Beer Can Chicken On The Grill
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How To Cook Beer Can Chicken
Cooking Beer Can Chicken on a grill is a great way to spend a Saturday afternoon and the best way to grill chicken. The skin is nice and crispy and the meat is so tender that it almost falls off the bones. If you've never tried beer can chicken before, you're in for a real treat. Besides being delicious, it's also very easy to make and you can impress all your friends with your "advanced grilling skills." Just don't let them watch you make it or they'll know how easy it is...
(Image: jshontz under Creative Commons)
(Image: jshontz under Creative Commons)
BBQ Beer Can Chicken Recipe
Easy to make and delicious...
- Serves: 4
- Prep Time: 15 minutes
- Total Time: 1 hour 45 minutes
Ingredients
- 1 Chicken
- Beer can chicken rub
- 1 six pack of your favorite beer
- 2 Tbsp olive oil
- 1 Tbsp dried rosemary leaves
- 1 Tbsp tried thyme
- Salt
Instructions
1. Prep the beer
2. Prep the grill
3. Prep the chicken
4. Cook the chicken
5. Eat the chicken
It really is that simple to make Beer Can Chicken on the grill!
Prepping the Beer
Beer is the key to making beer can chicken
Open 1 of the cans of beer and drink half. It is absolutely critical that you leave exactly 6 oz of beer in the can, so if you accidentally drink more than half, go ahead and finish it and try again with another can of beer. Just make sure you get it correct by the 3rd can because you'll need the rest of the beer for later. After you have successfully created an exactly half full beer let it set out and warm to room temperature. Save Some Of That Beer
Make sure you have enough...
Besides the beer can for inside the chicken, you'll want to make sure you have enough beer to make Red Beer. Red beer is just about the most refreshing beverage ever invented and it goes great with just about anything - especially anything you can grill.
Prepping the Grill
Grilling with indirect heat...
In order to properly cook beer can chicken on the grill you need to use a technique known as indirect heat cooking. Cooking with indirect heat allows the meat to cook slower, giving the flavors from the beer and seasoning rub to infuse the meat. Setting up your grill for indirect heat is automatic with this recipe - the metal pan you set the chicken in separates the meat from the direct heat of the charcoal. If you insist on trying this without the pan, you'll need to keep the charcoal on one side of the grill and place the chicken on the other side. If you'd like a more detailed explanation, check out a book on advanced grilling techniques like Weber's Way to Grill
.
.
Weber's Way to Grill: The Step-by-Step Guide to Expert Grilling (Sunset Books)
Amazon Price: $13.56 (as of 05/29/2012)
Prepping the Chicken
This is the fun part...
Remove the neck, gizzard, heart, and anything else that might be in the body cavity. Rinse the chicken inside and out and pat dry. Crush the rosemary leaves and thyme and mix together (this results in something known as "Beer Can Chicken rub" and practically warrants its own recipe page). Brush the olive oil all over the outside of the chicken, then sprinkle salt all over the chicken - inside and out. Sprinkle the outside of the chicken with the Beer Can Chicken Rub and pat it into the skin. We're half way there...
Beer Can Chicken Rub
Best to keep it simple, like the rest of the recipe...
- Serves: 1 Chicken
- Prep Time: 10 minutes
- Total Time: 10 minutes
The subject of Beer Can Chicken rub could easily take up an entire web page of its own, but I like to keep thinks simple so my rub recipe sticks to... simplicity.
Ingredients
- 1 tablespoon dried rosemarry leaves
- 1 teaspoon garlic powder
- 1-1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1 teaspoon dried ground sage
Instructions
Crush the rosemary leaves (if you don't have a mortar and pestle, a spoon and bowl work OK). Mix with the other ingredients. Rub all over the chicken and be happy:)
Beer Can Chicken Stand
Makes cooking soooooooooo much easier...
Some people cook Beer Can Chicken without a holder for the beer can but it's a lot easier with a proper beer can chicken stand, especially if it took you several attempts to get a correctly prepped beer. The stand will stabilize the beer can and prevent the weight of the chicken from making it tip over and ruining the whole recipe. You don't need to fret, the stands are cheap and you can easily find them at grocery stores, hardware stores, Amazon, etc. I've looked at 3 different ones (bought from Amazon) and they're all OK. Here's my thoughts on the ones I looked at:
Cooking the Chicken
How to cook beer can chicken on the grill...
Place the beer can chicken stand (if you can't find one locally, order one from Amazon) into a square metal pan, then put the half beer into the holder (if you accidentally drank all the beer send someone to the store for more). If you're using the Steven Raichlen Stainless Steel Beer Can Chicken Rack with Drip Pan
you may not need a separate pan. Lower the back end of the chicken over the beer can so it's sitting upright with the can in its... ahem... cavity. Place the whole assembly on the grill, put on the cover, and find something to do for about an hour (hint... you should have at least 3 beers left over from step one).
you may not need a separate pan. Lower the back end of the chicken over the beer can so it's sitting upright with the can in its... ahem... cavity. Place the whole assembly on the grill, put on the cover, and find something to do for about an hour (hint... you should have at least 3 beers left over from step one). 
Eating the Chicken
The whole point of this little exercise...
Now that the chicken is cooked you're in for a real treat. Beer can chicken is delicious. The skin is nice and crispy, with most of the fat melted away by the slow cooking process. The meat is tender - so tender it almost falls off the bones - and very flavorful. So sit back and share a delicious meal with your family or friends. Bask in the glow of the praise they will heap on you for being such an excellent grill master. Oh, and don't let them know how easy it actually was to make.
Frequently Ask Questions
You've got questions about Beer Can Chicken, I've got answers...
- What is the best beer for Beer Can Chicken? Steel Reserve
- What is the best Beer Can Chicken holder? I like the Old Smokey Beer Can Chicken Holder
- Were any chickens harmed in the production of this page? No
- What is more important, the chicken or the beer? The beer. Hello....
- Which came first, the chicken or the egg? How the heck would I know?
Blogging About Beer Can Chicken
What others are saying about the best way to grill chicken...
- Oil, egg and a drop of water can work mayonnaise magic
- Rosemary Chicken: Swab a chicken with rosemary black-pepper mayonnaise and roast or grill. This works especially well with beer-can chicken. Deviled Eggs: Use flavored mayonnaise instead of plain to make deviled eggs. Sugar Snap Peas with Walnut Mayo: ...
- Grilling gadgets I can't live without
- I also make whole chickens a lot and love to use a beer-can chicken holder. There are simple ones that are around $6 and fancy ones that can cost upwards of $40. You do not have to use beer, but just some type of liquid to bring moisture and flavor ...
- Beer can chicken
- Cooked on the barbecue, this beer can chicken is flavoured with the subtle sweetness of malty lager. You'll need a barbecue with a hood or a lid for this recipe. Preheat a barbecue to medium-high. Rinse the chicken under cold running water and pat dry ...
- Try Paula Deen's beer-in-the-rear chicken
- Open the can of beer and pour off approximately 1/4 cup. Insert the sprig of rosemary into the can, then place the beer can, keeping it upright, into the rear cavity of the chicken. Carefully place the chicken, standing up on the beer can, ...
Want to Become a Master?
Learn the Zen of Beer Can Chicken...
Zen and the Art of Cooking Beer-Can Chicken: The Definitive Guide: the Nation's Best Companion Guide for Cooking, Brining, and Injecting Beer-Can Chicken
Amazon Price: $12.95 (as of 05/29/2012)
What People Are Clucking, err... Tweeting
The latest buzz about Beer Can Chicken...
Please Sign my Guestbook
Do you like Beer Can Chicken?
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lensrocker
May 20, 2012 @ 4:39 pm | delete
- hi there! really nice lens - and if yourse i am in love with the beer butt chicken :)
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karmicchristian
May 6, 2012 @ 6:41 am | delete
- Cheers! Still trying to leave the exact amount of beer left in the can! :)
Delicious looking chicken! Thank you!
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Tolovaj
Apr 10, 2012 @ 12:38 am | delete
- I have never tried it. Looks tasty. And I like the drinking part from the beginning, because i know how crucial is to have exact volumes of beer available for special tasks!
;)
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cffutah
Jan 16, 2012 @ 6:04 pm | delete
- love seeing lenses with cooking by beer, haven't done it before so its new to me.
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StaciJansma
May 28, 2011 @ 8:58 pm | delete
- I haven't had beer can chicken yet - but heard its good.
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by glockr
I love cooking on the grill. Beer can chicken is very easy to make, it's delicious, and it gives me an excuse to indulge in my favorite beverage. What's... more »
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Cooking With Beer
Beer makes it better...
The Gourmet's Guide to Cooking with Beer: How to Use Beer to Take Simple Recipes from Ordinary to Extraordinary
Amazon Price: $13.07 (as of 05/29/2012)
