There is nothing like the crackle of a grill and the promise of perfectly charred bread to make you feel like a backyard baking genius. But if your big plan involves tossing that tube of store-bought dough or ball of grocery-store pizza crust onto the grates — hit the brakes. This is one of the worst things to cook on the grill and will fall into one of those “grill-now, regret-later” situations.
At first glance, it feels like a great shortcut. Dough is dough, right? But most store-bought bread doughs (especially the kind sold in cans or as raw loaves) are formulated for gentle and even baking in an oven. They come loaded with dough conditioners and stabilizers that help ensure a consistent rise and soft crumb, in the controlled, cozy climate of your kitchen. On the grill, things get wilder with direct heat, unpredictable hot spots, and no steady circulating air.
While frozen bread dough may be a shortcut for cinnamon rolls, store-bought dough just doesn’t hang well on the grill. Why? It mostly comes down to hydration and structure. Store-bought doughs tend to be a bit wetter, which helps with softness in an oven but makes them droopy and hard to manage on a grill. Without a baking pan to contain the spread, the dough can ooze between grates, stick to everything, and fail to puff properly. Plus, those dough conditioners that work wonders for oven baking? They are not designed to react to the intense, high-heat environment of a grill. The result is often pale, uneven, or — worse yet — burnt on the outside and raw on the inside.
Why pizza dough plays by different rules and what to grill instead
Now, if you’re thinking, “What about grilled pizza? That’s a thing, right?” — you’re not wrong! The wrong dough can also be a mistake when grilling pizza, but thankfully pizza dough is generally better suited to grilling than other store bought dough as it tends to have lower hydration and is built to hold up under direct heat. It is also portioned thin, which helps it cook quickly and evenly. It’s also rolled or stretched thin, so it cooks through quickly before burning, making it far less likely to stick, sag, or fall apart like other doughs might.
Homemade bread doughs can also flop on the grill if you are not careful. You will want to lower the hydration (aim for something closer to a rustic flatbread), give the dough a good flour dusting, and preheat your grates thoroughly. Grill with the lid closed to trap heat and mimic an oven. Think pita, naan, or focaccia rounds — these are grill-friendly champs with a track record of success.
So, what’s the move if you are craving grilled bread? Ditch the tube dough. Opt for flatbread-style recipes that cook fast and don’t rely on a perfect rise. Better yet, prep your own dough, and tweak it for the grill. It’s not that bread and grills can’t be friends. They just need to meet each other halfway.
