Homemade grilled pizza - is cast iron NOT the answer?

I'm a big cast iron fan. My $20 lodge skillet has been great for the past 5 years. Absolutely love it so when my pizza stone cracked getting a Lodge cast iron one was the obvious answer. Fast forward 15 pizzas on the grill.... still burning the hell out of the bottom.

It just gets too hot! I've tried raising up the stone, parchment paper, aluminum foil, lower heat.....nothing seems to work. My old cheap $10 stone was fool proof. Just get the grill as hot as hell, toss on a pizza and 2 minutes later pull it off. Is it time to retire the cast iron stone to oven use (where it works amazing) and buy another pizza stone?

Are you putting the pizza on hot cast iron or cold? Maybe try not pre-heating the pan first.

Try piling the coals around the perimeter rather than below it.

I preheat the pan and it's a gas grill.

Take a shot at putting the pizza in the pan cold. Stone makes sense to heat first, it takes longer to heat. Cast Iron gets hot in no-time, especially if it is on the thinner side.

How long are you letting the pan warm up before placing the pizza on? If the bottom is mostly burned in the center you may need to let it warm up more to distribute the heat to the edge. Once it's good and hot you might try lowering the grill temp then add pizza. Also, rotate the pan 180° halfway through to minimize any hot spots.

I don't recommend placing a cold cast iron pan on a hot grill, unless you want a warped pan.

So my idea of borrowing the manhole cover and tossing it in the campfire as a pizza tray is looking like a bad one?

EastCoastMojo wrote: How long are you letting the pan warm up before placing the pizza on? If the bottom is mostly burned in the center you may need to let it warm up more to distribute the heat to the edge. Once it's good and hot you might try lowering the grill temp then add pizza. Also, rotate the pan 180° halfway through to minimize any hot spots. I don't recommend placing a cold cast iron pan on a hot grill, unless you want a warped pan.

Tried the rotating method. It helps but the bottom still burns before the top is cooked. My best pizzas with cast iron have been thin crust, rotate pan and cook at ~350 instead of 600+. Still not as good as the pizza stone.

Huh, I just olive oil the bottom and set it right on the grill. No pan.

Do you fully load the pizza or you grill the dough, flip it and then add the toppings?

In reply to Enyar:

All of it at once. Closed lid to melt/brown the top.

I had a mini pizza done on foil over an open fire last Saturday.

Camping is fun.

While the bottom burns, is the dough even cooked? Ever try a Calzone?

Making pizza is all about having the fire being screaming hot everywhere. You're running into the opposite problem of a brick oven pizza, which will cook the top and leave the bottom doughy if you don't let the bricks get up to temp before you try to cook a pizza. Bricks take a long time to heat up and transfer their heat slowly.

The cast iron is going to take on heat and transfer it very quickly.

There are tons of grill pizza techniques that don't use any sort of brick or cast iron. You cook one side of the dough for two minutes, flip it, add the toppings and then cover and cook the rest of the way. If you want to use cast iron, try a Chicago style pizza instead. Add a fair bit of oil to the pan, then let the dough proof in the pan. If you want to have extra flavor, put some minced garlic into the pan (raw) before you let the dough proof. Add sauce and toppings, then place the room temperature pan/pizza on the grill and cook it on medium heat until done.

http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/alton-brown/grilled-pizza-three-ways-recipe.html

I have had good luck using my Lodge skillet upside down on the grill. I get the pan hot, brush with olive oil, drop the heat, cook one side of the dough, remove half cooked dough and flip over on to floured sheet, crank the heat back up, dress the now cooked side with toppings, brush pan with oil again, drop the heat and finish it off.

After the first round of cooking the dough, it will have a convenient bowl shape.

I remember reading that cast iron works really well for pizza under the broiler, like preheat the hell out of the pan on the stove, drop the pie on it, and shove it in the broiler for a minute or two.

Olive oil one side and throw that side right on the grill. Don't need no stinkin pan. Cook it until its crisps and bring it in the house. I usually do half a dozen or so like this, then call the kids to decorate their own pizzas. The toppings go on the side you just cooked. Make sure you olive oil the uncooked side and then throw them back on the grill. Uncooked oil side down, cooked toppings side up. I put myself thru college making pizzas. The ones on the grill are far better than any of the thousands I made in pans. The only reason for pizza pans is so you can make them consistent, and to stack them up ahead of time so the dough can rise properly.

Seems all the good pizza places bake the pizzas on stone or brick, not cast iron.

That's what I'm thinking...I'm going to retire this pan to oven use only.