Last year I bought a kamado style grill and posted about it here: Grilling Fever. Most people know of the kamado grills via the Big Green Egg brand, but there are several other brands out there. You can read some of my beginners thoughts about kamado grills and grilling here: Kamado Cooking – Notes from a Beginner. Since I bought the kamado, I’ve probably completed over 100 cooks on it and learned a ton. Now that the weather is nice, I plan to get right back to it and I started off this weekend with grilled pizza.
An eon ago, when I had a gas grill, I wrote about grilled pizza. While that recipe and technique are still good, I want to update it with a new and fantastic pizza method that I’ve learned on the kamado. I learned it from a woman on a cooking forum and I call it the “cold cast iron” method.
It’s super simple and turns out a fantastic pizza in a matter of minutes. Start by lighting your grill and letting it heat up to 550° or 600° F.
While the grill is warming up, build your pizzas on a cast iron griddle or skillet. Once I discovered this method, I bought 3 of these Lodge Cast-Iron Round Griddles specifically for pizza making. They’re 10″ (which makes a perfect personal pizza size) and $15 with free shipping via Amazon Prime. Well worth the price. Amazon also sells a larger 14″ pan specifically for pizza if you wanted to make larger pizzas: Lodge Cast Iron Pizza Pan.
You want to make sure that each pizza starts off on a cold (or at least cool) griddle or pan. Sprinkle a little cornmeal on the pan and then shape your dough into a circle to nearly fill the pan. You can make your own pizza dough or use store-bought (the dough in these pictures was from the Publix deli).
Add the toppings of your choice – for this pizza I used garlic, tomato sauce, sliced tomatoes, sliced mushrooms, red onions, ricotta cheese, and a light sprinkling of shredded mozzarella cheese. (H made his more traditional with sauce, pepperoni, ricotta, and mozzarella.)
Once your grill has come up to temperature (at least 550°F), place the griddle or pan in the grill. You want the grate at least level with the edge of the grill, and better yet, 2″-3″ above if at all possible.
Close the lid, set your timer for 8 minutes, and keep your hands off! After 8 mins, check the pizza. If the cheese is completely melted and starting to brown on top and the crust is puffy and browned, it’s done. You can leave it in another minute if you want a slightly darker crust, but more than 11 minutes and it’ll start to burn on the bottom. The picture below was after 9.5 min and the crust was just perfectly crunchy on the bottom.
If you’ve got a kamado style grill, or a grill that you can heat up to 500°+, I strongly recommend you try the cold cast-iron method of pizza making. It makes wonderful pizza. Now I just need to plan a pizza party and invite some friends!
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