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Beer can chicken

huskrthill

Leading horses to water since 2009
10 Year Member
Made a beer can chicken on a gas grill today. Never again... those need charcoal all the way!
 
Beer can chicken is definitely better with charcoal, but I make them on my gas grill a couple times a year and they turn out fine. You probably have to spice it up a little more. The key is the indirect heat. If you want a little added flavor, you could try adding some wood chips to get smoke flavor into the chicken.
 
I am going to try my first one on the 4th of July. Will let you know the outcome. Wish me luck.

SVA: you BBQ a whole chicken with half a can of beer stuck up its opening. You can buy a stand to hold the beer can or just balance the bird with the beer can in it. I pulled a receipe off the internet with a good dry rub for the bird before grilling.

I'm going to put the charcoal around the outside of the grill bottom and the bird in the middle to try for the indirect heat.
 



I am going to try my first one on the 4th of July. Will let you know the outcome. Wish me luck.

SVA: you BBQ a whole chicken with half a can of beer stuck up its opening. You can buy a stand to hold the beer can or just balance the bird with the beer can in it. I pulled a receipe off the internet with a good dry rub for the bird before grilling.

I'm going to put the charcoal around the outside of the grill bottom and the bird in the middle to try for the indirect heat.

That sounds really good, CT. Thanks. I'll find room on the Fourth of July grill for my first attempt at "beer can chicken".
 
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Well, our first beer chicken was a smashing success. We got off to a slow start as we discovered the weber would not work as the chicken was too tall. So we took all the shelves out of the oven and put the chicken in there. In addition to the half can of beer (Busch Lite) we stuck two lime halves up the cavity as well. 350 degrees for one hour and forty minutes.

Wonderful flavor and so moist I could not believe it. There was still beer in the can which concerned me at the time but not after I started eating.

Now I have to decide if I want to get a gas grill or just continue using the oven for the beer chicken.

It was so good I even got a "Well Done" from my 92 year old mother and that made my week!!

SVA: nice avatar!!
 
Well, our first beer chicken was a smashing success. We got off to a slow start as we discovered the weber would not work as the chicken was too tall. So we took all the shelves out of the oven and put the chicken in there. In addition to the half can of beer (Busch Lite) we stuck two lime halves up the cavity as well. 350 degrees for one hour and forty minutes.

Wonderful flavor and so moist I could not believe it. There was still beer in the can which concerned me at the time but not after I started eating.

Now I have to decide if I want to get a gas grill or just continue using the oven for the beer chicken.

It was so good I even got a "Well Done" from my 92 year old mother and that made my week!!

SVA: nice avatar!!

Glad to hear it ended up working out for you. Maybe I'll try it again some time.
 
My wife makes beer can chicken on our outdoor gas grill often, and its absolutely delicious! As someone else said, a lot of it is likely in the spices/flavoring you use.

We have a stainless steel 2-chicken holder (Cabela's, if I remember right.) She puts orange/lemon/lime/apple slices into the cavity, carefully slits the skin and pushes butter in, seasoned with Montreal Chicken Spice, garlic & salt & pepper. Then she puts more of the same spice mix into the half can of beer so that as the beer boils and steams up into the chicken its carrying more spices. The BIG hint is to cook it very slow. She wraps hers in aluminum foil for the first 60-90 minutes - on the gas grill at medium/low heat. Then remove the foil and turn up the heat to medium, but not TOO high and leave it there for another hour or so, checking often to make sure its not on too high and cooking too fast which will dry it out. It turns out tender & moist with wonderful flavor and she gets LOTS of compliments and requests for her recipe. She says the spice mix likely varies each time she makes it - put in the mix you like, depending on your taste for garlic, etc.
 



My wife makes beer can chicken on our outdoor gas grill often, and its absolutely delicious! As someone else said, a lot of it is likely in the spices/flavoring you use.

We have a stainless steel 2-chicken holder (Cabela's, if I remember right.) She puts orange/lemon/lime/apple slices into the cavity, carefully slits the skin and pushes butter in, seasoned with Montreal Chicken Spice, garlic & salt & pepper. Then she puts more of the same spice mix into the half can of beer so that as the beer boils and steams up into the chicken its carrying more spices. The BIG hint is to cook it very slow. She wraps hers in aluminum foil for the first 60-90 minutes - on the gas grill at medium/low heat. Then remove the foil and turn up the heat to medium, but not TOO high and leave it there for another hour or so, checking often to make sure its not on too high and cooking too fast which will dry it out. It turns out tender & moist with wonderful flavor and she gets LOTS of compliments and requests for her recipe. She says the spice mix likely varies each time she makes it - put in the mix you like, depending on your taste for garlic, etc.

Your wife's a smart woman, McKinney. She's got all the keys to making good beer can chicken. I didn't see you mention it, but obviously you have to use indirect heat, and turn the bird regularly since the side facing the heat will cook more than the others. 2 hours minimum. Also make sure you get a fair amount of citrus into the beer can itself -- you will really taste it in the flavor of the bird.
 
Good points, Chi! She definitely squeezes the citrus slices into the beer, along with adding spices to the beer. To be honest, with covering it with aluminum, and keeping the heat on medium/LOW on the gas grill, she's able to do it with direct heat below the bird, probably takes longer that way though. Also, our grill has 3 burner sections, with one being an infrared searing burner which can get REAL hot! We turn that one on medium/LOW also, and keep the bird at the other end - so to be honest, actually using a combination of direct and indirect heat, as that infrared burner is hotter than the other two at similar settings.
 
Drunk Chicken Recipe:

Here's the way cook it on a Gas grill and everyone likes it. I do have a special holder for the can.
1 whole chicken
1 can of beer
1 small onion
1 small bell pepper
Tony chachere's creole seasoning

Slide chicken over the open can of beer, Cut up the onion and bell pepper in chunks and stuff them down the neck(on top of can). Coat entire outside of chicken in creole seasoning(or your favorite chicken rub) Place on grill(low heat) and cook for 1 1/2 to 2 hours depending on size of chicken.
 

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