Berer Can Chicken

[Brewster21]

I've been wanting to try this for a while and have to say it's the most succulent chicken I have ever tasted, this is how I will be BBQing chicken from now on. Some youtubers say the beer makes no difference you could actually drink the beer and fill the can with water, I might try that, either way I would highly rewcommend it, very easy to do and less mess than ordinary BBQ ing. I did have to modify a cheap BBQ because the chicken wouldn't fit uinder the hinged lid but no big deal.

 

[Agentgonzo]

Some youtubers say the beer makes no difference you could actually drink the beer and fill the can with water, I might try that

If you do this, then chucking in a few hop pellets would probably help with the flavours

 

[granch72]

This method makes for really tasty chicken. I play with the rub depending on my tastes or mood. I like to do one chicken with the paprika, brown sugar, cayenne and another more savory with rosemary, thyme and pepper for example.

 

[Brewster21]

This method makes for really tasty chicken. I play with the rub depending on my tastes or mood. I like to do one chicken with the paprika, brown sugar, cayenne and another more savory with rosemary, thyme and pepper for example.

I think the rub is more important than what’s in the can, that said I would like to try experimenting with different types of beer eg stout, double hopped IPA etc and maybe adding some herbs

 

[Agentgonzo]

What's in the can is akin to the herbs/stuffing that you would traditionally put inside the bird. It'll flavour the meat from the inside as it steams. It won't have as much of an effect as the rub where you get a concentrated layer of spices in direct contact with the outside of the meat.

 

[Brewster21]

food for thought, literally

 

[grooves]

Drink the beer and fill the can with chicken stock for amazing flavour

 

[Graz]

This method of cooking chicken seems to be a bit marmite on some of the BBQ forums and websites, debatable as to whether it actually helps or not.

Personally I've cooked a few chickens on my Kamado now that I've spatchcocked. I make a number of slashes through the skin and put on plenty of rub. Monitoring the temperature is key to moist chicken, I have the Kamado running at 180-200°C and a temperature probe in the thickest part of the breast. The bird comes off when that hits 74°C after checking in a few other spots with the instant read thermometer that it is all done to a safe temperature.

The meat is always moist, the skin crisp and it has a nice smoky edge to it. You can add a little apple or cherry wood at the start of the cook if you want it more so but you don't need loads as it can become overpowering in poultry.

 

[Clarence]

Not new, surely. I had chicken cooked this way in the oven by a Romanian around 10 years or so ago. Can't remember if it was better or not, though.
Come to think of it, on the barbie, the burning paint and the volatilising aluminium will add a certain character to the old bird.

 

[Nicks90]

All you are doing is adding steam to the inside of the chicken to stop it drying out. The chances of any of the volatiles in the steam adding any perceptable flavour is very slim - unless it was a heavily flavoured liquor. Hot steeping some charred hickory to make a very smoky water would probably work.... but beer? doubt it.
its exactly the same principle as stuffing an orange up its backside or any fatty minced sasuage type meat. its sacrificial to hydrate the chicken.

 

[Agentgonzo]

The chances of any of the volatiles in the steam adding any perceptable flavour is very slim

Have you ever roasted a bird with stuffing in? Or roasted vegetable/meat above some herbs, like sprigs of rosemary?

It absolutely does impart flavour into the food as it cooks

 

[Nicks90]

" The chances of any of the volatiles in the steam adding any perceptable flavour is very slim - unless it was a heavily flavoured liquor."

see above - the difference between a nicely seasoned lump of sausage or stuffing / bunch of herbs and a can of lager.............hence why i said maybe hot steep something interesting and flavoursome for the steam source.

 

[SMP Brewery]

Going to give it a go, normally do spatchcock but you’ll never no if you don’t try. Smoked with a bit of cherry wood and the beers some home brew.

 

[Brewster21]

ldt us know what it tastes like?

 

[Brewnaldo]

I wonder what flavour of smoke hop pellets would give of....

I think i'd like to pass this one to woodsmoke guru @Alastair70 although I might try and beat him to it.....

 

[Brewster21]

I don't think the beer makes any difference, you might as well drink the beer and fill he can with water and a few herbs, I kept throwing some oak chips on the fire to smoke the skin but not much flavour, it's all about the rub. I made my own with some chilli and garlic sauce and some dry paprika and cayenne pepper garlic salt and tarragon, and a touch of olive oil.

 

[Alastair70]

I wonder what flavour of smoke hop pellets would give of....

I think i'd like to pass this one to woodsmoke guru @Alastair70 although I might try and beat him to it.....

Ha ha! Enthusiastic duffer would be a better descriptor than guru.
I expect that hop pellets would burn away rather quickly and not offer up much smoke. Chucking a load in a water bath under the bird might be a better approach. I’ve got a few odds and ends in the freezer that could be sacrificed in the name of experimentation.

I don't think the beer makes any difference, you might as well drink the beer and fill he can with water and a few herbs, I kept throwing some oak chips on the fire to smoke the skin but not much flavour, it's all about the rub. I made my own with some chilli and garlic sauce and some dry paprika and cayenne pepper garlic salt and tarragon, and a touch of olive oil.

I’m with you on that. I think the biggest contribution that the beer brings is to steam the bird from the inside while it cooks from the outside. Cooking time is shorter and the chicken always ends up moister.
Here’s a couple I prepared earlier (well last summer to be exact), a head to head between two beer cans on the Kamado and a peri-peri on the Weber. Both were judged favourable by the quests, I liked the peri-peri better.

 

[Brewnaldo]

Ha ha! Enthusiastic duffer would be a better descriptor than guru.
I expect that hop pellets would burn away rather quickly and not offer up much smoke. Chucking a load in a water bath under the bird might be a better approach. I’ve got a few odds and ends in the freezer that could be sacrificed in the name of experimentation.

I’m with you on that. I think the biggest contribution that the beer brings is to steam the bird from the inside while it cooks from the outside. Cooking time is shorter and the chicken always ends up moister.
Here’s a couple I prepared earlier (well last summer to be exact), a head to head between two beer cans on the Kamado and a peri-peri on the Weber. Both were judged favourable by the quests, I liked the peri-peri better.
View attachment 72978View attachment 72980View attachment 72979

Having done some googling, I am contemplating hop steam rather than hop smoke also.... A wee metal waterbowl with hops right on the coals of my bullet smoker perhaps.....

 

[kanesaw]

Have you ever roasted a bird with stuffing in? Or roasted vegetable/meat above some herbs, like sprigs of rosemary?

It absolutely does impart flavour into the food as it cooks

I highly recommend the book Meathead by Meathead Goldwyn for all things BBQing.

https://amazingribs.com/bbq-techniques-and-science/beer-can-chicken/
Here’s an article where he looks at the beer can and it’s impact on the chicken

 

[SMP Brewery]

It was good, nice and moist, couldn’t taste the beer. I think spatchcock with an overnight rub is more to my taste as Graz says remove at 74 degrees and it’s perfect.