Baking on the Grill?

Yes indeed you can bake on the grill! Even your Holiday favorites like cookies, breads, pies, and cakes. Below are some tips for when you bake on your grill!

Bread 

Yes you can make bread with your grill. Flat breads are a breeze and even raised breads work great. All you need to bake bread is an enclosed space that is heated. For this a grill works perfect. One thing to remember though is that grills can get much hotter than your oven and temperature control is not as precise. Delicate breads that can be a challenge in the oven should be avoided on the grill until you really get the hang of it.

Temperatures: My experience suggests that breads cook faster (sometimes twice as fast) on the grill as they would in the oven. Like I said grills can produce a lot more heat than you traditionally use to bake breads so try to keep a relatively low temperature. Use an oven thermometer placed near the bread to monitor temperatures. Also, because of the natural air flow inside your grill (whether charcoal or gas) you get more convection than you do in your oven. This is why it is important to keep a close eye on breads when you are grilling.

Cookies:

When you are cooking your cookies on the grill there are several things that you will want to avoid. It is a good idea not to put any sprinkles or icing on the cooking's while you are cooking them on the grill. Sometimes these things are put on before they are placed in the oven. You will also find that it is not a good idea to put any chocolate chip cookies on the outside grill. The problem with the chocolate chip cookies is that the chocolate portion of the cookies will usually end up burning. In some cases I have found that the chocolate has a very unusual taste to it.

With cooking on the grill you will find that timing really is everything. Cooking them just a second too long on the grill will cause you to end up with extra hard cookies. You can not use the same timing for the grill that you would use for the oven. The grill and the oven really are two different things. It also depends on how much charcoal you put on the grill. It may take a few trial and error attempts but you will eventually come up with a great way to make some tasty cookies.

Pies:

Fresh homemade apple pie straight from your grill or smoker is a throwback to the way apple pies were baked in a wood-fired kitchen stove years ago. In a smoker, the sweet smoke from pecan or a fruit wood really weaves through the layers of the pie to add a succulent, mouth-watering flavor profile. Not to mention you'll be able to show off your skills with dinner AND dessert!

This recipe would be best with a homemade crust, but don’t fret it if you’d rather use a store-bought crust. Besides, they don’t say easy as apple pie for nothing. This easy apple pie recipe is as easy and American as apple pie gets.

Apple Pie on the Grill Recipe-

Prep time: 15 minutes
Cooking time: 35 minutes

Ingredients
1 batch Mom's Homemade Pie Crust or frozen pie crusts (2 crusts)
1 cup sugar
1 tbsp flour
1 pinch salt
2 tsp lemon juice
1/4 tsp cinnamon
1/8 tsp nutmeg
2-3 tsp butter
1 tsp freshly grated Gruyere cheese (highly recommended)
8 fresh Granny Smith apples

1) Set up your grill for indirect grilling at 350-375°F. You can use a pyrex bowl since we’re doing indirect or stove-top dutch oven would also work.
2) Peel the apples – a potato peeler works well. Core and slice the apples into 1/4-3/8ths thick slices (too thick and they won't soften enough). In a large bowl toss the apples with the lemon juice (only use 3 tsp when doubling the recipe). Mix in the sugar, flour and salt. Stir well to coat the apples.
3) Place your pie crusts in the pan and gently pull to bring the edge up out of the pan. Fill with all the apples that will fit to make a heaping mound. Shake to cover the top of the apple filling with cinnamon and nutmeg. Just eyeball to evenly cover. Slice off small chunks of butter and place on top of the filling. It will melt and spread the spices through the pie. Lay the top crust on the pie and press the edges in.
4) Gingerly score the top in several places (don’t cut all the way through). Sprinkle a few pinches of sugar on top of the pie.
5) Place on the smoker/grill in the indirect zone. For wood choice I prefer pecan, but any fruit wood will work (1-2 ounces). Try only an ounce or two. Cook for 30-40 minutes until the crust browns. You should also start to see the filling bubble at the edges when it’s done.
6) Remove from the smoker and let cool. Sprinkle with some finely grated Gruyere cheese. This will melt into the crust to add a bit of savory to the sweetness of the pie. For a simple whipped topping mix 1 cup heavy cream, 1/4 cup sugar and 1 tsp vanilla.