A wood fired pizza oven is out of most people’s reach, but anyone can grill on a plank on their BBQ

Cooking pizza on a plank of wood is, as they say, a ‘game changer’. A chewy crispy crust with those lovely blistered bits everyone loves and all kissed by wood smoke.

First you need your plank. Whether you have a gas or charcoal BBQ the principle is the same, You need a plank around 13 inches by 7 and about 3/8 inch thick. Yes those are imperial measurements, which may mean nothing to those who have grown up with metric, but this is an American book. You can do the calculations.

Best wood? Recommended is maple, alder and cherry. Where do you get your plank? Well, A***zon is your friend, as usual. They seem to sell mostly cedar though and Dina is a bit down on Cedar ‘too sweet’ and best used only for fish.

Anyway, whatever plank you get you need to soak it very well before use or, obviously, it will catch fire and incinerate your food. One hour minimum but 24 hours will extend its useful life to five or six smokes. Weigh it down in the water, as of course it will try and float.

Thus this book guides you through every step of getting ready to wood cook on a plank in a BBQ with a lid, whether gas or charcoal, and the intro is a must read as you don’t want to just dive in or disaster is almost assured.

Then come the recipes. You thought dough was dough right? I know I did but here are recipes for Neapolitan style dough, New York style dough and beer pizza dough. The first is recommended for pizzas not carrying too much topping, while NY dough is thinner and crispier. Beer pizza dough is chewier and fluffier. Lagers, ales or stout will all work well Even cider.

These recipes are followed by the sauce recipes – tomato, garlic cream, pesto, and hot honey, and then we’re off to the races with the toppings. Dozens of great ideas, some of which, being American, might horrify pizza purists. Lamb and Apricot for example, or Jerk Chicken for another.

There are plenty of classics though and just about all sound good, although the one with andouille sausage worried me until I checked and found that andouille is not the same as andouillette, thank goodness.

I do draw the line at the dessert ideas though, nothing but physical threat would make me eat a S’mores pizza  or a Strawberry pizza.

Those aside,  this is a great pizza book and I really want to try this plank grilling lark. It also works for cuts of meat and fish too, so you get value from your wood

Pizza on a Plank: Make Wood-Fired Pizza on Your Grill! Hardcover – by Dina Guillen 

Published by Workman Publishing. £7.99 Also available as an ebook.