Have you ever thought of of making beer can chicken? The recipe for this grilled chicken couldn’t be any easier! You just need a whole chicken, large can of beer and some chicken seasoning and you are good to go with this fabulous grill recipe.
The weather over the last couple weeks has not lent itself at all to outdoor grilling. I realize it is December, but sometimes we have mild days even in Winter, and Glen doesn’t like to go too long without grilling something. He’d been talking for months about how he’d wanted to make a beer can chicken. I sort of shrugged it off as not that exciting.
Ingredients for Beer can chicken
- Medium Chicken
- Large can of beer (cheap domestic beer will be fine)
- Chicken seasoning of choice
How to set for your beer can chicken
We recently attended a cooking demo at the Big Green Egg Academy in Tucker. Here they even have ceramic holders for the beer for making Beer Can Chicken. So, we decided it was about time to try out this method. Armed with our Big Green Egg Grill seasoning we simply rubbed that over our chicken plus some olive oil to make the skin extra crispy and opened up a beer can dumped out drank about a third of it, and shoved the can up the chicken’s butt. I’d recommend getting a large platter and laying your chicken on the platter than sprinkling the seasoning and olive oil on top first. I suppose you could sprinkle the seasoning on top after you have mounted the chicken on the beer can, but I am thinking that would be somewhat more difficult.
Best tips when making beer can chicken
A couple of tips, when you are looking for your chicken, look for one that looks pretty sturdy. Although you will be balancing it on a beer can, you don’t want one that would be inclined to tip over. Also, buy a couple different kinds of beer. The recipes I saw, all recommend buying cheap domestic beer, but we couldn’t bring ourselves to do that. So we bought a couple varieties (you’ll need a large can – 22 oz) of higher end beer and tasted them before deciding which to use on our chicken. However, I’ve now tested a couple different kinds of beers for our beer can chicken, and you know what? The cheap kind jut works as well as the expensive ones for your beer can chicken.
Cooking your beer can chicken
You’ll be using indirect heat to cook the chicken, so as not to come up from directly under the chicken. You’ll keep your heat at medium-low. Most recipes recommend cooking for 45 minutes to an hour. Our chicken was an average size and we let it cook for just over an hour before it was done (internal temp was 165 degrees). It was kind of hassle getting it unstuck from the beer can. Some twisting with tongs was required. But it was so worth it. Our chicken was moist and juicy.
This beer can chicken recipe is great if you have company and can cook while you relax with your guests. Then, you will have a moist, juicy and crispy on the outside chicken to share with them!
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