Grilled Garlic, Thyme, and Rosemary Wings on the Pizza Stone

I've been wanting to try this recipe for a while.  I have noticed that some pizzerias with wood fired ovens are roasting their wings inside their pizza ovens on the stone base.  The wings come out with a slight smoky flavor and nice a crisp, just the way I like them.  One benefit is that you get the crisp without all of the added fryer fat.  I have toyed with building a pizza oven at home, but it looks a bit complicated and a too much work for the occasional use.  So, I thought I would experiment with my pizza stone on a screaming hot grill.  For this batch, I decided to try for some nice Italian flavors: garlic, rosemary, and thyme.

First, I took about 1/3 of a cup of olive oil, the juice of one lemon,  then added 1 tbsp of minced garlic, 1 tsp each of rosemary and thyme, plus a healthy grinding of sea salt and pepper.  Then, I whisked it all together and let marinade in the refrigerator for about six hours.

When I was ready to cook the wings, I fired up my charcoal grill and placed my pizza stone inside while it was heating up.  Remember to put the stone inside the grill as it is warming up.  If you put a cold stone in a hot grill, you run the risk of cracking your stone that you have so loving worked over the years to season properly.

I placed the wings on the stone and started to experiment.

I was shooting for 10 minutes a side.  But, they were not cooking to my satisfaction.  I was starting to get nice caramelization and crispiness.  So, I moved the stone above the coals and started eyeballing the cook process.  Overall, it did work about to about 7-10 minutes a side.  Be careful, I was getting some spattering.

Ultimately, here was my process.

1.  Place pizza stone on direct heat.  I piled up the coals and reached 500 F in the grill.
2.  Place wings on the stone.  Watch for spatter.  Look to flip between 7-10 minutes.
3.  Cook 7-10 minutes more after the flip.
4.  Move wings to indirect heat to bring to 165 internal, if needed.

The final product was outstanding.

The crispiness was spot on and the meat was juicy and tender.  I wanted more flavor, but I will work on the marinade the next time we make these.  Overall, this was a successful experiment.

Thanks for stopping by,

Bill