How to Cook Pizza on a Kamado Grill

Pizza on a kamado is a stone over a heat deflector, with the coal filled to the fire ring and both vents fully open. Once the dome passes 350°C, leave the stone to soak for 30 minutes. A kamado pizza then takes about 90 seconds to two minutes, lid down. That is how to cook pizza on a kamado grill.

The timings are the ones on our stone-baked pizza recipe. The prices below are the ones on the product pages, the same figures as the UAE price guide. If a number here ever disagrees with the page, the page wins. In the UAE the method is the same all year. The limits are where you are allowed to light a fire, and how long you want to stand next to a dome past 350°C. The stone we sell fits the 21″ and up.

The setup: pizza stone and heat deflector

You need both. The heat deflector shields the stone from the flame, so the base bakes instead of burning. The pizza stone is the hot floor the dough lands on. One without the other is a different cook from the one on the recipe.

The order, from the bottom, is the one the recipe uses: heat deflector in, cooking grate on, pizza stone on the grate. The coal sits below all of that, filled to the fire ring.

Piece	What it does	Where it comes from
Heat deflector	Sits under the stone and blocks the flame	Divide & Conquer: two ceramic heat deflectors, with a three-tier platform and two half-moon grates
Cooking grate	Holds the stone level	In the grill box, stainless
Pizza stone	1.5 cm of ceramic. The baking surface	Separate. Fits the 21″ and up
Lump charcoal	The fire	Not in the grill box. Burnt-Carbon Coal is AED 150 for 8 kg
Heat-resistant gloves	For moving the grate and the deflector	Bring your own. We do not sell gloves

The pizza stone

The stone is 1.5 cm of ceramic. Vents wide open, lid down. It is listed for four sizes:

Grill	Pizza stone
15″ and 18″	No stone in the range
21″	AED 150
23″	AED 200
25″	AED 200, the same stone as the 23″
27″	AED 225

The 21″ is the smallest grill this method is written for. A 15″ or an 18″ is a full kamado, and it will grill and roast. It will not take this stone.

The heat deflector

The deflectors are not in the grill box. They come with Divide & Conquer, which fits every size we make. The prices on the accessories page:

Grill	Divide & Conquer
15″	AED 650
18″	AED 700
21″	AED 800
23″	AED 900
25″	AED 950
27″	AED 1,050

If you already own Divide & Conquer, you already have the deflectors. You still need the stone. The system is also how you run a hot zone and a cool zone on other cooks. For pizza, you are using it for the shield under the stone.

A 21″ that does not yet have either extra is AED 800 for Divide & Conquer plus AED 150 for the stone, AED 950. That pair is over the AED 500 line, so the two of them ship free on their own. A stone on its own is AED 150, and accessory-only orders under AED 500 pay a flat AED 35. The cart shows the delivery line before you pay. The rule is on the delivery page.

Kamado pizza temperatures

Past 350°C on the dome, both vents fully open, coal filled to the fire ring. Then 30 minutes at that heat so the stone soaks through. The dome thermometer reads the air in the dome, which is the number the recipe uses. It does not read the surface of the stone. That is why the soak exists. The air can be past 350°C while the stone is still catching up.

	Pizza
Coal	Fill to the fire ring
Top vent	Fully open
Bottom door	Fully open
Dome	Past 350°C, then a 30-minute soak
Bake	90 seconds to 2 minutes
Between pies	Lid closed for 2 minutes

Leave the vents open. Pizza is the cook where you want the fire as hot as the kamado will run it. Closing them to “save heat” drops you out of the range the recipe is written for. The full vent chart, from 120°C up to this, is the temperature and vent guide.

Come up to the temperature and stay there. A kamado holds heat so well that it is easy to overshoot on other cooks, and slow to come back down. For pizza, fully open is the setting, so there is no partial vent to creep toward. If the dome is still climbing when you launch, you skipped the soak.

How to cook pizza on a kamado grill

Light the coal, soak the stone, stretch and top lightly, launch, turn once, pull, then let the stone recover. The recipe serves four from four dough balls of 250 g, and its published time is 1 hour. Lighting sits outside that hour.

Use hardwood lump. Fill to the fire ring. Light with a chimney starter (AED 150), paper or kindling. Never lighter fluid or chemical-soaked coal. Ceramic soaks up what you burn, and you taste it later. The lighting steps are in how to use a kamado grill.

1. Set the oven. Deflector in, grate on, stone on the grate. Fill the coal to the fire ring. Open the top vent and the bottom door fully.
2. Heat-soak the stone. Once the dome passes 350°C, leave it for 30 minutes. This is the step that makes the base. Use it.
3. Stretch. Dough balls at room temperature. Push the air to the rim with your fingertips and stretch each ball thin. Semolina on the peel so the pie slides.
4. Top lightly. A thin layer of tomato, torn mozzarella, a few basil leaves. Less than you think. The recipe uses 400 g of tinned San Marzano tomatoes crushed with salt, two balls of mozzarella torn and drained, basil, and olive oil to finish.
5. Burp and launch. Crack the lid for three seconds so the fire can breathe, then open it and slide the pie onto the stone in one move. Lid down. On a hot kamado, opening the lid all at once can flare the fire at you. The general habit is in the burping section of the how-to guide. For this cook, the recipe’s instruction is the three-second crack.
6. Turn and pull. A half-turn at 45 seconds. Pull it when the rim is blistered and spotted, somewhere between 90 seconds and two minutes.
7. Let the stone recover. Close the lid for two minutes before the next pie. Ceramic holds the heat, and those two minutes put it back into the stone.
8. Shut it down. Close the bottom door, close the top vent, keep the lid down. The coal that is left goes out and lights again next time. The dome stays hot for hours. Leave it, and keep children and pets clear. Empty ash only when everything is completely cold.

Four pies, with the soak and the recovery, is the hour on the recipe. The first one teaches you the launch. The second one is usually the neat one.

What to buy in the UAE

Buy the stone, the deflectors and the coal from us, and the dough and the cheese from a grocer. We sell the tools for the fire. We do not sell flour, tomatoes or mozzarella, and the site lists no shop you can walk into. Orders are delivered.

For a first pizza setup on a 21″, the listed prices add up like this:

	AED
21″ Superior, from	3,300
Divide & Conquer, 21″	800
Pizza stone, 21″	150
Burnt-Carbon Coal, 8 kg	150
Grill plus those three	4,400

Delivery on that order is free, because it contains a grill, to Dubai, Abu Dhabi, Sharjah, Ajman, Umm Al Quwain, Ras Al Khaimah and Fujairah. Assembly on a grill is arranged. The price guide has the other five sizes, from the 15″ at AED 1,500 to the 27″ at AED 8,435. All seven glazes are the same price. If you already own the grill, skip that row and buy the stone and Divide & Conquer.

The chimney starter is another AED 150 if you want fully lit coal without fuss. Add it when you will use it. A 21″ with the stone, Divide & Conquer and one bag of coal is the setup the recipe assumes. The rotisserie and the cast-iron grate are for other cooks.

The food itself, from the recipe, for four pies:

• 4 dough balls, 250 g each, at room temperature
• 400 g tinned San Marzano tomatoes, crushed with salt
• 2 balls of mozzarella, torn and drained
• A bunch of basil
• Olive oil to finish
• Semolina for the peel

Any grocer that carries tinned tomatoes, mozzarella and dried semolina covers the list. Dough you have made, or dough you have bought. The recipe starts from balls at room temperature. In a hot UAE kitchen, have them ready to stretch when the stone is hot, and keep them out of a sunlit car.

Coal for this cook is “fill to the fire ring”, which changes with the size of the fire box, so there is no single kilo figure for pizza the way there is for the brisket. What to look for in the bag, and how to store it in this humidity, is the hardwood lump charcoal guide.

Cooking pizza outdoors in UAE heat

You can cook this all year. The dome is fired three times so it can stand a Dubai summer, and the glaze is fused into the ceramic. The practical limits are the rules on where a fire is allowed, and the heat coming back at you off a dome past 350°C.

Cook outdoors, on a stable, level surface, away from anything that can catch. Burning charcoal gives off carbon monoxide. A balcony in a Dubai tower is the wrong place to find out: the BBQ rules in Dubai go through balconies, villa gardens, parks and beaches, with the sources and the dates. Short version from that guide: assume a balcony is not allowed unless the building has confirmed it, a villa garden depends on the community rules, and parks and beaches only where there is a marked barbecue area. This pizza guide is not permission to light up.

Shade is kinder to the wooden side tables and the metalwork. After a shamal, brush the grates and check that both vents still move before you light. Close both vents whenever the grill is cold, so sand stays out of the fire box. First Fire is the owner’s note on living with the grill in UAE heat and sand.

The cooler months are when UAE gardens actually get used for fire. The rules guide opens on winter for that reason. In summer the ceramic is fine and the cook is the same. Do it in the evening, in shade, and keep the session to the pies. A dome past 350°C is a lot of radiant heat on top of a Dubai afternoon. Children and pets stay clear while it is lit and while it is cooling. It stays hot for hours after you shut the vents.

Common mistakes

Most of them are a skipped step from the recipe, or a habit brought over from a kettle.

• No deflector. The stone over an open flame burns the base before the rim is cooked. The deflector is the difference.
• A short soak. Pulling the first pie as soon as the dome says 350°C gives you a pale base. The 30 minutes are for the stone. The thermometer only reads the air.
• The lid flung open. Crack it for three seconds, then launch. A full-open flare on a fire this hot is the one that reaches you.
• A heavy hand with the toppings. A wet, loaded pie steams. The recipe says less than you think: a thin layer of tomato, torn mozzarella, a few leaves.
• The next pie straight away. Two minutes with the lid closed puts the heat back into the stone. Skip it and the second base lags the first.
• Vents pinched down. Pizza wants both of them fully open. A crack at the top is the brisket setting.
• Soap or a soak on the stone. Scrape it once it is cool. The next hot cook burns the rest off. Stains stay, and they do not hurt the pizza. The full cleaning note is in how to clean a kamado.
• Lighter fluid. You will taste it. Paper, kindling, or the chimney.
• The wrong size. The stone starts at the 21″. Planning pizza on a 15″ and then discovering the stone does not fit is an expensive surprise if the grill was bought for that. The size guide is the place to settle the grate before the stone.

The short version

Kamado pizza is a deflector, a stone, coal to the fire ring, both vents open, a dome past 350°C, and a 30-minute soak. Then 90 seconds to two minutes a pie, lid down, and two minutes for the stone between them. The stone fits the 21″ and up, from AED 150. The deflectors come with Divide & Conquer.

Cook the stone-baked pizza →

Pricing the grill around it? Start with the UAE price guide →

Questions people ask

How do you cook pizza on a kamado grill?

Put a heat deflector in, the cooking grate on, and a pizza stone on the grate. Fill the coal to the fire ring and open both vents fully. Once the dome passes 350°C, heat-soak the stone for 30 minutes. Slide the pie on, lid down, and bake for 90 seconds to two minutes, with a half-turn at 45 seconds. Close the lid for two minutes between pies.

What temperature do you need for pizza on a kamado?

Past 350°C on the dome thermometer, with both vents fully open and the coal filled to the fire ring. The 30-minute soak starts only after the dome has passed 350°C, so the stone heats through as well as the air.

Do I need a pizza stone and a heat deflector?

Yes for this method. The deflector sits under the stone and shields it from the flame, so the base bakes instead of burning. The stone is the floor the dough cooks on. Our heat deflectors come with Divide & Conquer. The pizza stone is separate, and it fits the 21″ and up.

How long does kamado pizza take?

About 90 seconds to two minutes once the stone is hot. Give it a half-turn at 45 seconds and pull it when the rim is blistered and spotted. The recipe’s published time is 1 hour, which covers the 30-minute stone soak and the pies. Lighting the coal sits outside that hour.

What size kamado do I need for pizza?

The pizza stone is made for the 21″, 23″, 25″ and 27″. The 21″ Superior, from AED 3,300, is the smallest of our grills that takes it. The 15″ and the 18″ have no pizza stone in the range.

Can I cook pizza on a kamado in a Dubai summer?

Yes. The dome is triple-fired so it can stand a Dubai summer. Cook outdoors, where you are allowed to light a fire, in shade if you can. A dome past 350°C throws a lot of heat at the cook, so an evening session is the kinder one in summer. The ceramic is built for the weather. Standing in it at noon is a separate question.

How do I clean a kamado pizza stone?

Scrape off anything stuck once the stone is cool, then let the next hot cook burn the rest away. No soap and no soaking. The ceramic is porous and holds both. Stains are normal and do not affect the pizza.

What charcoal should I use for kamado pizza?

Hardwood lump, filled to the fire ring. Light it with a chimney starter, paper or kindling. Never lighter fluid. Shut both vents when you finish and the coal that is left lights again next time. Burnt-Carbon Coal is AED 150 for an 8 kg bag.