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TedW
04-03-2011, 12:03 PM
I'd like to try an organic chicken on this device. Never done this, but I like the idea of the hot air getting inside the bird cavity. Some seasonings, too.

I only have a few hours to put a rub on and let it rest before grill time tonight. I'll have to make a rub, (maybe some herbs?) and let it rest at room temp for a few hours. I am not worried about Salmonella. :rolleyes:

Any quick tips before I head to the store?

Midnight Smoke
04-03-2011, 12:16 PM
I use softened butter, not margarine, and mix in some Mrs Dash or whatever combination of seasonings I have on hand. Spread mixture all over the bird, under the skin as well. Cook at 350º until done. :wink:

expatpig
04-03-2011, 12:17 PM
Of all the tests I've seen on beer can chicken, they all came to the same conclusion. The liquid in the can does nothing for the chicken, the can is just a method to keep the bird in an upright position while cooking. I concur.

TedW
04-03-2011, 12:28 PM
Aha!

Hotrodhog
04-03-2011, 12:31 PM
So, question, why do you want chicken at room temp?

TedW
04-03-2011, 12:34 PM
Hotrod, I personally bring meat up to temp before cooking. Have for years. Marinade and rub will work faster at higher temps, and time is what I don't have today. So while I would normally marinate something overnight in a ziplock, today I'll speed that up by leaving at room temp.

TedW
04-03-2011, 12:45 PM
At 350, I assume we're doing this direct with no diverter or plate setter

deepsouth
04-03-2011, 12:54 PM
Of all the tests I've seen on beer can chicken, they all came to the same conclusion. The liquid in the can does nothing for the chicken, the can is just a method to keep the bird in an upright position while cooking. I concur.


if you use a ceramic "chicken sitter" and get the temp of the beer up close to boiling before you put it on the grill and then the chicken on it and you use a flavorful beer, it will indeed do something to the chicken. at least it did for me. i posted a thread about beer can chicken that went into a good bit of detail about this.

cheers.

trekmstr
04-03-2011, 01:09 PM
i usually stuff some rosemary into the can then into the chicken. i have also substituted soda for beer. orange or white seem to work best. if you use beer or orange soda you cannot discount that some of the flvor is steamed into the chicken. you can tast it.

TedW
04-03-2011, 01:20 PM
Rosemary is a good idea. I like to get a fresh herb in these things

hb2301
04-03-2011, 02:11 PM
I'm sure I don't have the experience of many here but I've probably done 20 or 30 beer can chickens. I finally decided it was just one extra step that didn't do much. It MAY have added a bit of flavor but was just more trouble than it was worth. I don't do it any more.

TedW
04-03-2011, 02:50 PM
I like the idea of standing the chicken upright allowing the heat to easily enter the cavity. No can. Just the can rack

BBQ Grail
04-03-2011, 03:27 PM
Of all the tests I've seen on beer can chicken, they all came to the same conclusion. The liquid in the can does nothing for the chicken, the can is just a method to keep the bird in an upright position while cooking. I concur.

Winner, Winner Spatchcock Chicken Dinner

deepsouth
04-03-2011, 03:38 PM
Winner, Winner Spatchcock Chicken Dinner

i prefer that now as well, but there is merit to beer can chicken doing what i posted above.

expatpig
04-03-2011, 03:42 PM
Winner, Winner Spatchcock Chicken Dinner

Absolutely! If I want steamed chicken, I'll microwave it!:clap2:

Midnight Smoke
04-03-2011, 04:33 PM
At 350, I assume we're doing this direct with no diverter or plate setter

Not direct, I use the Plate Setter.

TedW
04-03-2011, 05:08 PM
So 350 over indirect heat will get that skin crispy? I would have thought the temp would need to be higher. See how little I know.

EDIT: Would I get the same "diverter" effect if I placed the beer can rack on a pan? I suppose that pan would get hot and burn drippings. I'm still not clear on the plate setter leg up / leg down thing. Legs down for pizza, legs up for everything else? Seems like that platform would radiate a lot of good heat when baking at 350 (legs down).

I guess legs down is less airflow past the meat. Is that the right answer?

OakPit
04-03-2011, 05:25 PM
At 350, I assume we're doing this direct with no diverter or plate setter

Definitely use the plate setter - if the bird sits too high, remove the grill grate and sit the bird directly on the plate setter. Direct heat at 350 moves things along too fast for the bird to cook evenly throughout...

TedW
04-03-2011, 05:29 PM
Thanks O.P. What do you make of my legs up / down edit?

NorthwestBBQ
04-03-2011, 05:34 PM
Of all the tests I've seen on beer can chicken, they all came to the same conclusion. The liquid in the can does nothing for the chicken, the can is just a method to keep the bird in an upright position while cooking. I concur.

So do I. It's an Urban BBQ myth.

OakPit
04-03-2011, 05:35 PM
I'd go legs up for more overhead room - I have a Small BGE too and have resigned myself to removing the GG when needed. The whole bird does fit nicely on its back though...this pic is on my small.

http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5140/5472323095_96426b3f0a.jpg

NorthwestBBQ
04-03-2011, 05:49 PM
I'd go legs up for more overhead room - I have a Small BGE too and have resigned myself to removing the GG when needed. The whole bird does fit nicely on its back though...this pic is on my small.

I prefer a Spachcocked Chicken too. They cook more evenly.

http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5307/5586235249_4b2d378676_b.jpg

expatpig
04-03-2011, 06:22 PM
Because the parts of a chicken cook differently, ie: the legs and thighs take longer than the breast because the breast meat has little fat. So, when you legs and thighs are done, the breast is dry and overcooked. Why I switched to a spatch cocked bird, is now I can move it around so the breast portion is away from the coals or I use foil under the breast so it doesn't overcook. Just my preference, besides, I like to be engaged with my cooking. I'm not a load it and forget it kind of guy.

TedW
04-03-2011, 07:03 PM
Legs up for more overhead. Makes great sense. I have a rub on the chicken. I removed the remaining neckbone to really open up the neck. The bottom is trimmed also. A good amount of air will be able to move through.

I see the huge advantage of spachcocking. That's probably where I'll evolve.

Bar
04-03-2011, 07:24 PM
This is how I cook chicken and it turns out great every time.

http://www.nakedwhiz.com/spatch.htm

TedW
04-03-2011, 07:32 PM
I like the drying skin in the fridge deal. I already rubbed the chicken with a 50/50 mix of molasses and Worcestershire. Then the rub (1/3 salt, 1/3 sugar, 1/3 spices). Anyway that bird is in a plastic bag right now. I should plop him on that beer can rack on a plate and in the fridge. Maybe that would be ineffective at this point?

I'm thinking this will be my first and last run with this beercan rack

The Grill Sergeant
04-03-2011, 09:37 PM
My trick is to plug the neck with an appropriately sized onion.

TedW
04-04-2011, 09:38 AM
You don't want airflow through the cavity Grill Sergeant?

12 hours so far in the fridge and skin is getting quite dry... looks like it's working despite the molasses / Worcestershire application

GreenDrake
04-04-2011, 09:48 AM
Yep, spatchcock FTW. By a long shot. EVOO and seasonings, bone down, go to town. Easy as it gets. Juicy as all get out. I do yardbird almost exclusively by spatch method, on the Kamado Joe or the Traegers.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v462/motorcade1/Food%20Porn/P5090284.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v462/motorcade1/Food%20Porn/P3210203.jpg

TedW
04-04-2011, 09:50 AM
I'm thinking this skin dry process in the fridge is gonna be interesting

TedW
04-05-2011, 02:55 PM
Been two days in the fridge. Open and drying. Looks disgusting so it should work.

I may spatchcock at this time and not cook on the beer can device at all.

el_matt
04-05-2011, 03:46 PM
I've done countless beer/soda can chickens. After cooking one spatchcocked, I'll never mess with any cans again.

Matt

TedW
04-06-2011, 02:59 PM
Cooked the bird. Again I rubbed the bird with sugar / salt / spice and left to dry in fridge for two days. This dried the skin as advertised and the salt did its thing also. A "dry brine".

Didn't spatchcock, but didn't use a can of beer. Kust the stainless beercan chicken rack.

This was likely the best chicken I ever cooked. The kind of chicken you look for every possible edible morsel.

I also learned AGAIN the value of charcoal management. I'm out of the big lump, and the Stubbs and Cowboy brands are quite small. Small coals on the botom = poor airflow. I'm a-learnin'!

Grafixgibbs
04-06-2011, 04:11 PM
Of all the tests I've seen on beer can chicken, they all came to the same conclusion. The liquid in the can does nothing for the chicken, the can is just a method to keep the bird in an upright position while cooking. I concur.

I would have to disagree. I have used different beers on different chickens as the only difference and I find the tastes to be different depending on the beer. Now there might not be much difference between a Bud and a Miller but if you use a Bud Lime, a Heffiwisen (sp?), a stout, a Guinness or an ale of some sort there is a difference in flavor.

deepsouth
04-06-2011, 04:52 PM
I would have to disagree.


having done a fairly decent experiment on this, i agree with your disagreement.

;o)

BobBrisket
04-06-2011, 04:53 PM
Interesting conversation. I've also done more than my fair share of BBC's and at one point made about 6 at one time with beer, soda, fruit juices, wine and beer with fresh herbs. All of em had different rubs as well. The rubs I could taste, but the things like the wine, juices, etc, I couldn't. The herbs a bit more. With almost the entire cavity being lined with bone (rib cage, etc) I don't know how much flavor really penetrates. I've sealed the neck cavity with limes and lemon, which gave that part of the breast meat some flavor and led me to just start putting the flavor under the skin instead and spatching them. I still use the chicken setters, but now I use them just to create space since spatching takes up a little more grate space and just run em with no can. More than anything they are now just to keep the bird propped up. Things like lime, lemon, orange, citrus under the breast skin will make for some fastastic flavors and do herbs, infused oils, and................slightly diluted fruit jellies. I'm serious, try it. An orange marmalade or even a strawberry jam slightly diluted with some white wine and then poured under the skin...............OH MAN! You can get some weird colored birds with the red and purple colored jams, but they are really good too. One last trick for flavor is to use a pie pan under the birds to catch the drippings. Right before pulling the birds off use a turkey baster to remove to remove the clearer drippings and reduce it with some red or white wine and pour over the carved bird.

BUT...........my all time favorite EVER!!! Landarcs.....scallion, ginger, red pepper flake oil. OMG!!!!!
http://www.bbq-brethren.com/forum/showthread.php?t=83447&highlight=scallion+oil

The recipe:
http://www.bbq-brethren.com/forum/showthread.php?t=83357&highlight=ginger+scallion

Bob