Meathead "debunks" beer-can chicken

i don't do them often, but when i do, i use a ceramic "chicken sitter" and i have noticed a difference.

I agree that it is unnecessary.

I bought a couple beercan chicken stands a couple years ago. I keep MEANING to use them but...they still have the cardboard attached and remain untouched.

deguerre said:

I bought a couple beercan chicken stands a couple years ago. I keep MEANING to use them but...they still have the cardboard attached and remain untouched.

Click to expand...

i have one of those, unused, as well.

deguerre said:

I bought a couple beercan chicken stands a couple years ago. I keep MEANING to use them but...they still have the cardboard attached and remain untouched.

Click to expand...

Me three...

Yeah I used to do it beer can style but then I tried a spatchcocked bird and haven't looked back. So much easier.

I can say that Beer-can chicken was really the 'door-way' for me getting into Q'n. And so it has a real, near and dear place in my heart as far as a way of cooking chicken. And when I saw the headline to this thread, and when I read the headline of the article - I was slightly hurt and offended. But that's ok, because I really don't know everything, and you know what? - some times I'm WRONG! Everything he talked about, science and all, makes a ton of sense and seems logical. I love it, I've got a lot to learn - that's a great article to share - thank you very much. And I love the quote from Big Poppa - I respect him a ton!

I do have one of those vertical "beer can holders", and I may still use it, just minus the can. I like vertical roasting the chicken, I think it has a lot of advantages. I can't wait until I try it, sans beer can. But i agree with cheeaa, since starting to spatchcock chicken and turkey, I rarely do it any other way. It's a great way to smoke.

The parts I disagreed with most were in reference to the can placement. I cut my can down a good bit and use only a tiny amount of beer with chicken broth added plus aromatics.

I seriously question the temperatures mentioned if cooked with a smaller amount of liquid. I'm no thermaldynamics expert, but I have to imagine that the heat conductivity of the aluminum surrounding the liquid would affect the liquid's temperature. Also, I often have more direct heat below the can.

I think lots of good points were made in that post, but I also think several variables were either misrepresented or not present. I mentioned a couple above.

I want to play around with beercan chicken for fun, but not because I believe it is significantly better; I just want to see if I can figure a way to get the beer bubbling. Failing that, it does let me put more chickens on the Weber at one time for grilling or smoking.

I've done beer can chicken a few times, and it came out great. Whether it was due to the beer or not, I don't know.

Enkidu, that was an interesting article you put up the link to. :thumb:

Bob

i read that article earlier today and while everything he wrote makes sense, I am an avid fan of beer can chicken. I honestly don't care what the science is, I just know that when I do it, it always comes out great! I cook hot and fast on my gasser :twitch: with the front and back burners on high. THe middle burner off entirely. Place the chicken in the middle and cook it at about 400 degrees on the dome. Probably closer to 450 at the grate. Cook for about 45 minutes with a 10 minute rest. Chicken ALWAYS comes out juicy in the breast AND dark meat.

I have tried spatchcock and find it to be more work and I didn't like the results.

I use the Weber Chicken Roaster instead of a beer can.



It provides the crispy skin and even browning and the fluid in the reservoir makes for a nice baste as it cooks out.

While the can may not help, there's still something childishly fun and "Cave-man" about sticking a beer can in there.

bigabyte and deguerre's new profile pics are weirding me out...

I have a vertical chicken roaster rack or maybe three and they work great. It is not my preferred method for roasting a chicken though. It was for a long time.

I now prefer to truss and cook the chicken in the traditional method, on a rack over a pie pan or other suitable chicken sploogie holder. I think it works the best. My issue with both vertical rack and spatchcock chicken is the same, I feel it cooks too dry when compared to trussing and roasting.

The exception is when doing a Huli-Huli type cook, where halves are better.

I have stopped trying to dissuade folks from the beer can method and have posted to this a couple times but people are going to do what they are going to do, that is ok with me. Just know the liquid inside the can no matter how little or how much is used will not get to any where near a temp, allowing it to put out steam to cook and produce a moister bird, which is the real reason everyone thinks this method works, not so grasshopper.

If you exclude the can of liquid a vertical rack with a drip pan is fine and if you want to add liquid thats ok but don't expect it too impart any noticeable flavor. I have used the vertical racks from time to time without a can, but prefer a cut up bird or spatchcock.

Another problem with the vertical bird is the top of the bird, being closer to the top of the cooker in most cases, is going to cause premature browning or burning of the top portion of the bird, unless you put a tent of foil around the top. I have used a pan with liquid under a vertical stand and that does seem to be a better solution, it may not allow the skin to get as crisp but I am not a big fan of crispy skin just as long as it is bite through tender.

In conclusion use it if you want but don't kid yourself, the only good use for cooking on a vertical stand is for a good overall browning and of course the famous bird that has a halved lemon under the skin for boobs and a bikini line.
Dave

Yup, I started out ramming cans of liquid up chicken posteriors, even moving to the point of only putting 1/3 of a beer in there when I noticed the beer didn't evaporate like I thought it would, but then outgrew the novelty and haven't done one since I started halving my birds - plus it's waay easier to carve up a bird that's had it's keel & back bone removed prior to cooking...