| Level: | Intermediate |
| Total: | 1 hr 20 min |
| Active: | 10 min |
| Yield: | 4 servings |
Ingredients
- 2 cups mesquite or apple wood chips, soaked in cold water for 1 hour
- 1 (3 to 4-pound) roasting chicken, preferably kosher (since it has been brined)
- Vegetable oil
- Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
- 1/4 cup Bobby Flay’s 16 Spice Rub for Chicken, or your favorite dry spice rub recipe, divided
- 1 (12-ounce) can beer
- 2 cloves garlic, crushed
- 2 sprigs fresh rosemary
Instructions
- Prepare a kettle grill with charcoal off to one side for indirect grilling and add the soaked apple wood or mesquite wood chips over the coals. Remove the neck and giblets and pat the chicken dry with paper towels. Brush chicken all over with oil and sprinkle with salt and pepper and 3 tablespoons dry rub. Set aside.
- Open the beer can, pour out about 1/2 cup of the beer into a cup and drink it (or pour it over the wood chips). Make an extra hole in the top of the can with a church-key can opener. Add the remaining 1 tablespoon dry rub to the beer can (it might fizz up a little bit at the top, but don’t worry, that is normal), the garlic and rosemary.
- Hold the chicken above the can of beer and slide the chicken over the can. Fold the wings back behind the chicken. Make sure the legs are in front of the can, supporting the chicken. Place the chicken inside a disposable pan.
- Place the pan on the grates of the grill on the opposite side of the charcoals, put lid on and cook the chicken until golden brown and the internal temperature registers 160 degrees F in the breast area and 175 degrees F in the thigh area on an instant-read thermometer, 1 to 1 1/2 hours. Remove from the grill (be careful not to spill the contents of the beer can as it will be very hot) and let rest for 10 minutes before carving.
- Use a pair of locking tongs and grab the bottom of the beer can to remove from the chicken cavity. Place on a platter or cutting board to rest and cool. Carve and serve.
Nutrition Facts
| Calories | 291 calorie |
| Total Fat | 11 grams |
| Saturated Fat | 2 grams |
| Cholesterol | 154 milligrams |
| Sodium | 804 milligrams |
| Carbohydrates | 2 grams |
| Protein | 40 grams |
| Sugar | 0 grams |
Reviews
We’ve been doing Beer Can Chicken for years. It’s always so moist and juicy. Spices may be different, but it’s still just as good. I always use the drippings to make a quick gravy. Mix a little flour and softened butter and stir it in at the end. So tasty. You can do the same thing in the winter by doing it in the oven. Just make sure you use the drip tray. The skin is always so nice and crisp (I’m a chicken skin junky!).
Had an outstanding family meal using this recipe. The chicken was flavorful, tender, and moist…. perfect. I paired it with some roasted veggies.
While this looks like an excellent recipe and I am trying it tomorrow, the same website posts “The Myth of Beer Can Chicken with Meathead Goldwyn.” Pick a stance.
I kept trying to get my husband to try beer can chicken. He finally agreed when I showed him this recipe and now he loves it.
Beer can chicken recipes, almost across the board, all say to put the chicken over a half can of beer. Well, this is all about the science, not the flavor. I’m not saying his flavorings and rubs are in question. It is the entire concept of putting a “beer can” or any other liquid filled container inside the bird itself. You’re better off buying one of those round tapered vertical wire bird roasting racks and putting the bird directly over it in a small rimmed sheet pan, and without it sitting on the can! Keep the inside of the bird unobstructed. First of all, the can or other container inside the bird prevents the interior of the bird from properly circulating hot air through it during the cooking process, thus requiring longer cooking times, which will do nothing more than dry out the meat. Second, and most important, is that the interior of the bird never gets hot enough to cause the liquid to boil and vaporize, which is touted as somehow needed to supposedly, (and falsely,) provide moisture to the inside of the bird. The bird itself, while in contact with the can, is actually nothing more than a “heat sink” around the can because the bird is not only cold, but is an insulator that won’t actually heat the beer in the can enough to vaporize it. The bird is done at 165-180 degrees, depending on whose recipe your reading, and certainly isn’t hot enough to boil water or beer. Big fallacy busted! Drink the beer and just sit the bird on the vertical wire rack. If you want to add moisture, put it where it will actually work, just pour the beer directly into the sheet pan that the rack is on. At least there, it will get hot and vaporize to give you the moisture you are looking for. KInd of the same principle as using a water pan in a smoker.
Great recipe love it
ok…drink the beer tho
It was alright. The run is great though. Typical beer can chicken. I’m going to be hard on this recipe just because he says to pour the beer out! Who in there right mind would do that you better drink that sh*t And not waste it. Haha all in all I’ll give it a 4 for taste and a 1 for prep just because of the beer wasting.
Love this recipe! I also drape bacon on top for a little extra flavor! Everything is better with bacon, right?
Not sure if to put an aluminum can in contact with food at high temperature is a good idea….