven heating. Need all the help I can get!
I have never used a stone for cooking. I Would be so happy to try this!
Pizza on a grill is a BIG yessssssss with me!
This looks good, and I’m sure it would taste great—-everything off the grill tastes soo much better!
I love making pizza on my gas grill! Thanks.
i heard pizza on the grill is great!
I’ve yet to try pizza.outdoors. I would like to. Thanks for the giveaway.
Mr BBQ on FB
I like the circle idea!
Grilling is one of my favorite things to do! I would love to try this at the local park with a few close friends and some beer. Pizza and Beer are the perfect combo!
I have never cooked pizza outdoors but would love to try.I bet the smoky flavor would be a great taste to regular pizza.
I have never cooked pizza like this!I would love to win this and try it!
Making pizza on the grill sounds like a good thing to try. It would definitely be a conversation starter and, whether or not the pizza works out well the first time, it could be the stuff of a “Do you remember when?” family anecdote….
I didn’t even know it was possible to make pizza outdoors unless you had a fancy ridiculous outdoor pizza oven (I saw one on HGTV once and it was pretty sweet…if you can afford it!)