Love chicken pizza but don’t know how to make it? Follow these seven steps for a delicious grilled bbq chicken pizza made at home. Read more to find out.

Who can say no to a delectable slice of smokey BBQ chicken pizza? This savory dish is a favorite for many around the world. It’s not just tasty but tummy-filling too.

Pizzas can be both baked or grilled, but there’s nothing like a crispy, chewy, grilled pizza. It’s sheer perfection if you know the proper art of grilling.

Just follow the seven steps we mentioned below, and you can become a pizza chef in no time!

Before we get to the process, you must be wondering why grilled pizza? Why not baked? Well, you can use a conventional indoor oven, too, if you must. But honestly, it won’t give you the breathtaking smoky effect you’d want in a pizza.

Grill top pizza ovens are a great alternative to wood-fired ovens. Plus, the heat remains outside, so no mess in the house. So, you can try it out too.

Let’s jump into the process now. 

Step 1: The Perfect Sticky Pizza Dough

Take 1 1/2 cups (355 ml) warm water in a large bowl of a stand mixer. Sprinkle over 2 1/4 teaspoons) of active dry yeast and let it sit for 5 minutes until dissolved.

Next, you’ll add the other dry ingredients: 3 3/4 cups (490 g) bread flour, two teaspoons salt, and one teaspoon sugar into the mixture. Lastly, add two tablespoons extra virgin olive oil, and it’s ready to knead.

With a mixing paddle, mix the whole thing on low speed for a minute and then replace the paddle.

Using a hook paddle, mix again to create the dough. If you’re using a mixer, this will take 7-10 minutes to knead the dough on medium speed. The consistency of the dough should be a little sticky but not too much.

Cover the dough with plastic wrap. Pick a warm place in the kitchen to keep the dough for about an hour and a half.

Thanks to the yeast, the dough will start to rise. This amount of dough can give you two large 12-inch pizzas without a doubt.

Step 2: Preparing the Grill

Use high heat directly to prepare the grill. Don’t forget to use some olive oil or cooking oil to grease the grill grates.

Remember, a gas grill spreads the heat better than charcoal grills. If you’re using the charcoal ones, the heat should be indirect and medium-high.

Upgrading the old one to a quality gas grill won’t be a bad idea if you love a perfect pizza crust. For a gas grill, you can turn off one or two burners if required.

Step 3: Don’t be Shy to Experiment with the Toppings

Pizza toppings are always customizable. So, it always depends on your taste and preference. While the dough rises, you can utilize the time to prepare the toppings. Since we’re making BBQ chicken pizza, chicken is a mandatory ingredient.

You can shred or slice one boneless cooked chicken breast into pieces. Next, mix the shredded chicken with some bbq sauce in a bowl. 2 tablespoons or up to a maximum of 1/3 cup of BBQ sauce will give you the desired taste.

Moving on, add the other toppings like red onions, fresh cilantro, some mushrooms, maybe some capsicum but most importantly, shredded mozzarella to achieve that classic pizza flavor.

Some pro tips, Do not overload the pizza with toppings. The dough won’t be crispy that way. Also, if you like a little tangy tomato flavor, mix the bbq sauce with 2 tbsp tomato purée and a little water.

Step 4: Shaping the Dough Like a Pro!

First, prepare a clean surface and sprinkle some flour over it. Flatten the pizza dough on it and shape it with your hands. Using your fingers, stretch out the dough and let it hang in while you hold it up for a while.

Then put the dough back again on the surface. Once again, using your fingers, stretch it out, and leave for five minutes. Push out the edges and repeat the process a couple of times until it’s round and 12 inches in shape.

Don’t raise the edges too much as might cause you trouble while grilling.

Step 5: Grilling the Pizza Crust

Use some flour to dust a cookie sheet and then place the dough on top. Next, use it to slide off the dough on the heated grill grate surface. Close the lid. Cook or grill the dough for 2 minutes initially.

Check afterward to see if the sides on the grill are starting to go brown. If not, keep for another minute, and rotate the dough a little.

Once you see air bubbles forming, carefully flip the dough and try not to get burnt. Turn off the grill but keep the dough covered for a while so that the internal heat cooks the other side.

Step 6: Time to Add the Toppings

When both sides are cooked moderately, pull out the dough and start adding the toppings one by one. Start with brushing a little olive oil, then spread the sauce that you prepared before.

Next, add the meat sauce you prepared, the vegetables, the red onions you sliced one after another. Finally, it’s time to cover it with the heart of a pizza-shredded mozzarella.

Step 7: Grill One Last Time

Once you are done with toppings, brush the sides with some egg yolks and put it back into the grill. Close the lid, then cook it for two more minutes. Check if the cheese is bubbling. If it is, then you’re bbq pizza is almost ready.

Pull off the grates, place the pizza on a plane surface, and rest for a while. Once it has cooled off a little, cut the pizza into slices, and voila! Your BBQ chicken pizza is ready to be served.

Sit back and enjoy the crispy awesomeness with friends or family.

Final Thoughts

So now you have the bbq tips, wake up your inner chef, and rush to the supermarket. Buy the ingredients and try it out.

The best part is you can even store half the pizza dough in the refrigerator to make pizza another day. All you need is to make arrangements for the toppings. Crowd-pleaser and convenient, two in one!

The bark is comprised when you rub perfectly marinated meat with some water vapors, Smoke, and the right portion of the heat for a long time until the mouth-watering meat gets ready for you.

The formation of bark is a result of a chemical equation which is a combination of the fantastic type of woods, the rubs and the fat on the meat. Isn’t it interesting how chemical reactions make you a tasty treat like the formation of bark that surprises you?

What is Bark?

The bark is like a dream comes true for people who like crusts on the meat. It is an exceptionally delicious layer that shapes on your smoked meat as a result of some chemical reactions. Don’t worry; the reactions take place during the cooking cycle.

In addition, you need to expose your meat to heat and oxygen to get this crust layer on your meat. And if you want to give your meat a dark and liquor ice color, you want to expose your meat to smoke as well. However, the meat will stay in red if not exposed to Smoke.

How to get a Good Bark?

Getting a good bark is not complicated anymore. You just need to have usual ingredients in your rub that are water and fat-soluble because they are kind of playing a vital role in the formation of good bark. The recipe of rub varies, but all the recipes must include salt, sugar, paprika, and pepper. You may add onions and ginger to give it more flavors, but please be easy with the spices. In case you are not planning to expose your meat to the Smoke, the meat will stay in red, depends on the ingredients in your rub.

The process is something like as the meat starts exposing to smoke, the water-soluble ingredients start dissolving either in the moisture of Smoke or meat like the salt penetrates the meat as a result of some electromechanical reactions. Whereas, the other ingredients that have a large molecule will stay on the surface of the meat, and will start creating a glaze. Then the fats in the meat will automatically induce as the meat continuous to cook. Finally, when the pellicle starts forming, the ingredients on the surface of the meat begins drying out, resulting in the formation of seasoning crust. The pellicle and the tasty crust are your bark on the meat!

Does Smoke affect the Bark?

Well, Smoke is also a critical factor that plays a crucial role in the formation of good bark. To get a good bark when smoking meat, you just need to expose your meat to the right amount of Smoke. You may have to be very careful, as revealing the meat to the Smoke is an art. The longer your meat gets Smoke, the more it looks like a burnt piece of meat. But the meat should taste delicious, right? So, keep it smooth or glossy not dry!

Do not try to wrap up your meat into a foil if you are not in a hurry. It can fast your cooking process but gives you a muddy, soggy mess of your meat. If you want to have a good bark when smoking meat, you may need to have some patience.

Besides, it would be good if you also be very careful about setting up the temperature. Low temperature would not be helpful for your rubbing and will give you a saucy topping. Whereas, high temperature will be more likely to burn your delicious smoke meat. So, your temperature should either too slow or too high. It should be between 200F and 250F. Also, check out the best charcoal grill for yourself to improve your smoking game.

Important Note: The temperature depends on the type of meat you are cooking. Different met types may require different temperature settings. Set it accordingly.

The last and essential thing you should be very careful to a good bark when smoking Meat is avoiding water use in the first two hours of the cooking process. We know that the chemical reactions in the cooking process will take place in the early few hours to give you the best results.

Tips to Get a Good Bark when Smoking Meat

• Do not put the meat in a pan while smoking because the pan would hold all the liquid ingredient that has to disappear while steaming naturally. It won’t give you a delicious taste you are expecting.
• You can cut your meat pieces wisely to get a more surface area for a good bark when smoking meat.
• Make the most surface area for getting a good bark on your meat. Because the more surface area you have, the more you can coat your meat with a dry rub. More rub, more bark! Also, you can consider splitting your meat and tie into a tube for better results.
• If you feel like a bone in the meat, remove it immediately. You can use a parking knife for extracting bone.
• Try to expose your meat as much as possible to the maximum convection airflow.
• Do not use shortcuts. Don’t wrap your meat in a foil. Yes, it would fast the cooking procedure, but makes your bark a soggy mess that you don’t want to try.

Try to exclude the fat from the meat. When there is no such fat, the meat will have more surface area to have a better pellicle, results in an excellent bark formation.

Final Words

That’s it! There you have a complete guide to get a good bark when smoking meat. Yes, it is just a consequence of patience and some simple steps that you have to follow throughout the cooking process.

I think getting a good bark when smoking meat feels like hitting the jackpot. It also adds more happiness when you have a barbecue party at home with your friends and family, and the meat turns out exactly you imagined. Finally, we are leaving you with a wish that you get a delicious and good bark when smoking meat with extra spices to satisfy your hungry eyes!