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Learn how to make easy and delicious pizza dough from scratch and to bake it using a countertop pizza grill/griddle.
First of all, this post is not sponsored by anyone. I decided to post this recipe because I was struggling when I tried to find instructions on how to bake a pizza dough I make from scratch using this Ambiano pizza grill. It comes with a manual which includes a few recipes. I thought there was going to be a recipe on how to bake the pizza, but alas, there’s none! Not even with a frozen ready-made pizza! C’mon, you are selling a pizza grill with NO pizza recipe or instruction on how to at least bake a frozen pizza ?
What is a pizza grill ?
I saw this Ambiano pizza grill (or some other brands called it pizza maker or pizza griddle) at Aldi and decided to pick one up to test it out. It’s a large countertop appliance. So I was a bit hesitant at first, but I thought I might get good use out of it because I like to make pizza from scratch for the kids on the weekend. The only thing I dread about baking pizza is I have to heat the entire oven to a high temperature. I hate doing that in the summer because the oven heats the whole house simultaneously. So, this Ambiano pizza grill seems to be a solution for me. There are several different brands out there. The one I got from Aldi costs $29.99 + tax.
Pizza in Electric Pizza Grill/Griddle
Ingredients
Pizza dough:
- 315 g all-purpose flour
- 45 g whole wheat flour
- 2 tsp instant yeast
- 25 g oil
- 8 g salt
- 1 tsp garlic powder
- 227 g water
Instructions
Prepare the dough:
- Put all ingredients for the dough in a mixing bowl of a stand mixer fitted with a dough hook attachment. Use the hook to stir the ingredients together so the dry ingredients won't disperse all over when you start the machine
- Knead on medium speed (speed 4 on KA) for about 4-5 minutes. The dough should be elastic and clear the sides of the bowl but it still sticks to the bottom of the bowl.
If not using the dough right away:
- Round the dough up into a dough ball and wrap with a cling wrap and put inside a freezer bag and seal. Keep it in the freezer until you are ready to make pizza. It can be kept frozen this way for up to one month
- When you are ready to use the dough, thaw it overnight in the fridge and then remove it from the fridge the next day and put it in a container to let the dough proof until double. It may take 2-3 hours because the dough is still cold. Once it has doubled in size, proceed to the shaping step
If using the dough on the same day, proof the dough:
- Lightly oil a container and transfer the dough to a container, or you can keep the dough in the mixing bowl you use. Just make sure to oil the side and bottom of the bowl
- Let the dough proof at a warm place until it is doubled in volume. This takes about 1 hour
Shaping:
- Because I plan to cook this pizza using the Ambiano electric pizza grill, I take one large parchment paper and put it inside the griddle to give me an idea on how large I need to roll the dough out
- Dust the parchment paper with some flour. Place the dough on top of the parchment paper. Starting from the center, flatten the dough with your palms and stretch the dough out into about 12-inch round or use a rolling pin (dust with some flour), with the edge a bit puffier to create a border. If the dough is resistant and keep pulling back, cover with a cling wrap and give it a 5-10 minute rest and then stretch it out again
Second proofing:
- Place the shaped dough on top of a cookie sheet or an inverted baking pan (so it doesn't have borders)
- Let the dough proof until puffy again, another 1 hour or so
Preheat the pizza grill:
- 10 minutes before the end of second proofing, plug in the electric cord and turn the temperature knob to 400 F (200 C) and let it preheat for about 5 minutes
Prebake the pizza dough:
- Carefully open the cover. Gently slide the proofed pizza dough by grabbing on the parchment paper, into the preheated pizza grill.
- Carefully close the top lid. The excess parchment paper sticking out on the side is not a problem
- Let it bake for about 8-10 minutes and the bottom should be just lightly golden brown. Use a rubber spatula to help you flip the dough over. Close the lid and cook for another 5 minutes. If you use a different brand pizza grill/griddle, your time may vary. So, you need to experiment a bit
- The reason why I do this is because when I cook a pizza dough I made from scratch using this pizza grill, the edge of the crust is pale and won't get the nice browning like it would in the oven. So at least by flipping it over, it gets some browning time
- After 5 minutes, open the lid and check if the edge has some browning (which it should). Pull the parchment paper to gently slide the pizza out from the pizza grill onto a cookie sheet or inverted baking pan
If not using the pizza crust right away:
- You can pre-bake the crust up to this point, let it cool completely on the cooling rack and then wrap it with a cling wrap and another layer of aluminum foil. Keep this in the freezer for up to one month. You can prebake without thawing, but you may need to add 2-3 minutes extra (or more) to the baking time. Then proceed to dress the pizza step
Dress the pizza:
- Sprinkle the prebaked crust with shredded cheese. Then add dollops of pizza sauce all over the top of the cheese layer. This layering helps prevent the bottom of the crust from getting soggy because of the sauce. Arrange toppings of your choice, the meat, cheese, veggies and then finish off with more shredded cheese
Continue baking the pizza:
- Slide the pizza back into the pizza grill. Cover the lid and bake for another 5 minutes or until the cheese are nicely melted and the bottom of the crust is crisp and nicely golden brown
Serve:
- Remove the pizza from the pizza grill and transfer to a cooling rack immediately. Carefully pull the parchment paper away to prevent the bottom from getting soggy. Let it stand for about 5 minutes. Slice the pizza into serving size
What if I want to bake this in the oven:
- Absolutely! I highly recommend using a baking stone or baking steel. Preheat the oven to 500 F (260 C) for conventional oven, 480 F (250 C) for convection oven, with the baking stone/steel place on the middle rack. Preheat the oven for 30 minutes
- After 30 minutes, slide the pizza onto the baking stone/steel and bake for 10 minutes. Then carefully slide the pizza out onto a peel or cookie sheet or inverted baking pan. Dress the pizza (follow the instruction above for dressing the pizza). Slide the pizza back onto the baking stone/steel and bake for another 5 minutes or until nicely golden brown.
- Transfer to a cooling rack immediately and carefully pull away the parchment paper. Let the pizza stand for 5 minutes before cutting
RECOMMEDED TOOLS
*Nutrition facts are just estimates and calculated using online tools*
Does it make a decent pizza?
My kids love this! One thing that stands out is that the bottom crust is crispy, which they like. So, If you ask me if the Ambiano pizza grill makes a decent pizza from scratch, I would say yes it does! It may not be as deep golden brown as those baked in the oven or those super high-temperature wood-burning oven, but for homemade, it is beyond acceptable I think!
What else can you do with the pizza grill ?
Besides baking pizza with it, I have fried some eggs, sauteed some veggies, and make grilled cheese sandwiches and quesadillas with it. I also like to use it to reheat pizza or other things. What I like about it also is that, it heats up quickly. Just be careful with it too because the outside is also hot to touch when it’s cooking.
I’m a happy camper!
Overall, I’m pretty happy with this purchase. The price is also perfect! It can take up some space on your kitchen countertop though. At first, I thought I didn’t make enough pizza to acquire another kitchen appliance just for that, but now that I think about it, I didn’t make pizza that often because I hated having to heat the entire oven to 500 F to bake a pizza. This heats up the house a lot during summer time.
