Turn Your Grill Into a Pizza Oven With These Pizza Stones and Steels

Whether you're a fan of traditional versions like Grilled Pizza Margarita or creative toppings like Spicy Summer Peach Pizza, making pizzas at home is a skill well worth mastering.

And one of the best investments a home pizza chef can make is in a good pizza stone for the grill. These products are placed directly on the grill grate before the grill is turned on. As the grill heats up, the stone also absorbs and maintains heat, mimicking a brick-oven pizza environment.

"The beauty of a pizza stone is that it absorbs and holds all that heat," says Peggy Paul Casella, creator of the recipe website Thursday Night Pizza and author of the cookbooks Pizza Rules and The Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles Pizza Cookbook. "You put your topped dough on it, and the dough immediately starts to cook. [The stone] retains the heat as the rest of the pizza cooks."

The process is not unlike cooking pancakes or searing a steak: "Just like with a pancake, you're not going to start cooking a pancake on a cold pan,” Casella points out.

Since grills get hotter than the typical home oven, they're a well-suited cooking medium for pizzas, and adding a pizza stone to the mix makes the setup even more ideal. Casella says the optimal cooking temperature for making Neapolitan-style pizzas and other thinner-crust pizzas is at least 700°F. Home ovens typically don't get hotter than 500°F, but a gas or charcoal grill can reach maximum temperatures of 600˚F or more, temperatures that come closer to replicating a pizza oven.

David Joachim, co-author of Mastering Pizza, and the pizza oven tester and editorial director for the outdoor cooking website AmazingRibs.com, points out that "most grills are not designed to bake pizza … grills are primarily heated from the bottom," and don't surround the pizza with heat. But, he says, "A pizza stone cooks pizza dough more evenly because the dough makes contact with the stone across the slab, which distributes heat across the bottom crust, browning it more evenly than the grill grates ever could. This sort of even heating is a hallmark of better baking, which goes for pizza as well."

So before you fire up the grill for your next pizza party, invest in one of these pizza stones or steels to take your pizza-making game to the next level.

How to Choose the Best Pizza Stone or Steel for Your Grill

Type: Pizza stones and steels both have their advantages. A steel is more durable and won't crack if dropped. It's also easier to clean. However, a stone is likely to give pizza cooks better results on the grill. "A pizza stone is better … because it delivers heat more gradually to the bottom of the pizza, allowing the top and sides to cook through before the bottom burns," says Joachim. Steels, he says, will give better results in a home oven because the carbon steel transfers heat faster than ceramic, making a crisper crust, even in an oven's lower temperature. On the grill, a steel can overheat if it's not monitored, resulting in a burned bottom and underdone toppings.

Material: The best pizza stones are made from a refractory ceramic such as cordierite, which has similar properties to the "fire bricks" used in professional pizza ovens. Refractory ceramic is a type of material that can withstand extremely high temperatures. Cordierite is resistant to thermal shock cracking, can withstand high temperatures, and, most importantly, it's porous, drawing steam away from the bottom of the pizza so the crust is crisp rather than soggy. Pizza steels, meanwhile, are usually made from carbon steel, which has excellent heat retention yet is responsive to adjustments of heat temperature.

Size: "Match the overall dimensions of your stone to the average dimensions of the biggest pizza you plan on making — from, say, a 12-inch round Neapolitan pizza to a 16-inch round NY-style pizza to an 18-by-13-inch rectangular Roman pizza," advises Joachim. A stone that's slightly larger than the pizzas you'll be preparing will make it easier to launch and remove the pizza. Adds Joachim, "The stone also needs to fit your grill with a few inches all around the grill grate for airflow."

Shape: This is a personal preference, but many cooks agree that a rectangular pizza stone is easier to work with and more versatile than a round stone. Its increased surface area can accommodate multiple individual pizzas or can be used for other foods like baguettes or roasted vegetables. However, round pizza stones are well-suited to round-shaped grills, such as kettle grills.

Temperature Tolerance: Since grills can reach temperatures of upwards of 600°F and could even expose a pizza stone to open flame, it's important to choose a pizza stone that can withstand extreme temperatures. Check that your pizza stone is heat safe up to at least 900°F, just to be on the safe side.

Frequently Asked Questions

Are pizza steels better than pizza stones for grills?

Although pizza steels are more durable than stones, a stone is better suited to making pizzas on the grill because it provides a more gradual heat source, allowing the toppings to cook through before the bottom burns. "The only time I'd use a steel is if I'm flipping the dough over to cook both sides on the steel," says Joachim.

How long should you preheat a pizza stone or steel?

"You should preheat a pizza stone for at least 30 minutes on your grill," says Joachim. "The time it takes really depends on your grill, so it's better to go by surface temperature than by time. Aim for a stone surface temperature of at least 600°F." The temperature of the stone can be measured with an infrared digital thermometer.

What thickness pizza steel or stone is best?

The thicker the stone, the greater its heat capacity, so aim for a stone at least 1/2 inch thick. Steels can be thinner, 1/4 to 3/8 inches thick.

How do you clean a pizza stone?

Because most pizza stones are porous, they should not be saturated with water. The water will absorb into the stone and could cause it to crack or shatter when it's heated. Heating a pizza stone in the grill will burn off any food residue, and it can be brushed off with a stiff brush or a bench scraper. Keep in mind a pizza stone will develop a patina over time.

How do you clean a pizza steel?

A pizza steel is also meant to develop a patina or seasoning. Food residue can be scraped off, and stains can be worked out with a stiff brush and a little hot water. A steel can also be wiped down with a damp cloth. Because it's prone to rust, a steel should be dried thoroughly before storing.

Can you leave a pizza stone or steel in the grill?

Although many home cooks keep pizza stones in their oven to help regulate the heat, it's not recommended to leave a stone on the grill for prolonged periods of time. Humidity or rain could get the stone wet, damaging the stone. Instead, store the stone in a cool, dry place, preferably indoors.

David Joachim's Tips for Using a Pizza Stone on the Grill

• It's best to place the pizza stone in the grill first, then preheat the grill so they are heating up at the same time.
• The stone should be positioned in the center of the grate, and heat should be focused around the edges. For a charcoal grill, arrange the coals around the edges. For a three-burner gas grill, set the left and right burners to medium high to high, and the middle burner on low.
• Preheat the stone for at least 30 minutes with the lid down, to an ambient grill temperature of at least 650°F to 700°F. The stone cooking surface temperature should be at least 600°F to prevent dough from sticking.
• For better results, insulate the lid with a heat-resistant grill blanket over the grill or use fire bricks to replicate a wood-fired pizza oven that delivers heat from all directions.

Why You Should Trust Our Writer

Jessica is a cookbook author, food writer, recipe developer and culinary educator. A graduate of the Institute of Culinary Education in New York City, Jessica has been writing about food, cooking and kitchen equipment for more than 25 years. She welcomes the opportunity to help make food and cooking fun, approachable and accessible.