Now the illustrious matron of all things "Southern Cooking" (Mrs. Paula Deen) calls this dish Beer in the Rear chicken. *gasp* How crude! Around my humble home, we're fond of the simple name Beer Can Chicken. There's not much to it, really...a beer, a chicken, and some spices. But holy wow, what lovely alchemy occurs when you put them all together!
Let's begin, shall we?
Gather up some usual suspects...a whole chicken, a 12oz can of beer (we use Coors Light, generally, but use what you love), garlic salt, and Old Bay seasoning.
Open up the beer and drink half of it. See, I told you this was a great recipe!
Dump a few teaspoons of Old Bay into the half-full (or half-empty, you pessimist!) can of beer.
Remove the giblets from the chicken and throw them away or promptly make some gravy (if you're into that sort of thing). Rinse your chicken with water in your sink. You now want to season that bad boy with both garlic salt and Old Bay...I recommend this be a 2 person operation, if you happen to be so fortunate as to have a 2nd person just lying around your kitchen. If you don't, you know times are tough and you could probably give your neighbor $5 or a couple bites of this awesome chicken to help you out for a couple minutes. Shake what ya momma gave ya (if your momma gave you the spices). If you bought them yourself then shake what you bought yourself! Those chickens need to be liberally coated. That's not some left-wing reference (but that was a chicken pun! Get it? Left WING? Oh wow, I need a vacation).
Now that your chicken is seasoned, place it cavity-down on the can so that the can is inserted halfway. Resist the urge to make any inappropriate jokes and place it on your grill making sure that it's balanced properly. The last thing you want to happen is for your chicken to fall over while cooking. The best part about this chicken is that, as it cooks, some of those yummy chicken juices fall into the can and make a delectable sauce.
Let the chicken hang out in the grill for around an hour and a half. Keep checking on it every so often as it might just catch on fire. You don't want the smoke to get you (or your chicken)...you could get bronchitis and ain't nobody got time for that!
Sweet Brown explains the link between smoke and bronchitis
When the chicken skin is golden brown and it smells like heaven when you crack open the grill lid, you'll know your chicken is done. *Note: I have no idea what heaven smells like, but I imagine it might smell a bit like this chicken. This idea is probably not theologically sound. Talk to your pastor, rabbi, guru, etc. for more information. You can also test for doneness by cutting near the joint where the leg bone meets the body of the chicken. If the juices are clear, your chances for catching salmonella from your meal are virtually non-existent. Congrats!
Once you remove your chicken from the grill (try using tongs), you face the rather daunting task of removing the chicken from its new friend, the beer can. Again, this is best done as a 2 person task. Place the chicken in some sort of a dish with sides that will catch any juice. I find that if each person wraps their fingers in paper towel, one person can grab the chicken while the other pulls the can off. Pour the contents of the beer can into a bowl (insta-gravy!) and slice your chicken.
Try it, you'll like it.
-Sam
Hi five, man!
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