Pizza on the Weber

Two summers ago I started making pizza on a charcoal grill. My wife got me a pizza stone for my birthday and from that point on a started being obsessed with making pizza.

Technique:
I learned alot in my first summer of making pizza. The first thing I learned was get the right tools for the job.

• A pizza peel is 100% required to get the pizza on the stone. Attempting to use anything else will cause you much frustration.
• Find a solid work surface that is more than large enough to work the dough and form your pizzas. This season I'm starting to use a marble pastry board. Keep your work surface and peel dry to avoid sticking. Use a liberal amount of flour on your hands, rolling pin and work surface as you are working the dough. Avoid working dough on surfaces the absorb moisture as the moist surface will cause the dough to stick
• Don't allow the dough to sit too long after it has been formed. Once the dough is shaped add the toppings and get it transferred to the stone quickly. If you take too long you will find the dough starts to stick to the work surface. Make sure you work area is close to your grill.
• Lightly flour you pizza peel before sliding it under you pizza. Add just enough flour to the peel to allow the dough to slide on the surface. Adding cornmeal or semolia flour to the pizza stone is not required. The pizza will not stick to a preheated stone. NEVER OIL your pizza stone.

Setting up the Weber

• Light coals using two chimney style charcoal lighters. NEVER USE LIGHTER FLUID or lighter fluid infused charcoal. If you use lighter fluid you will taste it in your food. If you like a wood smoke flavor like you get from a pizza oven add some maple wood chips. (Follow directions for your wood chips)
• Ensure ashes from previous grilling is removed and vents are clear. Load the lit charcoal into the Weber around the perimeter of the BBQ not piled in the middle. To much heat in the middle will burn your crust before the rest of the pizza is cooked. Fully open all the vents.
•  Place pizza stone in the middle of the grill and allow to preheat with lid on
• Once the stone is preheated open the lid and slide on the first pizza.
• allow to cook for 3-4min then check pizza by lifting one edge of the crust. Make adjustments to cooking time as required
• When ready transfer to wooden cutting board and allow to cool a little before slicing and serving.

Pizza Dough:

This is my current recipe of choice for my pizza. This has evolved over the last two years and will continue to change as I find better ways of doing this...

Dough must be started at least 2.5-3 hours before cook time.


4 Cups (460g) Tipo 00 flour (or all purpose white flour)
1.5 cups (330g) warm water
.25 cup (53g) olive oil
1.5 teaspoon (10g) Salt
2.25 teaspoons Active Dry Yeast  (water should not be too hot or it kills the yeast - if you arn't sure what to do to activate the yeast follow the directions on the package) Make sure the yeast is not past it's expiry date and has been stored correctly or it will not work!

1. Add yeast to warm water and allow to activate for 15min (I start with this as my first step so it is ready to go by the time i have all my other ingredients measured)
2. Add flour and salt large bowl 
3. Add oil
4. Add activated yeast and water solution
5. Mix using hands
6. Add flour to work surface, the surface of the dough, and your hands.
7. Kneed dough adding four to the surface and the dough gets sticky
8. kneed dough until it reaches the right constancy (This is where experience becomes an asset)
   If you go too far the dough becomes too tough and looses it's stretch-ability. If it's too moist it is also hard to handle because it sticks to everything. It's always better to be a little more on the moist side than the dry side. (More flour will be added as you work the dough into a pizza)
9. Allow the dough to rise to double it's size and punch it down. Repeat this process twice (depending on your dough and yeast and the temperature of the room and how the planets are aligned this time varies) It helps to do this in a room that is a little higher than room temperature. Sometimes I turn the oven on at a low temperature to warm up the room a little.

I've read in some places online that dough that has been in the fridge a day or two before being cooked works better, but I have not found this to be true  for me.

Pizza Sauce:

Blend these...
Can of San Marzano Tomatoes (Roma or plum tomatoes arn't as good)
Olive Oil
Fresh Oregano

(I have read that using a blender grinds up the tomato seed and this makes the sauce bitter, they say it's better to use your hands or a masher to crush the tomatoes)
No need to cook the sauce before adding to the pizza

Building a Pizza:

1. Form Dough into a thin crust (always smaller than the peel you will use to lift the pizza)
2. Lightly oil the surface of the crust (I'm told this helps keep the moisture of the sauce from making the crust soggy, I'm not sure if this is true
3. Add sauce (careful not to spill over the edge of the crust as it can cause the dough to stick to the peel)
4. Add toppings (see "Toppings" list below)
5. Transfer to preheated stone
6. Once the pizza is cooked add items from "Finish with" list
7. Allow to cool for a min or two, then cut and serve

Toppings:
Buffalo Mozzarella (or normal mozz)
Fresh Basil (Always use fresh)
Vidalia Onion (or Sweet onions)
Serrano Ham (or prosciutto)
Garlic Infused Extra Virgin Olive Oil (chop garlic and add to oil the day before)

Cook:

Cook until crust has some charring (This is a matter of taste)

Finish with:

Freshly Grated Romano Cheese (or Parm)

Coarse Sea Salt or Kosher Salt
Freshly ground pepper