Pizza Dept.

Open all night

Providence, Rhode Island · 1980

Grilled

Cooked on the bars, topped on the grilled side

Scale this formula

Dough straight onto the grill bars: it sets in about ninety seconds, gets flipped, and the toppings go onto the already-cooked side over indirect heat. Smoky, thin, and the only outdoor pizza that needs no special oven.

Method

  1. Make a firm-ish dough with a generous oil percentage and ball small.
  2. Set the grill up with a hot direct zone and a cooler indirect zone.
  3. Roll or stretch thin, then oil both sides well and carry it out on a floured peel or an upturned tray.
  4. Lay it straight on the bars over direct heat. It sets in 60-90 seconds; lift a corner to check for grill marks.
  5. Flip it with tongs onto the cooler zone, cooked side up.
  6. Top the cooked side fast, close the lid, and give it three to four minutes to melt.

Fermentation

StageTimeTemperatureNotes
Bulk 2 h 22°C / 72°F
Cold ferment 24 h 4°C / 39°F Optional.
Warm up 1.5 h 22°C / 72°F

Times are a guide. How to read the dough instead of the clock →

The bake

Oven315°C599°F
Time90 seconds + 4 minutes

Surface. Grill bars, direct then indirect

Have everything prepped and within reach before the dough touches the grill. There is no time to go back inside.

On top

Sauce
Thin, applied sparingly. A wet sauce will not reduce in four minutes.
Cheese
Quick-melting: fresh mozzarella torn small, or fontina.
Toppings
Pre-cooked, always. Nothing raw survives the short second stage.

You got it right when Black bar marks on the underside and a smoky edge you cannot get in an oven.