Beer Can Chicken - Myth or Magic?
4Beer Can Chicken is everywhere this year.
With some people claiming that the liquid in the can steams up and helps make the chicken juicier, more flavorful, and just plain cool.
Then there's this. They claim BCC is chicken scratch and that the only benefit from the can method is that it provides a standing base for the chicken, making for more even cooking. They go so far as to point out that the liquid in the can never even hits boiling point.
So, what do you think?
Have you had/made BCC?
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While I am not normally crazy about this stuff, I wonder what happens to the plastic lining that coats the inside of the can when its heated up like that.
@darkzrobe I, too, wondered that as I read the article.
I am moderately crazy about this stuff, so I have one of these: http://www.amazon.com/Elizabeth-Karmels-Chicken-Porcelain-Sitter/dp/B000LZB2U6
Me too, but mine's cast iron with a tray:
http://www.amazon.com/Emeril-All-Clad-Vertical-Chicken-Roaster/dp/B001CTZWRE
@matthew What's with the 3rd picture on that Amazon listing??
@kadagan Since the product is Elizabeth Karmel's Beer Can Chicken Porcelain Chicken Sitter, the picture must be of Elizabeth Karmel.
How I felt after reading that article from a physics PhD:
I usually soak my wood-chips in beer. That way, when I toss those bad-boys in the smoker--they ooze a lager perfume.
I've always had better uses for beer than baking it
@hollboll had to take off to get ready for a trip but before she left she sung the praises of beer can chicken and said when she made it herself it was amazing.
I see beer can chicken fairly often on menus around here but chicken isn't usually my first choice when I go out (too plain and I usually feel like I can make it myself), but for you TC I'll make a point of getting some the next time I go out.
@JonT @thumperchick I didn't read the rest of the thread but it was amazing. I used corona, the can was about half full. I had to use a nectar can (cleaned out of course). Used like 2 onions (sweet yellow) some red potatoes and carrots. Poured the rest of the beer over that.
I've made it maybe twice, three times, wasn't impressed.
Based on her description, @hollboll may have done an oven based recipe. She would have to elaborate on that. I have never attempted that so I can't speak to it. I have only tried it on the grill 3 times, so I am no expert. It's not magic, I wish it was. But, as posted, it makes a great standing base. The other one that people make claims about is Coca Cola chicken. This I have not tried but would like to know if anyone has.
@mfladd I don't use the can-standing part but I have poured coke, root beer, or Guinness over my bird and thought it tasted alright.
I hear that it tastes like chicken. (Or frog's legs, or gator, or rattlesnake.)
Dr Pepper chicken with a nice dry rub.
meh - upside down on a roaster rack, fill cavity with quartered apples and onions. Dry rub (search on "Meathead's Memphis Rub). 4 hours at 200 degrees, 30 minutes of smoke time (3/4c applewood pellets) until leg reads 175 degrees. At least 15 minutes "rest" time.
c'est NOMs
The whole can thing does nothing more than add some moisture. Not that that's a bad thing, it's just not any sort of guarantee for a perfect bird.
Beer can chicken is pretty good, but there is a secret to making great chicken (pretty much any fowl) every-time.... brining!
https://www.google.com/search?q=brining+a+chicken
@thismyusername Brining works excellent with pork, as well.
@Cappo Do you mean fresh pork? Can you brine cured pork or does that defeat the purpose of curing in the first place?
@Misha227 you don't wanna brine cured pork no... well unless you want to create a pork salt lick ;)
@Misha227 Fresh pork. Like pork chops, for instance.
I posted this right after we put one on the grill - our first try. We should've watched a bit closer, as we didn't get to pull it until the breast meat was 180 & thigh was near 195. Still a moist, good bird. We used 1/2 a woodchuck as my doc's got me off gluten/corn/soy/dairy/anything that ever tasted good.
New tips I've heard are:
Make sure to open the top of the can up more.
Put aromatics in the can - onion, some of the rub, etc.
Plug the top with a half a fresh lemon - to keep any steam moisture trapped inside the bird.
@Thumperchick
@thumperchick Unrelated to the chicken, they do make gluten-free beer. The only one I have experience with is Sprecher's. They make an African fire-brewed beer you may want to try.
@dashcloud Oddly enough, I'm not a beer fan. (Please don't hurt me.) I do have a passing appreciation for hard cider, though.
My mother-in-law gave us a set of these many years ago.
http://spanek.com/roaster/roasters.php
I remember them making good chicken and game hens but it has been forever since we've used them. Normally we either rotisserie a chicken or spatchcock it and cook it on the grill. Spatchcocking is awesome because it gives you the opportunity to say spatchcock a whole bunch of times.
Spatchcock!!!!
@SSteve Alton Brown did spatchcock chicken on a foreman-style double sided electric griddle and apparently really liked it for quick meals.
@SSteve This one is splayed, not spatchcocked, but it's my favorite whole chicken recipe to date. I change up the veggies to whatever I have on hand and it always turns out wonderfully. http://cooking.nytimes.com/recipes/12428-splayed-roast-chicken-with-caramelized-ramps
We made it once while camping last year. I remember it being good, but not overwhelmingly so. iirc, the best part was the first instruction, which was to pour half of the can of beer into a glass and enjoy while the chicken cooks.
Weigh your BCC beer can before and after and it will likely weigh more after. The beer does not steam (it doesn't even come close unless you're just a shoddy grillster), but it does provide a nice place to store my crappy PBR that some damned hipster left at my house.
The proper way to cook chicken on the grill is to spatchcock it, put it in indirect heat for most of it's cooking time, and then sear it at the end for a few minutes. The beer should be used to cool the grill master, not steam the chicken.
@Marion14505 I don't disbelieve you, but weighing doesn't seem like the best test. There's chicken juice in there, and a scale wouldn't know the Schlitz from the schmaltz.
(Might be a perfect use for a henway, now that I think of it)
@matthew (Okay, I'll play straight man.) What's a henway?
@Marion14505
I barely have time to not pay attention to meh.com on a daily basis, and you want me to watch a 2 minute video? :-)
meh needs to do a double blind beer can chicken tasting. try with a can of beer, a can of water, and an empty can.
it's bbq and a fun video for you guys so DO THE SCIENCE.
beer can, bleh. just get one of these. www.hollandgrill.com
@Thumperchick sorry I'm so late to the party! I've been in Colorado this past week then got strep.
The Beer-Can chicken I did was an oven based recipe. It helped keep the chicken moist and added some flavor to it. We didn't do too much as far as outer seasoning goes, some herb d'province, garlic, salt and pepper. I'm pretty sure we put orange peels in the skin too.
If done correctly it's fantastic. Keeps meat moist and juicy during cooking process.