The Best Tools And Equipment For Perfect Pizza On The Grill
If you’re a fan of brick oven pizza then this is the gear that will help you create it directly on your grill, from pizza stones to pizza peels and amazing pizza ovens.
For anyone who hasn’t tried grilling pizza, you will be surprised to learn that it isn’t all that hard. You can make them exactly as you like them, and nothing beats fresh hot pizza still crispy from the grill or oven rather than soggy from the cardboard box.
The easiest and simplest tool is an honest to goodness pizza oven but you don’t have to take out a second mortgage to make great pizza on the grill. As I discuss in my articles on pizza elsewhere on this site, for most grills you don’t need any special devices other than a pizza stone or pan.
The key to making pizza on the grill is simultaneous pizzagasm (i.e. a crust that is crisp, smoky and lightly charred with piping hot cheese and toppings). It is really tricky getting the bottom and the top done at the same time. If the stone is too hot and the top is not, you can burn the bottom and serve undercooked sausage on the top. Or visa versa. You can turn the cheese to plastic and still have wet dough. Usually it is just a matter of experimenting with the number of coals and their placement, or the dial settings on a gas grill.
Here are my favorite tools to help you get it right, and one to avoid. Also be sure to check out our grilled pizza and flatbread section here for tips for making perfect crust and several amazing recipes!
Lodge Logic Pro Cast Iron Grill/Griddle Is A Multi-Purpose Grill Topper
A quality cast iron griddle is a wonderful addition to any grill and the highly rated Lodge Cast Iron Grill and Griddle Combo is a great option. Using a griddle plate on top of a portion of your grill is actually a great way to take advantage of both direct cooking on the grill's grates and griddle at the same time.
Is A Baking Steel Better Than A Pizza Stone?
The Baking Steel is an expensive slab of specially formulated steel that heats rapidly and holds heat very well. In other words, it is a steel pizza stone. In our tests, it performed similar to a cordierite pizza stone, cooking the bottom crust of pizza a bit faster than ceramic materials.
The Best Wooden Pizza Peels For Grilling Pizza
The pizza peel or paddle is the best way to get your pie in and out of the grill and we've got our recommendations for the best in class. To use, simply dust the top with flour or corn meal, which acts like ball bearings. Then you spread the dough on the peel, top it, and slide it onto the pan or stone on the grill.
The Best Pizza Wheel For Cutting Pizza
A good pizza wheel will keep your pizza crispy, and it comes in handy for home made pizza and even for cutting pie dough. Her is our tested and rated review of our favorite pizza wheel, the OXO Good Grips 4-inch Pizza Wheel. Well priced and made to last, we found this to be the perfect choice for home pizza cooks.
OXO Good Grips Stainless Food Scale with Pull-Out Display Review
I don't know how I lived without a good, accurate digital kitchen scale for so many years. If you ever mix up anything with flour, weigh it instead of measuring it with cups. It's so much more accurate.
Guide To Pizza Ovens
For the best Italian style pizzas or rustic breads, nothing beats a wood-burning oven/forno. Built for use indoor or out, built-in or portable for caterers.
KettlePizza Pizza Oven Insert For Charcoal Grills
KettlePizza is a well made stainless steel ring that sits between the lid and base of your Weber Kettle, transforming your charcoal grill into a high heat pizza oven for a fraction of the price of a real brick oven. With the insert in place, simply slide the pizza onto a pizza stone and cook via radiant heat.
BakerStone Pizza Oven Box
Create perfect brick oven style pizza on the grill in less than 5 minutes with our highly rated Bakerstone grill insert. Read our review. Bakerstone is a steel box that sits on a gas grill with the lid up. It is lined with cordierite and it has a simple airflow system that actually helps cook the top properly similar to a pizza oven.
Green Mountain Grills Wood Fired Pizza Attachment Review
Want to get more from your pellet smoker? How about wood-fired pizza? The Green Mountain Grills Wood Fired Pizza Attachment expands the capabilities of your pellet cooker far beyond low and slow smoking. Read our review to see just how hot this inexpensive attachment gets and to see the gorgeous pizzas we baked on it.
Breville Smart Oven Pizzaiolo Review
This machine looks like a stylish countertop toaster oven, but gets cranking to temperatures above 750ºF! Read our review because that's unheard oven for any home oven. Just plug it into a typical residential wall outlet, adjust the top and bottom heating elements, and you can turn out an almost infinite number of pizza styles. Impressive!
Ooni Koda Gas-Powered Outdoor Pizza Oven
The Ooni Koda is a superb portable pizza oven capable of making restaurant quality pies in 2 to 3 minutes. Completely redesigned from the ground up, Koda outperforms its predecessor, Ooni 3, in every way. It requires no assembly and is ready to cook right out of the box. We reviewed Koda and award our AmazingRibs.com Gold Medal!
Ooni 3 with Gas Burner Review
You'll love making pizza outdoors in the Ooni portable pizza oven. The standard model is wood fired with pellets, but we prefer the optional gas fired system and award it our Gold Medal. With the gas burner, pizza doughs and toppings cook perfectly with slightly charred bubbles and leopard spotting on the crust.
Ooni 3 Pellet Burner Review
Ooni 3 comes standard with a wood pellet burner, which we found lacking and is Not Recommended. Click now to find out why we strongly prefer the Ooni 3 with their optional gas burner. With the gas burner, pizza doughs and toppings cook perfectly with slightly charred bubbles and leopard spotting on the crust.
Blackstone Ultimate Pizza Oven Bundle Review
Although Blackstone presents the Patio Oven as a versatile device that cooks a variety of foods, it is best suited for pizza. Blackstone claims it cooks a pizza in under 3 minutes. We reviewed Blackstone's Pizza Oven and award our Bronze Medal. This is a unique offering for those who would put a dedicated pizza oven to good use.
Pizza Party Pizzone Review
Pizza Party is a very good wood burning pizza oven that is relatively inexpensive and easy to assemble. We tested and reviewed this versatile oven and awarded it our AmazingRibs.com Gold Medal. It has a dome that is high quality stainless steel inside and a painted aluminum exterior with a ceramic fabric insulation.
Alfa Pizza 5 Minuti Review
Check out our review of Alfa Pizza's 5 Minuti, which is so named for the ability to heat up quickly, although Alfa recommends you give it 15 minutes before cooking. Metal pizza ovens are known to heat up quickly in contrast to the traditional refractory ovens made with clay or modern refractory material.
EcoQue Wood Burning Pizza Oven and Smoker Review
EcoQue's Wood Fired Pizza Oven and Smoker design is based on Fontana Forni's dual chamber pizza ovens that are made in Italy. The fire is built in the lower chamber and your food is baked and cooked in the upper chamber. EcoQue adds a second cook chamber which can be used for smoking and roasting.
Forno Bravo Primavera 60 Outdoor Oven Review
Check out our review of this pizza oven package which includes the refractory wood oven and chimney, metal stand, clay chimney cap, CD ROM for instruction, and a steel door with built-in thermometer. Built-in dial thermometers are inaccurate. Forno Bravo recommends getting an Infrared Gun Thermometer for an accurate reading of the floor and dome temps.
Fontana Forni Toscano Margherita Outdoor Oven Review
Fontana considers The Forno Toscano Margherita Wood Fired Pizza Oven to be their signature product. Instead of bricks or cast refractory material, Fontana uses heavily insulated steel construction which heats up faster than refractory ovens, but cools off faster as well. It has a food grade stone floor. Read our review to learn more.Related articles
Published On: 6/26/2019 Last Modified: 4/28/2021
Masterbuilt MPS 340/G ThermoTemp XL Propane Smoker
This is the first propane smoker with a thermostat, making this baby foolproof. Set ThermoTemp’s dial from 175° to 350°F and the thermostat inside will adjust the burner just like an indoor kitchen oven. All you need to do is add wood to the tray above the burner to start smokin’.
Click here to read our detailed review
Griddle And Deep Fryer In One
The flat top does the burgers and the fryer does the fries. Use the griddle for bacon, eggs, and home fries. Or pancakes, fajitas, grilled cheese, you name it. Why stink up the house deep frying and spatter all over? Do your fried chicken and calamari outside. Blackstone’s Rangetop Combo With Deep Fryer does it all!
Click here to read our detailed review and to order
Our Favorite Backyard Smoker
The amazing Karubecue is the most innovative smoker in the world. The quality of meat from this machine is astonishing. At its crux is a patented firebox that burns logs above the cooking chamber and sucks heat and extremely clean blue smoke into the thermostat controlled oven. It is our favorite smoker, period.
Click here for our review of this superb smoker
Finally, A Great Portable Pellet Smoker
Green Mountain’s portable Davy Crockett Pellet Smoker is one mean tailgating and picnic machine. But it’s also gaining popularity with people who want to add a small, set it and forget it pellet smoker to their backyard arsenal. And with their WiFi capabilities you can control and monitor Davy Crocket from your smart phone or laptop.
Click here to read our detailed review and to order
Is This Superb Charcoal Grill A Kamado Killer?
The PK-360, with 360 square inches of cooking space, this rust free, cast aluminum charcoal grill is durable and easy to use. Four-way venting means it’s easy to set up for two zone cooking with more control than single vent Kamado grills. It is beautifully designed, completely portable, and much easier to set up for 2-zone cooking than any round kamado.
Click here to read our detailed review of the PK 360
Click here to order directly and get an exclusive AmazingRibs.com deal
The Pit Barrel Cooker May Be Too Easy
The PBC has a rabid cult following for good reason. It is absolutely positively without a doubt the best bargain on a smoker in the world. Period. This baby will cook circles around the cheap offset sideways barrel smokers because temperature control is so much easier.
Click here to read our detailed review and the raves from people who own them
If you have a Weber Kettle, you need the Slow ‘N’ Sear
The Slow ‘N’ Sear turns your grill into a first class smoker and also creates an extremely hot sear zone you can use to create steakhouse steaks.
Click here for our article on this breakthrough tool
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