Saturday, August 23, 2014

Beer Can Chicken

So in my previous post today I referenced beer can chicken and one reader wasn’t sure what I was referring to.    It may be a North American thing, since I recall now that the British Army chaplains who used to visit my house during my last posting were always unsure what it was as well.  I’m not sure how common they are in Europe, but in Canadian suburbs, most people do their cooking outdoors on their gas grills during the summer months, and some like myself have been known to cook on them during the winter.  Usually I just do burgers, pork chops, the odd rack of pork ribs to keep the heat down in the kitchen during the summer months, but this is a special recipe for the occasional lazy weekend.  Beer can chicken has a blue collar, redneck aura to it, but it’s fun to cook and delicious when you do it right.

Here’s what it looks like.

Mmmmm, delicious.  Here’s what you need.

1) A whole chicken - they are getting pricier all the time.  I was lucky enough to find one yesterday at the grocery store for just under $10 Canadian.

2) An outdoor barbecue or grill.  I have a decent propane gas grill, but I suppose you could cook it on charcoal.

3) A specialized stand like the one shown here.  I got mine from WalMart for less than $10C but I’ve seen fancier ones sold elsewhere for more money.   Most hardware stores, like Canadian Tire, or online stores like Amazon, sell versions.  I also use a stainless steel bbq tray as you see above.

4) A can of beer.   I prefer using a lager or lighter beer or an IPA.  Today it was a Moretti.  

5) Herbs.  There are many recipes for the herb coating but today I was lazy and used ClubHouse Italiano herb mix.

Here’s what you do.

1) Thaw your chicken and make sure the interior cavity is empty of gizzards and other nasty things.

2) Drink roughly half your can of beer (the best part).  Then use a knife or can opener and make 3-4 holes in the top of the can around the hole where you drink the beer from.

3) Inset the can in the beer can holder and place it on your cooking pan or tray if the beer can holder doesn’t have a built-in pan as some do.

4) Insert the, ummm, beer can in the chicken using the chicken’s, err, posterior orifice.  Liberally coat the exterior of the chicken with your herb mix.

5) Place the whole thing in your grill or bbq and turn the heat to as low a setting as possible.   Put the cover down on your grill.

6) Let the chicken cook for between 90 minutes to two hour.  Start checking on regularly it after 60 mins.  You don’t want to cook it too hot and too long or it will dry out.  If I was smart, I’d use a meat thermometer, but I simply stick a knife in and look to see if the juice is clear, which is how I was taught to see if chicken was cooked.

7) When it’s done, carefully remove the chicken off the beer can, using washable oven mitts or several paper towels, etc.   Pour the remainder of the beer from the can onto the chicken.   As you do this, you may notice that there is less beer in the can at the end.  It should come apart easily with a knife, but shouldn’t be so cooked that it falls apart at the touch of a knife. 

8) Have another can of beer as you enjoy your chicken.

 That being said, there is a fierce debate over this method, and whether it is the best way to cook a chicken.  Some say no and claim to have science behind them.  All I can say is that Madame Padre and I quite enjoyed our beer can chicken tonight.

MP

22 comments:

  1. Forget the science that looks delicious.

    :)

    Cheers,

    Pete.

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  2. Mike

    This is an annual favourite in our household, albeit with the gluten free substitution of cider for beer. We often do two at once so that there are leftovers. The carcasses (carcassii) make great soul too with a smoky BBQ flavour.

    The hell with the debate - roasting a chicken in the oven is a stupid idea when us 30+ degrees outside. Plus this looks both cool and ridiculous at the same time.

    Cheers, PD

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    1. I agree Pete. Who wants to roast a chicken in the oven on a summer day, and the sheer silliness of the bird on the beer can always gets a smile.
      For just the two of us, a single chicken gives us a few days of leftovers.

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  3. I've never heard of this before. Sounds bally nice. I wonder what it's like cooked with a stout beer...?

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    1. Dunno, Ion, I've never tried it with a stout or a dark ale. I have done pork ribs with a dark ale, but never chicken.

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  4. As a former professional chef, I can heartily endorse this method of cooking chicken. It's tasty, fun, and involves beer. If "science" is troubling you, have another beer! Cheers, Paul :-)

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    1. Thanks Paul. I feel vindicated to have a professional chef in my corner.
      Cheers,
      M

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  5. Although I have not tried this myself, I have several Australian friends that swear by it - they may even want to claim it as a national dish! Either way, it does look wonderfully tasty.

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    1. I'm not surprised to hear that Aussies do this - they certainly know about the beer!

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  6. Never saw a way like this to cook a chicken. Impressed!

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    1. Not as elegant as Spanish tapas, but it gets the job done. :)

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  7. So in Germany at least the so called "Bierdosenhühnchen" is rather well known... well in Bavaria at least ;-) . I can only recommend this way to cook a chicken. In the winter I'm doing mine in the oven. Works just as well.

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    1. Thanks friend. I can work out the German fairly well. Sometimes it's referred to here in Canada as "Drunken chicken" as well. The nice thing about doing this outside on a cold Canadian winter day is that you only have to trudge out to the grill once or twice to check on it during cooking. Of course, I have to shovel a path through the snow to the grill. :)

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  8. Replies
    1. Madame Padre refers to it as "Pope's nose". I always give it to her, one of the secrets of our happy marriage.

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  9. Science be damned when the results are so tasty! Love this stuff and I'm hungry just from the photo. If I may be so bold, I use the dry rub below and I can't stop eating it! 5 stars!

    Neely's Beer can chicken rub: http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/patrick-and-gina-neely/pats-beer-can-grilled-chicken-recipe.html

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    1. Thanks Monty, I shall try that recipe next time, it looks delicious! I wouldn't be surprised to find this on many a Minnesota BBQ during the summer ... even winter, too!

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  10. En Sweden we usually try to burn stuff on our outdoor grills during the summer months (all two of them!) as often as we can. Mostly different slabs of cow and pig, but also chicken. The Beer Can Chicken is a recent addition to the menu though, I haven't tried it myself yet.

    Some people use gas grills but most have different kinds of charcoal grills, arguing which kind of wood produce the best flavour.

    So do you use a dark beer or lager?

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  11. I've only used a lager, Leif. I'd be worried that the dark beer might be too strong a taste.

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  12. Wow, this is certainly a novel method to cook chicken as far as I'm concerned (And I've seen/done some strange cooking of meat in my time.)!

    Thanks fro detailing the steps of how to do it - I'll be trying this out in the near future I think!

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