A Beer Can Chicken Recipe That Brings the Heat
Photograph by Roland Persson
From Yahoo Food’s Cookbook of the Week: Tex-Mex From Scratch by Jonas Cramby
Beer Can Chicken
Serves 4
To cook a chicken on a beer can might sound like improbable – but the truth is that it’s a perfect way to get a flavorful and juicy bird. This is because the beer evaporates inside the chicken and contributes with both moisture and a nice flavor. Combined with the barbecue’s slow and smoky cooking, the end result is super magnifico.
1 whole (about 3 pounds) chicken
Corn oil
Rendez-vous Dry Rub (see below)
2 cups beer
Pat the chicken with the oil and the spice mix. Leave to marinate for 1 hour in the fridge.
Meanwhile, prepare the barbecue for indirect cooking – fill one half with charcoal, in the other half place a pan of water.
Drink half of the beer and place the bird on top with the can in its cavity. Then place the can on the half of the barbecue that hasn’t got any charcoal in it.
Throw a couple of handfuls of mesquite chips on the coals and close the lid. After 30 minutes, throw in another handful. That should do it for smoke now. Leave the chicken to cook slowly and steadily for 3–4 hours at around 230– 235°F. The inside temperature of the chicken should be 165–175°F.
Rendez-vous Dry Rub
This useful spice mix, invented at the classic rib restaurant Rendez-vous in Memphis, is a perfect match for both pork and chicken.
8 tablespoons paprika
4 tablespoons garlic powder
4 tablespoons chilli powder
3 tablespoons ground black pepper
3 tablespoons salt
2 tablespoons whole celery or fennel seeds
1 tablespoon crushed celery or fennel seeds
4 teaspoons yellow mustard seeds
1 tablespoon dried oregano
1 tablespoon dried thyme
1 tablespoon whole coriander seeds
1 tablespoon crushed coriander seeds
1 tablespoon Knorr Aromat Seasoning
Mix together the dry rub in a bowl. Stored airtight it will last a long time.
Reprinted with permission from Tex-Mex From Scratch by Jonas Cramby (Sterling Epicure).
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