In this article, you’ll discover how to bake delicious bread using your home barbecue. Follow my step-by-step tips for an amazing result.
Ingredients and Dough Preparation
For this recipe, I used semi-wholemeal flour from Caputo, type one with wheat germ, precisely one kilogram of flour. Add to this three grams of baking powder (half a packet) and fifteen grams of salt. I chose Camargue salt, but any good quality salt will do. Finally, you need sixty percent hydration, which means six hundred milliliters of water.
Let’s start kneading. First, I use a spoon, then continue with my hands until I get a solid dough ball. At this point, I add eighty grams of extra virgin olive oil, incorporating it well into the dough. I protect everything with plastic wrap and a light layer of oil to prevent it from drying out. I let it rest in the fridge for twenty-four hours.
Preparation for Cooking
After twenty-four hours, I take the dough out of the fridge and divide it into two dough balls, each weighing about eight hundred grams. I fold each of them a few times and let them rise for another three, four, or five hours. Meanwhile, I prepare the barbecue with a wood fire, creating an indirect cooking zone, as you would for roast beef or other recipes.
I put extra virgin olive oil in an ovenproof dish suitable for high temperatures and lightly knead the loaf before placing it on the grill for indirect cooking. I don’t wait for the barbecue to get too hot because I want the cooking to start gently. The initial temperature is between one hundred and one hundred and twenty degrees Celsius, maintained for about half an hour.
Baking and Smoking
After about half an hour of cooking, the bread is solid enough to be removed from the dish and placed directly on the grill, still in indirect cooking. The barbecue temperature gradually rises to between one hundred and fifty and one hundred and sixty degrees Celsius, sometimes reaching one hundred and seventy. The smoke generated during this phase adds an unparalleled smoky flavor.
Cooking times may vary: if you maintain a high temperature, it will take about an hour to bake eight hundred grams of bread. If you start with a lower temperature, the time might extend up to two hours. To check if it’s done, insert a skewer into the bread: if it comes out dry, the bread is ready.
Conclusion
The final result is incredible-tasting bread with a crispy crust and a soft, well-aerated interior. The difference between bread baked on a barbecue and in an oven is remarkable, especially for the smoky flavor. I hope you found this guide useful and encourage you to try this recipe at home. If you have any questions, leave a comment below and I’ll respond as best as I can. See you next time!
