The Best Type Of Pizza To Cook Right On The Grill

The beauty of grilled pizza is that it can give you something close to the experience of a traditional pizza oven with its high temperatures and smoky, wood-fired flavor. But to get crispy perfection on a hot grill, you need to be making the right type. Cooking pizza on a grill grate is a lot trickier than sliding dough into an oven, which is why you should stick to a drier, thin crust pizza.

A thin crust pizza is less likely to result in a mess on your grill since it's lighter in weight compared to a thicker dough. The thin crust also works better with the high heat of the grill, as you won't have time to cook a thicker dough all the way through before it goes from delightfully charred to completely burnt. 

Finally, you want your grilled thin crust to be a stiffer, lower moisture dough than your normal pizza recipe, as that will also prevent sinking. A drier dough also means less of a chance that your dough will stick to the grill. Aim for a hydration level of about 66% (or ⅔ as much water as flour) for the right mix of stiff yet pliable.

Once you make a pizza dough with the right consistency, keep it thin across the whole pizza by rolling it out flat and avoid the larger puffy crust handles of other pizza styles. The normal lip you see on a pizza can lead to uneven cooking on a grill and also lead to similar problems of sinking. Grilled pizza is also usually cooked on both sides for the best result, so a raised edge would be dented and misshapen when you flip it. It can help to lightly brush the dough with oil on both sides to prevent sticking, and you can also rub oil on the grates if you want to be extra careful.

Because of the thin crust and quick cooking time on the grill, you want to be light with the toppings and cheese, as too much moisture can make the thin crust soggy, and overloaded toppings won't cook through completely before the crust is done. Stick with dry cheeses like low-moisture mozzarella or a mix of low-moisture with a small amount of fresh. With the right thin crust dough, grilling pizza can be as easy and simple as making it in your oven, and the charred, crispy results can be even better.