Neapolitan pizza is cooked at 900 degrees in a wood-fired oven for 90 seconds. Your home oven maxes out at 550 degrees and takes 8-10 minutes. A charcoal grill with Firebull lump charcoal can get you to 700+ degrees, which is close enough to produce genuinely exceptional pizza with a charred, blistered crust that you simply cannot achieve at lower temperatures.

What You Need

• Charcoal grill (kettle or kamado — both work)
• Firebull lump charcoal — 1 full chimney plus extra
• Pizza stone or baking steel (at least 1/2 inch thick)
• Pizza peel (wooden or metal)
• Infrared thermometer to check stone temp
• High-hydration pizza dough (65-70% water)
• Simple toppings — less is more at high heat

Setting Up the Grill

Place your pizza stone on the cooking grate over indirect heat. Light a full chimney of Firebull and pour all of it to one side. Close the lid with all vents fully open. Let the grill preheat for 45-60 minutes. The stone needs to be fully saturated with heat — a cold stone will produce a soggy bottom.

The Cook

• Dust the pizza peel generously with semolina flour or cornmeal
• Stretch the dough to 10-12 inches and place on the peel
• Add toppings quickly — the dough will start sticking
• Slide the pizza onto the hot stone with a quick forward-and-back motion
• Close the lid immediately
• Cook 90 seconds to 2 minutes, rotating 180 degrees halfway through
• Remove when the crust is charred in spots and the cheese is bubbling