Beer can chicken is probably the easiest of recipes, but turns out great flavors every time. The key to beer can chicken is to make sure that you are able to crisp up the skin.
I picked up two whole fryers at the Troy 4-0. I don’t pay attention to chicken prices, but I bought both chickens for $7.00.
To clean these, check the inside and make sure there are no giblets remaining. Take the chicken and rinse both the inside and outside. Once you have rinsed it dry it all the way with a paper towel. At this point, you can remove any excess fat or skin on either openings of the chicken.
Take both of the chickens and brush on olive oil. Make sure that you brush down the entire chicken. This will help the rub to stick to the bird. Apply your rub, wrap the chickens in foil and let sit overnight. There are arguments on both side as to how long you need to let the rub stick, but I have always subscribed to the overnight school of thought.
Take a beer can and empty 1/2 the beer. You can do any type of beer, but I always seem to have Bud Light at my disposal. I add some additional holes to the top of the can to allow more steam to escape. Pour a little rub into the beer can. As these cook the beer will steam into the chicken, which will keep it moist. You can also put radishes or small potatoes in the neck to keep the steam from escaping.
Take the beer cans and slide the birds over the top. I have stands for these that I have bought, but you can get these to balance on the beer can. Just take the legs and move them forward to create a type of tripod.
Looks like someone can’t wait for dinner…
Once you have the cans ready, you can put these on the smoker. Going back to my comments about crisping the skin, the best way to do this is to use an indirect flame instead of using the offset fire box. This will allow you to get more direct heat and a hotter temperature.
Cook time for these is between 2-3 hours depending on your temperature. I like to run my temperature between 300 and 325. You will want to make sure that the ending temperature is 165 in the breast, and 185 in the thigh. Be sure that your thermometer is not touching any bones as this will lead to faulty readings.
Once you pull them off the smoker, give them about 10 minutes to rest before carving. Once they are done resting, you can carve them up and begin snacking.
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