Toolbar

Printer Friendly Email RSS Feed Bookmark
Home Recipes Main Course Chicken
Beer Can Chicken
PDF Send Print

Rate it!

Votes (2) | Comments (0)
By Cheri Sicard
Photo: Mitch Mandell
Posted July 23rd, 2007
FabulousFoods.com Recommends: The Best Chicken Recipes, by , (2008, Boston Common Press)
The Best Chicken Recipes
Buy Now
Servings: 4
Author Notes: I'm amazed at the number of people I've run across - in various parts of the country- who all have a version of this easy outdoor cooking recipe. The whole chicken looks pretty humorous perched upon its beer can throne, but the final product is a delicious, moist bird that's always a hit at cookouts.

Start with your beer at room temperature. The right brand seems to be a hot debate among my friends. Some insist on light beer (Christopher O'Hara, in his book Ribs also suggests using light beer because he says it's more bubbly), while others go for exotic dark brews or favorite drinking brands.

You can use any marinade you choose for your chicken. For the marinade below, I like to use lime instead of lemon juice and a good Mexican beer (since I can't find Corona in cans, I usually use Tecate). Experiment to find which brand of beer you prefer, you'll be rewarded with lots of tasty chicken along the way.

Note:
Smaller chcikens work best in this recipe.  Too large a brd and ithe outside will be black by the time the inside gets cooked.  Use smaller frying chickens for the best results.
Ingredients: 1 whole frying chicken
1 can (12 ounces) beer

Marinade:
1/2 cup fresh lemon or lime juice
1/2 cup fresh orange juice
1/3 cup olive oil
1 tablespoon minced garlic
1/4 cup minced cilantro
1/2 teaspoon cayenne pepper
1/2 - 1 minced, seeded jalapeño pepper
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon black pepper
Instructions:

Mix all marinade ingredients together. Place chicken in a large plastic zipper bag and pour in the marinade, squeeze excess air from the bag and refrigerate for at least 6 hours or overnight.

Preheat grill to medium-hot temperature and position the coal for the indirect cooking method.  You can either place your bird and beer can directly on the grill or on a pan set on the grill.  If you choose to put the bird and beer directly on the grill,  it can sometimes get over browned, so lower your fire's intensity to medium and increase cooking time. 

Alternatively, place a roasting pan on the grill, open a can of beer and carefully sit the chicken on top of the open can and set both the can and the chicken in the roasting pan on the grill (make sure you have previously removed the chicken's gizzards). The beer will bubble and boil during cooking, basting the bird from the inside.  Bird should be cooked in about an hour, or however long it takes the breast meat to register 180° F on a meat thermometer.



 

Comments

There are no comments for this item

Be the first to leave a comment

You must be a registered member to leave a comment. So why not sign up now?

 

Fabulous Blogs

The New Fabulous Redesign

 
FabulousLiving.comFabulousFoods.comFabulousTravel.comSheKnows