Utility Muffin Research Kitchen: Beer Can Chicken

"He's a cat cuttin' cool, convertible car. Top taken down on the way to the bar. Music blarin' people starin', he likes it like that...." Robert Moore "Wildcat"

Not really a food reference, but this song is stuck in my head so cut me some slack.

When the weekend rolls around I like to grill on the deck. It's mostly just an excuse to drink beer but it does have it's benefits.

I was thumbing thru a new book I bought, Steven Raichlen's bbq bible that I recently purchased. I wanted to do something different, so this beer can chicken seemed pretty interesting.

The recipe calls for a 6-7 pound bird, so I picked one up last night. I was suppose to let it marinade in brine for 12 hours but I did not realize that until this afternoon so the brine bath didn't happen.

This was the bird as it started out today. I had never heard of beer can chicken until last night, but oddly enough when I took the chicken out of its packaging there was a recipe for...you guessed it! beer can chicken.

So I salted and peppered the chicken while I got the grill fired up.

There was also a rub Steven's recipe called for made from paprika, brown sugar, cayenne and something else that I didn't have.

I melted some butter and brushed the bird with it and then added the rub.

I set the big grill up for indirect grilling, hey I don't make up these terms.

I bought a tall boy Budweiser and poured half of it onto the hickory chips.

I then added Worcestershire and red wine vinegar to the half can of beer. At this point you lower the bird down onto the beer and the can is inserted into the cavity, which becomes a sort of stand for the chicken. (see top pic)

Grill is hot...

I put the bird on a grease pan and put it directly in the middle of the grill. I cooked with the lid down to lock in as much smoke as I could.

I also had a slab of baby back ribs that I wanted to do in an Asian vein.

I rubbed the ribs with 5 spice that I was able to find at an Asian market not far away from the house.

Here's the five spice I found at the Asian market today.

Here are the ribs, the bird and some sausage...

The ribs were basted with a teryaki glaze after they had cooked for about 2 hours.

The ribs came out very succulent and actually pretty tasty.

I think the pan blocked too much heat from the chicken. After about 3 hours I wasn't satisfied the chicken was thoroughly cooked, so I put it in the oven for about 45 minutes.

The small piece that I sampled was very, very, tender and had a nice smokey flavor.

It will be divided up tomorrow for use in various dishes next week. I will update you on what we make with it as I do it.