How to Bake on the Grill

One of the things I love about the summer is the fact that you can get your barbecue out and cook outdoors. I love BBQ food. I’ve always wondered how easy it would be to bake on the grill. I mean, in the past people didn’t have fancy ovens either and managed to prepare food. So why not try it out on a barbecue grill.

I did a little exploring on the web and quickly learned that baking on the barbecue grill actually isn’t that difficult. It just takes a little trial and error and some preparation.

Let’s bake on the grill

Preheat the grill
When baking on the grill it’s important to use indirect heat. In case of a charcoal grill that means you have your charcoal at the sides of your grill and you bake in the middle. If baking for longer than 1 hour you will have to add briquettes to each side every hour to keep the heat going.

If you are using a gas grill only turn on a few burners on the outside and bake above the unlit burners in the middle. The purpose of indirect heating means you don’t have the heat directly under the things you bake, but bake with the heat surrounding the thing you bake.

Try and get the heat up to around 150 °C- 180 °C / 300 °F-350 °F. Some grills come with a thermometer, if yours doesn’t you can use an oven thermometer.

Start baking
Now that the grill is preheated it’s time to put your baked goods in. Like I said previously, you will be baking in the middle of the grill. I personally don’t put my baking tins directly on the grill but put a grill plate in between to help with the indirect heating. I would recommend you do the same. Take a grill plate, put it on the grill and put whatever you want to bake on the plate. Put the lid on and let the baking begin.

Keep an eye on the baking process
Baking on the grill is never as exact as baking in an oven so it’s good to keep an eye on whatever it is you’re baking. However, don’t open the lid too often. Every time you open the lid, heat will escape which will mean the heat inside the grill will drop. You want to keep the heat and baking as evenly as possible. Follow the directions of the recipe in terms of how long it should be in the oven or in this case, on the grill.

Eat and enjoy
Once your baked goods are done, take them off the grill and enjoy.

Tip
What I like to do is, once I’m done grilling food, the grill usually still is pretty hot, I use that to do my baking on. The grill will be heated up already and while everyone is enjoying their food I have a nice surprise baking in the grill. One of my favourite and easy things to bake on the grill for a small group of people is Lava Cakes but you can bake whatever you want. Just try and have fun with it, experiment and see what works for you and your barbecue grill.