Grilling Sourdough: Step-by-Step Guide to Perfect Crust and Flavor

I love firing up the grill as the weather warms and enjoying meals outside. Believe it or not, you can bake sourdough bread on a grill too. If you’re curious about adapting your sourdough routine for summer, this guide explains everything you need to know to bake great sourdough on the grill.

Summer is a GREAT time to Make Sourdough

Summer is one of the best seasons for sourdough. Wild yeast and bacteria tend to be more active in warmer temperatures, so dough proofs faster and your starter is usually lively and ready to use. The challenge is the oven—running it during hot days can make your kitchen uncomfortable. I often bake early in the morning or later in the evening, but when I don’t want to heat the house, the grill is an excellent alternative.

Enter: the GRILL! Baking sourdough on a grill takes some practice, but it’s totally doable. The goals are the same as oven baking: good oven spring, an open crumb, and a crisp crust. You normally get those results by steaming the oven or using a dutch oven; you can achieve similar effects on the grill with a little technique.

How to Bake Sourdough Bread on the Grill

Two Methods

You can bake sourdough on the grill in two main ways, similar to how you’d bake in a conventional oven:

1. Bake the loaf in a dutch oven placed on the grill
2. Bake the loaf directly on a baking stone or steel on the grill

Note: If your priority is a picture-perfect, Instagram-worthy loaf with a deeply blistered crust and dramatic scoring, the conventional oven or the dutch oven method will be easier to master. Baking on a grill involves a learning curve. If you mainly care about flavor and enjoying bread baked outdoors, the stone/steel method without a lid will still yield delicious results.

Dutch Oven Method

This method requires a dutch oven and works well for an 800–900 gram dough. It produces reliable steam and an even bake.

1. Place the empty dutch oven on the grill.
2. Preheat the grill and dutch oven to about 500°F.
3. Carefully transfer your shaped dough into the preheated dutch oven.
4. Turn off the burners directly beneath the dutch oven while keeping the other burners on to create indirect heat. This prevents the bottom of the loaf from burning. You may need to raise the temperature on the remaining burners to hold overall heat. If your grill places the rack higher above the flames, this step might be unnecessary.
5. Cover with the dutch oven lid and bake for 25 minutes while aiming to maintain roughly 450°F inside the grill.
6. Remove the lid and continue baking another 20 minutes. The loaf is done when its internal temperature registers about 205–210°F.

Baking Stone/Steel Method

This approach uses a baking stone or steel and also assumes an 800–900 gram loaf. It relies on a pan of water to introduce steam and indirect heat control to prevent scorching.

1. Preheat your stone or steel on the grill to about 500°F.
2. Prepare a shallow pan of warm water to add steam and place it on the grill beside the stone.
3. Set the dough on parchment, score it, and get ready to transfer it onto the hot surface.
4. Sprinkle a little rice on the stone or steel to help protect the bottom crust from burning.
5. Place the dough on the stone or steel and set the water pan next to it, then close the grill lid.
6. Turn off the burners under the bread while keeping the opposite side lit. This creates indirect heat and reduces the risk of a scorched bottom.
7. Bake for 25 minutes with the grill closed, monitoring the temperature and trying to keep it around 450°F.
8. After 25 minutes, remove the water pan and close the grill again to bake for an additional 20 minutes. The loaf is done when the interior reaches about 205–210°F.
9. If the bottom remains too pale for your taste, briefly move the loaf over the direct flame side to crisp the base for a few minutes.

Whichever method you choose, don’t let summer heat stop you from baking sourdough. Warmer weather often means an active starter and faster proofs, making this season ideal for working with sourdough.