beer can chicken

[mags]

It might be hard to imagine but I have actually never tried beer can chicken yet but I'm going to give it a try this weekend. Do you folks have any good suggestions for what rub you use and what you put in the beer can?

Thanks,
Magnus

[Rich777]

Mags, any type of rub that you like will do fine. If you are going to use a a beer can , I would suggest the sixteen ounce variety. Just pop the top and slide the bird on top, kinda like it's sitting on top of the grill. Home Depot, Lowe's, Wal-Mart have a device that is alittle more stable. It's a stand type thing that has a bowl on the bottom, pour the beer in and enjoy! Hope this helps.

[Scotty Da Q]

I put onions, garlic, & rosemary in mine.
I also seal the top of the neck.

[TX Sandman]

The ones I've had have been very simple. Just rub your favorite rub on and under the skin and on the inside of the bird, coat a 2/3-full can with a little oil, slide the whole bird onto the can, and cook indirect at 325-350*. It's about 1.25-1.5 hours, but go by temp. You want 165* in the breast and in the thigh.

Some people say they can taste a difference when they use different liquids, others can't. Personally, I haven't noticed much difference, but that's me. I've heard of beer, wine, sodas, chicken broth, and even plain water being used.

Some people plug the neck to help seal the steam in. Personally, I think that makes the meat a little *too* moist, but YMMV. I've seen onions, apples, and lemon wedges used as plugs, and there's even some ceramic chicken heads out there designed for that. Try a bird both ways and see which one you prefer.

There's a great step-by-step series here:
http://bbq.about.com/od/chicken/ss/aa072807a.htm

Good luck.

[bigwheel]

One of the very best tasting and purtiest beer butted chickens I ever tasted come from fella parked next to us at a bbq cookoff once upon a time. He had a little trick of getting them ready by conventional means and smoke em up for a couple of hours then he put a brown paper sack (slightly mo bigga than the bird but not by much) down over the top of the bird to finish. Gave them a real nice uniform color and they were super moist. Might give that strategy a try sometime if you want to do some expurimenting.

bigwheel

[mags]

thanks for the suggestions! It turned out real good, Mrs just wanted to cook it in the oven this time but it turned out great anyway.

-Magnus