Grilling Pizza on a Charcoal Kettle

Why a kettle works

Pizza wants fierce heat from below and above at once. A lidded kettle with a hot stone gives you both: the stone holds fierce heat under the base, and the domed lid traps radiant heat over the top, cooking the whole thing fast. It is not a true wood oven, but it is a great deal closer than a domestic oven.

The setup

• Build a good bed of coals, banked or ringed, and set a cordierite stone on the grate to preheat with the lid on.
• Give the stone a full twenty to thirty minutes to get properly hot; a cold stone gives you a pale, soggy base.
• Aim for the hottest the kettle will hold, ideally over 300°C at the stone.

Cooking it

Work fast: a well-heated stone cooks a thin pizza in a few minutes. Launch the pizza onto the stone, close the lid, and check after a couple of minutes. Rotate it for an even bake, since one side always faces the hottest coals. You are looking for a puffed, charred, leopard-spotted crust.

Or add an oven attachment

If you cook pizza often, a kettle pizza attachment or a dedicated stone oven raises the ceiling considerably, letting you reach the 400°C-plus that makes a Neapolitan crust. But before you spend, try it with just a stone and a lid; you may be surprised how good it is.