Beer-can chicken is moist and offers a "delicate flavor of beer."
Photo courtesy of Workman Publishing
Posted on 05/22/2002 10:19:40 AM PDT by Willie Green
For education and discussion only. Not for commercial use.
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Beer-can chicken is moist and offers a "delicate flavor of beer." |
Right now you're wondering why the chicken in the picture is sort of standing up. And hold the phone but hey, Ethel, what's that thing sticking out of the chicken's rear end?
Well, it all has to do with something called beer-can chicken. And while this may come as something of a shock, it's a phenomenon that's sweeping the country, coming soon to a barbecue grill near you.
Really.
"A lot of the barbecuers do it," said Mike Mills, who travels the competitive-barbecue circuit as owner of Memphis Championship Barbecue, which has three locations in the Las Vegas Valley. "When they line those up, eight or 10 at a time on their grill, it looks like a bunch of little soldiers all lined up."
"I thought it was a crazy idea," he said. "But it turns out awesome. It's really great."
"It's kind of odd," said Scott Townsend, owner of RKS Associates catering company and special events, which participated in last weekend's Rhythm and Ribs at Sunset Park. "It's odd the way you have to put everything together, but the product comes out unbelievably juicy.
"But you can't do it from a catering standpoint, en masse. If you were sitting at home doing it, that's something different."
Larry Dowdy, manager of Barbecues Galore, said he hasn't tried beer-can chicken himself, but he's heard his customers talking about it.
"It's easy to do," he said they tell him. "It's the best chicken they've ever eaten. It comes out moist. The flavor's great."
Steven Raichlen, barbecue raconteur and author of cookbooks including "The Barbecue! Bible" and "Miami Spice," was so impressed with beer-can chicken that he wrote an entire book about it, the recently released "Beer-Can Chicken and 74 Other Offbeat Recipes for the Grill," from Workman Publishing.
"I would say this is the single most-done dish of any I do when I'm on tour," which is about a third of the year, Raichlen said. "People see it and instantly have to do it. When I first ran this dish on my Web site (www.BarbecueBible.com), people would actually e-mail me pictures of their beer-can chickens."
The allure?
"Any recipe that begins with the instruction `Drink half a can of beer' is a winner," Raichlen said. "It's a definite guy thing. Anything that lets a guy stick a can of beer up a chicken's orifice ..."
So just what is beer-can chicken?
"The old story was that you pop a can of beer and you take a swallow out of it and then you put the beer can in (the chicken)," Mills said. "It works really neat."
"Obviously, there's a theatrical and fun and whimsical look and component to the dish," Raichlen said. "It's fun and easy."
But looks aren't everything -- even to a chicken. It has to taste good, too.
"It's one of those things that makes you look like a million bucks," Raichlen said. "It looks wacky and fun, but it happens to be the single best way to cook chicken. It keeps it moist from the inside. You get this kind of delicate little flavor of beer. At the same time, because the chicken roasts in an upright position, it roasts from 365 degrees around. The fat melts off. And the skin gets gorgeously brown and crisp. It combines the best of vertical roasting and steaming.
"Plus, it's so fun to look at."
The phenomenon has taken off to the extent that several companies now sell special devices that help hold the chicken and beer upright. Dowdy said his Barbecues Galore store doesn't carry them, but does offer a vertical chicken roaster that would accommodate a can of beer.
The origins of beer-can chicken appear to be lost in the embers of history -- recent history. Mills said he first saw it on the barbecue circuit about 10 years ago, at a contest in Yazoo, Miss.
"Some people out of Mississippi were doing it the first time I saw it," he said.
Raichlen's initiation was at the big Memphis in May barbecue competition in 1996.
"My bet is it wasn't invented much before that, because it's such a fantastic idea that the minute somebody sees it, it spreads like wildfire," he said.
"I don't know who first came up with it," Mills said. "There's probably a lot of people who will take credit for it."
Not Raichlen, although he's sure done a lot to advance the genre. His book includes recipes for Quail on a Throne, Partridge on a Pear Can and beer-can turkey (the latter requiring a 32-ounce can of Foster's), plus cola-can chicken, Cel-Ray chicken, peach-nectar chicken, Thai coconut chicken, sake chicken.
You get the picture.
"I loved the idea so much," Raichlen said. "I wanted to come up with a version people who don't drink could try. That led me to root-beer chicken and lemonade chicken and iced-tea chicken.
"As an intellectual idea, it really grabbed me and the idea wouldn't let me go."
This is something you should try at home, using the accompanying recipe as a guideline. But if you're not into grilling, take heart.
"I've been going to do this in the restaurants," Mills said. "My only problem is how to get this to the table, and it not fall over -- put it on the table and then turn it over and remove the beer can. It's an awesome presentation. I can do the chicken but I can't get it to the table neatly and not lose the effect."
BASIC BEER-CAN CHICKEN
1 can (12 ounces) beer
1 chicken (3 1/2 to 4 pounds)
2 tablespoons All-Purpose Barbecue Rub (recipe follows) or your favorite commercial rub
2 teaspoons vegetable oil
You'll also need:
2 cups wood chips or chunks (preferably hickory or cherry), soaked for 1 hour in water and/or beer to cover, then drained
Vertical chicken roaster (optional)
Pop the tab off the beer can. Pour half of the beer ( 3/4 cup) over the soaking wood chips or chunks, or reserve for another use. If cooking the chicken on the can, using a church key-style can opener, make 2 additional holes in its top. Set the can of beer aside.
Remove the packet of giblets from the body cavity of the chicken and set aside for another use. Remove and discard the fat just inside the body and neck cavities. Rinse the chicken, inside and out, under cold running water and then drain and blot dry, inside and out, with paper towels. Sprinkle 1 teaspoon of the rub inside the body cavity and 1/2 teaspoon inside the neck cavity of the chicken. Drizzle the oil over the outside of the bird and rub or brush it all over the skin. Sprinkle the outside of the bird with 1 tablespoon of the rub and rub it all over the skin. Spoon the remaining 1 1/2 teaspoons of rub into the beer through a hole in the top of the can. Don't worry if the beer foams up: This is normal.
If cooking on a can: Hold the bird upright, with the opening of the body cavity at the bottom, and lower it onto the beer can so the can fits into the cavity. Pull the chicken legs forward to form a sort of tripod, so the bird stands upright. The rear leg of the tripod is the beer can.
If cooking on a roaster: Fill it with the beer mixture and position the chicken on top, following the manufacturer's instructions.
Tuck the tips of the wings behind the chicken's back.
Set up the grill for indirect grilling and heat to medium. If using a charcoal grill, place a large drip pan in the center. If using a gas grill, place all the wood chips or chunks in the smoker box or in a smoker pouch and preheat on high until you see smoke, then reduce the heat to medium.
When ready to cook, if using a charcoal grill, toss all of the wood chips or chunks on the coals. Stand the chicken up in the center of the hot grate, over the drip pan and away from the heat. Cover the grill and cook the chicken until the skin is a dark golden brown and very crisp and the meat is cooked through (about 180 degrees on an instant-read meat thermometer inserted in the thickest part of a thigh, but not touching the bone), 1 1/4 to 1 1/2 hours. If using a charcoal grill, you'll need to add 12 fresh coals per side after 1 hour. If the chicken skin starts to brown too much, loosely tent the bird with aluminum foil.
If cooking on a can: Using tongs, hold the bird by the can and carefully transfer it in an upright position to a platter.
If cooking on a roaster: Use oven mitts or potholders to remove the bird from the grill while it's still on the vertical roaster.
Present the bird to your guests. Let the chicken rest for 5 minutes, then carefully lift it off its support. Take care not to spill the hot beer or otherwise burn yourself. Halve, quarter, or carve the chicken and serve.
Makes 2 to 4 servings.
All-purpose barbecue rub:
1/4 cup coarse salt (kosher or sea)
1/4 cup dark brown sugar
1/4 cup sweet paprika
2 tablespoons freshly ground black pepper
Put the salt, brown sugar, paprika and pepper in a small bowl and stir to mix. (Your fingers actually work better for mixing the rub than a spoon or whisk does.)
Store the rub in an airtight jar away from heat and light. It will keep for at least 6 months.
Makes about 3/4 cup.
-- Recipe from "Beer-Can Chicken and 74 Other Offbeat Recipes for the Grill" by Steven Raichlen.
Posted for Memorial Day Barbeque inspiration.
LOL! No, link is provided to the source.
I'm don't know if Iron Chef or Emeril would come up with a recipe like this,
but I'm confident FReepers are more than capable of coming up with their own variations!
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