Just this weekend my soon to be 25 year old daughter came home with 9
friends for a long weekend. The highlight, as it has been every year
since middle school, was making pizza on the grill. We've tried lots
of crusts--they all work equally well. Fleischmann's even has a new
yeast out just for pizza. No rise time needed. For purists, this may
not be the thing but it also works great.
We've used white, whole wheat, and multigrain crusts (and even store
bought pizza dough when I underestimated just much dough we'd go through).
Last year I bought Dad an expensive pizza stone gadget for the
grill--totally unnecessary and it took away from the whole process.
It was packed up and will replace the pizza stone I keep in my oven
in the house when needed.
To make the pizza on the grill: we simply roll out the size pizza the
individual wants (or hand form it--one guest made his pizza in the
shape of his home state!), put the dough on the preheated hot grill
for about 2 or 3 minutes until grill marks show on the bottom of the
dough. I did get a great stainless pizza peel at Sur La Table this
year--it's got a handle that reverses for storage. Terrific tool.
Remove the pizza from the grill when side 1 is ready, flip onto
workspace, add toppings of choice. Use the peel (or large spatula) to
place the pizza back onto the grill and it only takes a few minutes
until the pizza and toppings are ready. Close the grill for best heat
retention and to help the toppings cook faster.
We don't have a brick oven, we make pizza on the grill several times
a year, and one of the great things is the speed. I make the dough
early in the day, portion it out into zipper baggies sprayed with
Pam, and let it sit in the refrigerator until needed. The new pizza
yeast makes the pizza on the grill gratification even faster. No
waiting for dough to rise. I also mix the dough in the bread machine
and do not complete even the basic dough cycle. I let it mix, rest,
mix again and then I take the dough out.
It's fast, fun--great recipes in the old Donna German _The Best Pizza
is Made at Home_ book. Try it, you'll be hooked.
Andy in NJ