Did you know that you can use your gas grill as an oven?
Yes, you can!
That means you can bake cookies, cakes, breads, pizza, and casseroles outside, all summer long, without heating up your kitchen! And although it may take a bit of practice to get the hang of it, it’s still pretty easy.
10 Tips For Using A Gas Grill As An Oven
Here are my top 10 tips for successful baking on a gas grill!
#1 — Start With A Clean Grill
Unless you want your cake to taste like last night’s steak. 😉
#2 — Use Indirect Heat
Direct heat will burn most baked goods. Turn on only some of the burners and bake over the unlit side. Our gas grill has 4 burners, so I turn on the 2 side burners and bake in the center of the grill.
#3 — Use A Thermometer
If you’re going to bake, you need to know the temperature inside your grill with the lid closed. If your grill doesn’t have a thermometer built in, invest in one!
#4 — Choose Your Baking Tools Wisely
Even indirect flame provides intense heat. Choose baking dishes that can withstand it, like a pizza stone or a cast iron skillet. I bake cookies, pizza, and bread on my pizza stone — and I use my cast iron for everything from casseroles, cakes, brownies, cobblers, and crisps!
So next time you’re at the thrift store or a yard sale, keep an eye out for a pizza stone or cast iron skillet! (Read about how to season cast iron here.)
If you don’t yet have either of those options but you still want to get started, any metal or stoneware containers should work well.
Glassware is risky since it is prone to breaking under direct heat.
#5 — Choose Your Recipes Wisely
Grill baking is less precise than oven baking. When you’re still getting the hang of it, choose forgiving recipes that won’t be harmed by fluctuating temperatures as you learn the nuances of your grill. Simple cookies, brownies, pizzas, and fruit crisps all baked well for me despite inconsistent heat.
On the other hand, a cake or loaf of bread might not be as forgiving.
#6 — Preheat The Grill
Preheat your grill about 25 degrees hotter than the recipe calls for, since opening the lid will release a lot of heat.
Additionally, wait until you have consistent heat to start your baking. I have to heat my grill up and play with the strength of the flame for a bit before I achieve a consistent temperature.
#7 — Check The Temperature During Baking
A grill doesn’t keep a consistent temperature as well as the oven does. Check on it a few times during baking and adjust the flame as needed.
#8 — Don’t Lift The Lid
This releases a lot of heat, and will make your baking take longer. If you absolutely must, make it quick!
#9 — Use Your Nose
When you can’t see inside, it’s hard to know what’s going on in there!
With practice, you will come to recognize when something is done by the way it smells. There’s the smell of food as it’s starting to brown… the smell when it is perfect… and the very distinct smell of food that has baked for too long. It only took me a few tries to know when to open the lid.
#10 — Don’t Rely On The Recipe For Baking Times
In general, I find that dishes cook more quickly on the grill than in the oven. If there’s a range of baking times given in the recipe, set your timer for the lowest number. With practice, you’ll get a feel for the timing.
That’s it! Now you’re prepared for baking all summer long without heating up your house!
BONUS! Using a gas grill as an oven means you can still provide nourishing meals for your family in case of a power outage!
Ready to get baking on the grill? What will you try first?
...without giving up the foods you love or spending all day in the kitchen!
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Thank you for these tips! Learning how to use my gas grill beyond brats and hamburgers is a goal of mine for this summer. I’m excited to get started now!
Enjoy! It’s so much fun to try different things! 🙂
Are there any photos to help see what you are using and how things are set up? I am having trouble visualizing the possible setups.
Thank you.
Aura Wright
Hi Aura, I just plunk my pizza stone in the centre of my grill, turn on the burners on either side, and I’m good to go! It’s that simple. When I use a cast iron pan, I do the same thing, turn on the side burners and put the cast iron pan in the middle. If your grill only has two burners, you would turn on the left burner and cook on the right, or vice versa. Hope that helps!
I just noticed it looks like you have a paper (must be parchment paper?) under your pizza on the the pizza stone. Do you recommend using parchment paper as opposed to making the pizza/cookies/etc. directly on the stone?
Hi Teressa, That particular pizza crust is gluten free – which sticks terribly unless I use parchment paper! The crust also has to be cooked by itself first, and then the toppings added and cooked again, so the parchment paper makes it easy to move it to and from the grill so I’m not leaving the lid open too long and letting all the heat out. When I used to make wheat-based pizza crust, I would cook directly on the stone. With cookies, although I would cook them directly on the stone if using the oven, I often use parchment paper with the grill – so that I can move them quickly onto and off the stone without leaving the lid open for too long. But they certainly can be cooked directly on the stone.
Do you use a muffin stone? How do you prepare it to receive the batter and then get your cooked muffins out?
Parchment seems like a great idea for the flat stone – just not sure if there is a translation for the muffin tin. In the house I use papers but I think that would waste the heat build up to fill them.
Thank you
Hi Sara,
I have made muffins using my muffin stone on the grill. The stone holds a great deal of heat so I pull the stone out, shut the grill lid and then add papers and batter.
I’m sure to have the proper amount of papers out and ready and the batter ready as well.
I have found that with a pre-heated muffin stone the muffins bake faster plus I allow for carry-over cooking after I pull the stone off the grill and it is cool enough to get the cups out. You’ll have to play around with each recipe to see what cooking time is needed. 🙂
~Danielle, TCS Customer Success Team
I never took into account the fact that a grill can also become an oven. I like that you mentioned that we should have a thermometer ready since the grill might not have one, and baked goods must have a specific temperature to prevent being burnt. My husband will be thrilled to know about this since we will be buying a barbecue grill this weekend for the party. We can bake a cake due to this information.
As a person living in Japan I currently have no conventional (US) oven. I figured this could worknin theory but didn’t even think about direct heat. Tha ks for the awesome tips!
I decided to try baking on my gas grill after the indoor oven went on the fritz. I turn the middle burner (3 burners) off after preheating the grill. I have baked brownies, biscuits (for biscuits & gravy), and a frozen chicken pot pie, all with outstanding results.