# Beer can chicken



## loomis82 (Nov 4, 2014)

The before and after. Sweet and spicy made a brown sugar/ cayenne rub with some garlic and onion mixed in. Also some cheesy hashbrown casserole.


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## YAKFish#1 (Aug 14, 2018)

Was that on a grill or smoker? Looks awesome


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## loomis82 (Nov 4, 2014)

Just a propane grill. Usually do it on charcoal. Honestly couldn't really taste a difference from the propane to charcoal


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## brushbuster (Nov 9, 2009)

Just did my first one last night on the grill. Perfection!


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## DigitalGuru (Feb 25, 2019)

Love it. Beer can chicken has to be the easiest way to get great chicken. Keep an eye on your grill though, we have a gas grill and did several BCC and didn't clean out the bottom. From all the grease that dripped into the bottom along with other crud caused an inferno in our grill. It burned for over a 1/2 hour with the lid down. Burned out the back of the firebox. Ruined after that.


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## bobberbill (Apr 5, 2011)

Tried the beer can method a couple times. Just a damn mess and it still tasted like chicken. I enjoyed a few beer cans while doing it.. May have been part of the problem.


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## loomis82 (Nov 4, 2014)

I have a old pan I put on the grill to stop that mess. Scrape it with a paint scraper right after done. No mess on the grill. Also try injecting the chicken with cajun and butter!
I did the one in the pic injected with brown sugar cayenne and butter


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## 6667supersport (Oct 10, 2012)

How long does it take to cook the chicken ?


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## loomis82 (Nov 4, 2014)

I did close to a 7lber in about 45. Enough time for 3 beers lol


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## loomis82 (Nov 4, 2014)

I keep the beer 3/4 full and poke holes all around just barely above the beer. In feel it helps the steam affect. Maybe it doesn't maybe it does


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## sureshot006 (Sep 8, 2010)

bobberbill said:


> Tried the beer can method a couple times. Just a damn mess and it still tasted like chicken. I enjoyed a few beer cans while doing it.. May have been part of the problem.


Yeah you can use just water to help keep moisture and it wouldn't taste different than beer. Whole chickens, brined, are pretty good and hard to screw up no matter which way they're cooked.


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## DEDGOOSE (Jan 19, 2007)

I jumped in on the craze when it started, then I started reading the science now I spatchcock.

https://amazingribs.com/bbq-techniques-and-science/beer-can-chicken


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## sureshot006 (Sep 8, 2010)

DEDGOOSE said:


> I jumped in on the craze when it started, then I started reading the science now I spatchcock.
> 
> https://amazingribs.com/bbq-techniques-and-science/beer-can-chicken


Yup. I agree with all of it except that the beer can't evaporate. It was never full when I quit cooking and even though its not boiling, the vapor pressure and therefore rate of evaporation, increases with temperature. It doesn’t change flavor or how well the chicken is cooked at all though and probably slows it down with the cooler mass inside the cavity.


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## Mike da Carpenter (Nov 26, 2017)

bobberbill said:


> Tried the beer can method a couple times. Just a damn mess and it still tasted like chicken. I enjoyed a few beer cans while doing it.. May have been part of the problem.


Use a throwaway pie tin (cheap aluminum foil bought at the dollar store). Makes cleanup simple.


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## Shoeman (Aug 26, 2000)

sureshot006 said:


> Yup. I agree with all of it except that the beer can't evaporate. It was never full when I quit cooking and even though its not boiling, the vapor pressure and therefore rate of evaporation, increases with temperature. It doesn’t change flavor or how well the chicken is cooked at all though and probably slows it down with the cooler mass inside the cavity.



Just cut it in half and throw it on the grill starting with the cavity side down.


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## sureshot006 (Sep 8, 2010)

Shoeman said:


> Just cut it in half and throw it on the grill starting with the cavity side down.


Yep when I grill whole chicken I spatchcock now. This was after I realized the beer can was just a fad and waste of good beer.


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## Mike da Carpenter (Nov 26, 2017)

Spatchcocking is my preferred way of smoking chickens. I usually do 3 chickens and 3 racks of ribs at a time. 1 chicken my wife uses for whatever and the other two get frozen to use at a later date. Ribs don’t stand a chance of making it to the fridge with two teenaged boys at home.


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## brushbuster (Nov 9, 2009)

DEDGOOSE said:


> I jumped in on the craze when it started, then I started reading the science now I spatchcock.
> 
> https://amazingribs.com/bbq-techniques-and-science/beer-can-chicken


Ill try this next, Thanks!


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## penaltybox (Feb 8, 2012)

I boil my beer on the stove, then put it back in the can. Then in the bird. I do mine in the smoker for about 4 hours. It does evaporate and i can taste the beer. But my beer is steaming when i start.


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## sureshot006 (Sep 8, 2010)

Me too if I think about it hard enough.


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