October 24, 2008 - 4:21am
BBQ/Grilled bread
Are there any types of bread you can cook directly on a grill/bbq without using the BBQ as an oven. I figure there must be types of bread in some cultures that have some nomadic roots that do this as who is going to lug about an oven.
I don't care about authenticity more that it's always good to have freshly cooked bread with a BBQ and cooking it on the same grill would be handy.
I imagine that you need to use a flat bread so it cooks fast so something along the lines of pita breads might be an option.
Has anyone tried it? can you cook directly on the bars of the grill or do you need a flat surface?
etc etc etc.
Share
Naan (an Indian flatbread) can be made directly on the grill (or on a grate over a stove burner). I don't have a good recipe, but here's a starting point (and some photos): http://allrecipes.com/Recipe/Naan/Detail.aspx
I do a lot of pizzas on the grill during the summer. I am told that one can do this directly on the bars of the grill and I am sure that some people can do this. I cannot and put a little device called a "pizza screen" on the grill. This can be purchased rather inexpensively and is just a round piece of metal mesh with a handy border. It just makes the operation a bit easier.
I use the same formula for grilling as I do when I bake indoors - and there are plenty if pizza crust formulas. You could make a nice thick crust and season it with salt or herbs if you just wanted some bread rather than a pizza.
When making pizza or any flatbread on the grill what I have found to be successful is to arrange the coals so that there is a fairly hot spot and leave some of the grill area without a direct fire. This way I can rotate the pizza to get some "bold baking" and then move it away to avoid unpleasant black spots.
When I make pizza, I grill one side of the dough and then flip it and put toppings on the baked side while browning the underside. Depending on the toppings, I may move the pizza to the "cool" part of the grill and pop on the grill cover and allow indirect heat to melt the toppings together.
Naan would work the same way - although I actually have a tandoor oven and use that for naan.
Many posters have baked non-flat breads on a stone on their grill. I have done this, but since I work with charcoal and not gas, I tend to stick with the flatbreads.
Hope this helps.
I've had good luck with biscuits (both store bought and home-made) as well as all kinds of flatbreads. As mentioned above, that could be pizza, naan, tortillas, just about anything that is thin enough to cook through before burning.
Home made pizza takes a bit of finessing, but frozen, store bought pizzas can be an awesome appetizer to put on the grill while the part is getting started.
-Toby