There’s nothing quite like pizza from a dedicated pizzeria. They have that crispy, flaky crust with toppings cooked just right. If you’ve tried making pizza at home, it’s still delicious, but often pales in comparison. The reason is the pizza oven. These create the perfect baking conditions for those cheesy pies. So, what if you could have your own? We’ll explain how you can have your own outdoor pizza oven and provide some tips for perfecting the art of homemade pizza. If you don’t have a pizza oven, don’t worry! We explain how you can also make incredible pizza on your BBQ or grill.
The Outdoor Pizza Oven Fits any Backyard
Restaurant pizza ovens are huge. That’s so they can pump out pizzas for all those orders. Your own outdoor pizza oven won’t need to be so big. A wood-fired, brick pizza oven is still a great addition to some backyards, but it won’t fit every space or aesthetic. However, today personal pizza ovens have become much sleeker and smaller. Now any backyard can accommodate one. Dedicated pizza oven manufacturers like Ooni, provide small but powerful pizza ovens that are fueled just like BBQs by gas, electricity, and wood pellets. They perfectly replace a traditional brick oven to provide the same quality of pies as a pizzeria with more personalized convenience.
The Surprise Pizza Oven – Your Grill
While you might be eyeing one of these dedicated outdoor pizza ovens, you may be excited to learn a BBQ can be a perfect outdoor pizza oven. Depending on what kind of BBQ you’re using, how you use your grill as a pizza oven can vary. We’ll provide some initial tips, but always be sure to check your specific manual for operation instructions.
The Pizza Stone
You can turn any grill into an outdoor pizza oven with a pizza stone, like those made by Napoleon. These stones come in various sizes and shapes to cook small pizzas, large pizzas, round pizzas, or Sicilian rectangular pizzas. The pizza stone is heated inside the grill to provide an evenly hot baking surface exactly like those found in brick ovens. This ensures the dough is cooked at the same rate as the toppings, providing a perfect pizza. When it gets too cold for grilling, you can use the pizza stone in your kitchen’s oven.
Turning your Pizza into an Oven with Napoleon and Big Green Egg
You can also fully transform your BBQ into a pizza oven with certain accessories. Napoleon’s stainless steel pizza add-on is put directly on the grill to create the shallow roof a pizza oven needs for proper top heat. The versatile Big Green Egg only further lives up to its name by transforming into a pizza oven. Thanks to the Big Green Egg pizza oven wedges, it becomes a full-fledged pizza oven. This allows the lid to stay mostly closed to efficiently retain heat while still allowing you to insert and remove pizzas at ease.
Perfecting Homemade Pizzas
Now that you know the convenience of a dedicated outdoor pizza oven or how to put your BBQ to the task. We have some tips that will help you perfect the art of homemade pizzas.
It’s All in the Crust
Pizza lives by its crust. That’s why an outdoor oven is essential to perfect homemade pizzas. You also need the right recipe. Any standard recipe of flour, water, sugar, yeast, and olive oil will do. We love Big Green Egg’s Canadian twist that uses maple syrup. When the dough is ready, be sure to stretch it by hand. A roller will deflate the dough.
A Spatula Means Safe and Perfect Homemade Pizza
Pizza ovens are short to create optimal and efficient baking areas. This can make it difficult and dangerous to reach inside. Similarly, pizza stones get hot and shouldn’t be moved. This is why you should use a pizza spatula, like those from Napoleon. These large spatulas are purposely designed to move and slide pizzas in and out of ovens safely without deforming the pie’s shape. Plus, you’ll feel like a real pizza chef as you slide each delicious creation on the table.
The Secret of Cornmeal
Ever wonder what that powdery substance on pizza crust is? It’s cornmeal. Rather than using flour to create a non-stick surface like in other baking, pizza uses cornmeal to add texture. When spreading out the dough, cornmeal the work area and the spatula for a non-stick surface. An outdoor kitchen will provide the perfect space to prepare the dough. When the pizza is ready to bake, spread some cornmeal on the stone as well.
A Proper Slice
Nothing’s worse than a sloppily cut pizza slice made with a small knife. A properly sharp pizza slicer will provide perfect slices. We recommend the Napoleon round Pro Pizza Cutter and, if you really want to impress, the Napoleon Rocking Pizza Cutter and Chopper.
Never Soap or Oil Your Pizza Stone
Pizza stones are porous. That means they absorb soaps and oil, which will weaken it. So just like cast iron, your pizza stone should be cleaned with only water and never washed with soap. Unlike cast iron, your stone should also never be seasoned. After repeated use for perfect homemade pizza, a pizza stone will develop a colouring called a patina. That’s natural and doesn’t affect its performance. It doesn’t need to be re-seasoned. In fact, try to keep oil off it.
Your Pizza Stone Does More than Just Pizza
Since they create the baking surface of a brick oven, pizza stones are also great for general baking. With a pizza stone, you can make bread, pastries, and cookies. What better way to end your cookout than with some fresh cookies. When baking something with a lot of oil or fat, use parchment paper so that the pizza stone doesn’t absorb it.
Fire Up the Oven
Now you know the convenience of an outdoor pizza oven and how to perfect the art of making homemade pizza, it’s time to start making some of your own. Once you have your own outdoor pizza oven, you’ll be able to create any kind of pizza you dream of. Soon everyone will be coming to your backyard for a slice. If you want to learn more about installing an outdoor pizza oven or getting these fantastic pizza accessories, be sure to contact us or visit one of Classic Fireplace’s locations.
