Beer Can Chicken

my experience with beer can chicken is simple. it just dont work.
if i want beer tasting chicken i get 2 bottles of heineken coat the chicken with yard birds and let it marinade in fridge for 24 hrs. this is beer chicken friends.
 
I think beer can chickens are awesome. Does the beer matter? Probably not, but I think the fact that you have moisture steaming in there helps.
 
Hmmm... I guess I never really put that much thought into it. But I have been known to drink the beer and put water back in the can, and have also used various soda's , and none of them really tasted much different unless I used different rubs. Very interesting read though!! They really did their homework to prove this wrong. But I'll probably keep making them anyway.
 
Rick, not sure if the spices or flavors make much difference in the taste, but some may think it does. The moisture added is the big thing. OBTW, it does work.
 
You mean I can throw away my steel beer can chicken holders? :mad:

Interesting article. The conclusion is probably true, but the whole concept is a great novelty that really caught fire, so to speak. In a nutshell, it's a cool way to cook chickens vertically and impress your friends and neighbors all at the same time. It also probably got a number of folks into grilling and BBQ that might not otherwise have...so keep the beer can chickens coming I say!
 
I've only had beer can chicken once and while I don't know what made it taste like it did and I suspect that the rub had a lot to do with it, it was pretty farking good and I will be cooking them in my future. I also plan on trying some beer can turkey this year.
 
They said the beer did not get hot enough to boil and therefore steam the inside of the chicken. I guess it probably depends on what temp the beer is when you start. What if you heat the beer up to a boil and then put back in can? I bet it boils and steams then.
 
Its been my expereince that the liquid in the can doesn't matter. Use water, beer, wine, apple juice, etc. and it's pretty much all the same when it comes to the taste of the bird. Brine, wood flavor, and rubs is where you impart the real flavor. It's just a way to create more moisture into the cavity as well as heat and smoke to heat the bird. I really like beer can birds but I don't use a can. I've tried two other systems and really like them as I like to reserve the juices.

Here I just use stands as the key is the pan and the juice I start with and end with:

Bathing.jpg


Here's a bird bath setup but there is a built in holder in the pot:

BirdBath.jpg


I really like "beer" can smoked birds. They have a great taste and come out very moist and tender. Not to say you can't do them other ways but I enjoy them. Noting wrong with doing a spatchcock bird either.

P.S. this is one reason I love beer can birds, when you grab the thigh bones, they come right out:

BoneFallOut.jpg
 
NewEnglandQ said:
They said the beer did not get hot enough to boil and therefore steam the inside of the chicken. I guess it probably depends on what temp the beer is when you start. What if you heat the beer up to a boil and then put back in can? I bet it boils and steams then.
Click to expand...
I'm guessing you would lose that bet.
 
I've said for some time that the liquid doesn't really flavor the bird, and I've used hot water for quite a while for mine.

Experiments run by 2 guys in a weekend don't necessarily bust the myth. I've done similar and found that the vertical positioning does make a difference, compared to a bird laying on the grate/in a pan. I've also found that loading the can with aromatics helps a bit, but just about only the interior meat of the breast, as that's the only part that's in contact with the steam from the can.

I don't, however, use anything but water in the cans, which is boiling already and contains onions/carrots/apples, etc.
 
yeah, I believe the type of liquid doesn't make a difference, but the moisture sure helps keep the chicken juicy. And it sure beats flipping them over and over.
 
NewEnglandQ said:
They said the beer did not get hot enough to boil and therefore steam the inside of the chicken. I guess it probably depends on what temp the beer is when you start. What if you heat the beer up to a boil and then put back in can? I bet it boils and steams then.
Click to expand...

bingo
 
Slightly off topic, but what I want to know is who was the first person to stand (probably just barely) there looking at a chicken with a beer in one hand and think "Fark it! I'm gonna shove this up its clacker and cook it":shock:
 
I will continue to cook chickens vertically on my can roasters sans the roasters. I saw a similar exercise on some cooking show and the showed the weight of the can and liquid after cooking was the same after cooking as before. My opinion is do what you like and enjoy but this does make for interesting conversation.
 
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