Baking Bread On A Kamado BBQ Grill

Baking bread on a kamado BBQ grill is sooo worth it. The colour is enhanced and the aroma subtly different. To be fair, baking bread on a kamado takes a little practice, you can't just take a standard recipe and transfer it to the barbecue and I've had my fair share of burned offerings along the way to prove the point.

To be fair, I've also had a lot of help from my good friend Martin (Mr Sourdough) Sviba.

Martin Sviba is my kamado bread baking guru

So before I get to the bread baking recipes I'll share with you the tips and techniques that I've learned so you can speed on your way.

Setting Up The Kamado Grill

When baking bread on a kamado grill you need to be set up for indirect cooking and that means having the heat deflector stones positioned between the coals and the cooking area.

It's also important to get the whole of the ceramic up to temperature so that the whole unit is supplying heat and not just the charcoal fire.

The best way to do this is to open the bottom vent fully and just have the small holes open on the top vent. This will allow air into the fire but keep the overall temperature in the kamado resting somewhere between 150°C and 200°C (300°F - 390°F). You can afford to close off the bottom damper somewhat when you feel that you have a good, even heat distribution.

Positioning The Baking Stone

A pizza stone / baking stone is essential. I've seen people try to bake bread on the heat deflector stone and more often than not they end up with a charred black bottom. You need to buy a baking stone (possibly two stones for some cases) and there should be a good air gap between the heat deflector stones and the baking stone. I use the Monolith Classic pizza stone because it's extra thick.

Dependent on what you are cooking, you may want to start with a cold baking stone or a hot one. In each of the bread recipes below I'll let you know how to kick off.

Baker's Yeast or Starter?

Using sourdough starters as a bread leavening agent goes back thousands of years and is unlike anything that can be made with baker’s yeast. It has a full, slightly tangy, and downright irresistible flavour which adds so much taste to any type of bread and it’s so versatile.

Whilst, Baker's Yeast is easier to use here's a tip to get the perfect feed for it. We are always told to use tepid water to activate the yeast but artisan bakers actually measure the air and flour temperature, add them together and take away from the magic number 52. This will give the perfect temperature for the water to be used with the yeast. For instance, air temp = 18°C and flour temp = 16°C, so 52 - (18+16), 52-34 = 18°C water temperature.