Everyone chases grill marks. Those perfect crosshatch lines that say "I know how to grill." But here's the thing nobody talks about, grill marks are just thin lines of flavor. The rest of the surface? It's steaming. Not searing. That's why your chicken breast dries out every single time.
I threw a Baking Steel on my Grill and it changed everything.
A flat steel surface gives you contact across the entire chicken breast. Not lines. Not stripes. Full crust, edge to edge. The same way a great steakhouse uses a flat top, not a grate.
Here's how I do it:
Preheat your grill with the Baking Steel on the grates, lid closed, for about 10-15 minutes. You want that steel ripping hot.
Season your chicken simply. Salt, pepper, a little olive oil. That's it. Don't overthink it.
Lay the breasts down and don't touch them. Let the steel do the work. Four to five minutes per side depending on thickness. You'll hear the sear the second they hit.
The result? A golden crust on every inch of the surface. Juicy inside because the steel's even heat cooks it faster than grates, less time on the grill means less moisture lost.
Why this works:
A Baking Steel holds heat like nothing else. When chicken hits a grate, it only makes contact on thin strips. The rest of the meat is just sitting in hot air. On the steel, the entire surface is cooking at once. More contact, more crust, more flavor, less time.
It's the same reason our steels make better pizza than a stone. Thermal conductivity. Steel transfers heat faster. That's physics, not marketing.
The move nobody expects:
Want to blow someone's mind at a cookout? While everyone else is fighting flare-ups and dry chicken on the grate, pull four perfect golden breasts off your steel. No char marks. No dried-out edges. Just perfect chicken.
They'll ask what you did differently. Tell them the grill marks were the problem.
FAQ Schema:
Q: Can you use a Baking Steel on a gas grill?
A: Yes. Place it directly on the grill grates and preheat with the lid closed for 15 minutes.
Q: How long do you cook chicken breast on a Baking Steel?
A: About 4-5 minutes per side on a preheated steel, depending on thickness.
Q: Is a Baking Steel better than grill grates for chicken?
A: A flat steel surface creates full contact searing across the entire breast, producing a better crust and juicier chicken than grates.
About the Author
Andris Lagsdin invented the Baking Steel in 2012 using steel from his family's Stoughton Steel Company in Hanover, MA. a shop his family has run since the 1970s. What started as a Kickstarter project (backed after an endorsement from Kenji López-Alt on Serious Eats) has grown into the go-to tool for hundreds of thousands of home pizza makers. Every Baking Steel is still made at the family shop.
Before launching Baking Steel, Andris trained under renowned chef Todd English and spent 15 years in the family steel business. He's the co-author of Baking with Steel with Jesse Olson Moore.
Today he teaches thousands of students how to make pizzeria-quality pizza at home through his free online classes and recipes.
In 2026, Andris launched the 72-Hour Pizza Dough Mix the same recipe he's been teaching for over a decade, now in a bag. Just add water.
