Beer Can Grill-Roasted Chicken

July 23, 2012  •  Meat & Poultry, Technique

Beer Can Chicken – it’s one of those recipes you always hear everyone talking about, yet for some reason I’ve never made it. Perhaps because my purchases of pork, bison, lamb, and beef from local Colorado ranchers and farmers seldom leave room for chicken in my meat freezer. Perhaps because I often find chicken boring. Whatever the reason, after 4 weeks of rehabbing for my new knee, I felt it was time to entertain someone. I was itching to be in the kitchen cooking for friends. And since I was going to be checking back into the hospital this morning (that pesky scar tissue – they need to break it up so I can bend my knee), I figured I better get a cooking fix before I am laid up again.I feel like I’ve been working so hard on physical therapy that it’s really frustrating that I can’t just bust through the scar tissue on my own. My surgeon swears this little “manipulation” (which is horrific enough that you need to be under general anesthesia to have it done) will give me dramatic improvement. But with manipulation comes 2-3 weeks of putting my leg into a continuous motion machine for 8 hours a day to prevent scar tissue from reforming.Seriously, if any of you have incredible movies I should rent, old series that I should watch from season one, or enthralling books, please do share your thoughts! In the meantime, let me share this simple, yet juicy and delicious, beer can chicken recipe with you.

Beer Can Grill-Roasted Chicken
 
Prep time
Cook time
Total time
 
Recipe type: Entree
Serves: 8-12
Ingredients
  • 2 roaster or fryer chickens, rinsed and patted dry
  • Extra virgin olive oil
  • Salt
  • Pepper
  • Garlic powder
  • 2 cans of beer
Instructions
  1. Rub chickens all over with oil then season liberally inside and out with salt, pepper and garlic powder. Pour half of each can of beer into a chilled beer mug and enjoy that beer while the chickens cook. 🙂
  2. Position the chickens over the beer cans by inserting the cans, open side up, into the cavities of the chickens. You should be able to stand the chicken upright creating a tripod from the beer can and the two legs.
  3. Heat a gas grill to high, then turn off one side of the grill and reduce the temperature on the second side to medium heat. Place chickens on the side without the gas on so that they are cooking from indirect heat. Close the grill and cook until the juices run clear, about 60-90 minutes depending on the size of your birds. Let stand 10-15 minutes before carving.
Notes
I've made the recipe for 2 chickens because just like when I roast chickens in the traditional fashion, there are few foods that do so well in so many types of leftovers. I figured my husband could munch on this while I'm in the hospital and hopefully there will be some waiting for me when I get released.

 

Comments

2 Comments  •  Comments Feed

  1. Karen Harris says:

    I love beer can chicken. I found a cast iron chicken cooker for $3 a couple of years ago and we had beer can chicken twice a week for a month until my family said enough. Well it has been a couple of years now and you have inspired to fire up the grill again.

    So sorry you are having trouble with your knee. Here’s wishing you a speedy recovery.

  2. Sara says:

    I loved the new cop show unforgetable only one season to watch but at an hour a piece it could take a couple days to watch them all.

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