Chic on a Shoestring Decorating: Beer Can Chicken


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Beer Can Chicken

My hubs, Mr. Chic, is quite the grill master.  Just one of the many reasons why I love him. :)  He has been wanting to make a beer-can-chicken for years but for some reason, he never has.  Probably because his grocery shopper aka, me, never buys a full chicken at the grocery store.  I always come home with the boneless, skinless frozen kind. 

We decided that the long holiday weekend would be the perfect time to try out the much hyped (at least on the Food Network grilling shows) beer-can-chicken.  We were not disappointed. :)

Apparently, there are many versions of the beer-can-chicken (I thought you just opened a beer, stuck a chicken on it and grilled it- this is why I don't grill at our house).  

Mr. Chic chose a recipe he saw on the Food Network show Grill It with Bobby Flay.  This recipe was from his guest host, Robin Koury.... hence the name: Robin Koury's Spice of Life Beer Can Chicken.  (Recipe at end of post)

To get started assemble your ingredients to make the rub.


The recipe calls for a  4 pound chicken... I got a Tyson 4.5lb. for under $5 at Wal-Mart.  Open and rinse the chicken. 

This is where I would bust out the disposable rubber gloves, (I have an unhealthy paranoia that I can never get the dead chicken juices out from under my fingernails and will give myself salmonella poisoning while eating potato chips while the chicken cooks).  Mr. Chic does not share in my paranoia.



Pat the chicken dry and then cover in the rub spices making sure to get in the cavity, under the skin and on the skin.



Mr. Chic received a fancy beer-can-chicken contraption (below) from my parents for Christmas but really, you just need a beer can and a cookie sheet.



Add the appropriate spices to the beer and put the chicken on the can like so...


Spray down the counter tops with lots of sanitizing cleaner to kill the gross raw chicken juices.

Since you will cooking the chicken with indirect heat, put it on the side opposite the burners you're using.


Cook for about 1 hour 20 minutes or until the internal temperature of the chicken is 155 degrees.

When it's finished drizzle with a tablespoon of honey...



The finished beer-can-chicken... doesn't it look deelish?!




It was delicious and super moist!  The only disappointment was that the  flavor of the spices didn't really permeate through the chicken, just the skin.  However, we dipped the chicken in some homemade BBQ sauce (Mr. Chic didn't write down the ingredients!)  and it was really fantastic.  Definitely great for the first time making it, we'll do it again and tweak the recipe just a bit. 


Robin Koury's Spice of Life Beer Can Chicken

Recipe courtesy Robin Koury
Prep Time:10 min Inactive Prep Time:2 hr 0 min Cook Time:1 hr 30 min Level:

Serves:
4 to 6 servings.Ingredients

4 pound chicken
1/4 cup paprika
2 tablespoons brown sugar
1 teaspoon kosher salt
1 heaping teaspoon cayenne pepper
1 teaspoon onion powder
1 teaspoon garlic salt
1 teaspoon chili powder
2 tablespoons butter, melted
1/2 can beer (recommended Sam Adams White Ale)
3 cups apple wood smoking chips
1 disposable aluminum pie plate (or drip pan)
1 tablespoon honey

Directions

Soak the wood chips in water for at least 2 hours.

When ready to grill, preheat 1 of the burners to 350 degrees F.

Make sure the chicken is clean and innards are removed; pat dry with a paper towel and set aside. In a small mixing bowl, add paprika, brown sugar, kosher salt, cayenne pepper, onion powder, garlic salt, chili powder and mix well. Take the chicken and separate the skin from the breast taking care not to tear or remove skin. Apply the spice rub directly to the chicken breast, under the skin. Apply rub to the entire chicken, inside and out, reserving at least 2 tablespoons. Punch 2 holes at the top of the can, with a manual hand-held can opener. In a new bowl, mix butter and remaining spice rub. Add this mixture to the half-full can of beer. Place chicken over beer can and insert into the cavity of the chicken, keeping beer can standing up.

Place the wood chips in a foil smoker pouch over the active burner on the grill and set the chicken, on a pie plate, over the in-active burner. Close the lid. Rotate the chicken every 20 minutes. 5 minutes before cooking is complete, drizzle the honey over the chicken. The chicken should take about 1 hour and 20 minutes to cook, or until an instant-read thermometer registers 155 degrees F. Slice and serve.

3 comments :

  1. I'm SO glad you posted this! I was honestly about to purchase the chicken and try it too, our own BCC contraption has gathered dust since Father's Day of last year!

    ReplyDelete
  2. My husband and son love cooking the beer can chicken. They have used the beer can method but finally broke down and bought the "contraption" which seems to be easier and more consistent. I can't wait to show them this version! Looks delish!

    ReplyDelete
  3. I've never heard of a beer-can-chicken before! :o Thanks for sharing!!!

    ReplyDelete

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