Beer Can Chicken Recipe
Now for the famous Beer Can Chicken on the Grill recipe! And what could be easier, but I have a few secret hints for everyone. And maybe because I like beer I think my Beer Can Chicken recipe is the best!. Okay, beer can chicken is nothing more than opening a can of beer and putting it into the chicken so when the beer boils as it cooks it infuses into the chicken. Uhm Uhm good! And what do you do with the other 5 beers in your six pack? You drink them while you grill, of course!
Yep, that simple! But, oh no, we beer can chicken grilling aficionados have to tinker with it to make it even better! So here’s my personal hints for the best possible beer can chicken on the grill:
Hint #1: Like Julia Child would say about wine when you cook with it, make sure you like drinking it by itself before you use it while cooking. Nothing against Bud or Bud Light, but flavor for cooking it does NOT have. Personally, my favorite beer to use is a hefeweizen beer like a blue moon or Pyramid Hefeweizen. So, I open my can of bud, drink it, then pour from the glass bottle (hard to find a Hefeweizen in a can) into the can and then use it.
RULE #1 always use good beer!
Hint #2: Soak the chicken in your favorite beer for 15-30 minutes before you put it on the grill. Yes, I know, it’s cutting into your beer stash to soak your bird in yet another can or bottle of beer. But it’s well worth it. I use a large gallon ziplock back and only have to use one bottle of beer. Just get all the air out of the ziplock bag after you put the bird and beer in and you get maximum soaking with minimum beer wastage!
Hint #3: Soak the wood chips in beer instead of water. Yes, more beer! Now, I have to admit I don’t think this really does anything extra for flavor as I’ve done it with or without the beer soaked chips. But since this is BEER can chicken, I guess the idea is use beer anywhere possible on this bird!
Hint #4: Use aluminum foil to catch the drippings and protect the chicken from too much direct heat. This works great if you need to actually do your beer can chicken in the oven if the weather is just too bad to break out the grill.
You can also setup your grill with indirect heat like the picture below. Simply put the chicken over the pan on the right so the chicken is protected from too much flame.
Cooking Time & Temperature: We will be cooking HOT, about 375°F to 400°F. (sometimes my grill gets hotter than that but I end up settling down around the 375 mark.
What about a good beer can stand? Well, the popularity of beer can chicken on the grill or cooked in the oven has spawned dozens if not hundreds of simple to complex and elegant beer can cooking stands. From your simple wire frame stand to elaborate non-stick surface and double chicken stands, you can find a fantastic selection to meet your needs.
Prep the Chicken for Grilling:
1.) Rinse the chicken and remove giblets etc. Rinse inside and out. I like my chicken really clean before I grill it.
2.) Bag the chicken in a ziplock bag and marinate the chicken in one bottle of good beer.
3.) Be sure it’s fully thawed. In a rush I’ve quick thawed a chicken before and put it on the grill to find out later that the outside is over done but the very center is still cold and blood red. Not good!
4) Coat the meat with your favorite BBQ spice rub. Inside and out! With a whole chicken, I make sure and coat the outside well AND coat the inside so you get as much flavor of the spice into the meat as possible. My personal favorite happens to be a Sweet Mesquite Seasoning that I buy at the local Costco store which I’ve not duplicated with a recipe of my own yet. It has what I’d call a sweet southwest flavor. Here are a few spice rub recipes you can try or take a look at our wide selection of BBQ dry rub recipes.
Basic Dry Rub for BBQ Chicken on the grill:
Ingredients:
- 1 tablespoon ground black pepper
- 1 tablespoon ground white pepper
- 1 tablespoon sugar
- 2 teaspoon cayenne pepper
- 2 tablespoon chili powder
- 1 tablespoon ground cumin
- 1 tablespoon garlic powder
- 1 tablespoon brown sugar
- 1 tablespoon ground oregano
- 4 tablespoon paprika (the sweet kind — not the hot kind)
- 1 teaspoon dry mustard
- 1 tablespoon celery salt
- 1 tablespoon salt
Here’s a more common Chicken spice rub. Has what I’d call a more Thanksgiving flavor because of the sage and thyme in the spice mix.
Basic Chicken Dry Rub Recipe:
Ingredients:
- 1 tablespoon onion powder
- 1 tablespoon garlic powder
- 1 tablespoon salt
- 2 teaspoons whole mustard seeds
- 1 teaspoon sage
- 1 teaspoon thyme
- 1 teaspoon paprika
- 1 teaspoon black pepper
My Favorite BBQ Chicken On The Grill Recipe
After years of barbecuing and grilling, I accidentally tripped on what’s now my favorite for the best BBQ chicken on the grill recipe! A few years ago I tried grilling salmon on cedar planks for the first time. Now I never grill salmon any other way.
So, one day I wanted to do something different with a whole chicken and since I didn’t have any beer for the usual beer can chicken, I thought I’d try grilling it on a cedar plank. WOW! was all I could say when I took it off the grill and took the first bite. Not only did the chicken get infused with that wonderful cedar flavor, but talk about moist. I didn’t even realize how juicy the chicken would be because it was cooked with indirect heat while sitting on the blank. Now I have a hard time grilling chicken, whether whole or quartered, any other way. It’s just tooooo good!
RULE #1 SOAK THE CEDAR PLANK!
The whole purpose of using the plank is to get a good smoke. If you don’t soak the board for at least 30 minute, it’s too dry and will burn up quickly. It’s not as important to soak it that long when you do Salmon since salmon really only takes a few minutes to cook. A whole chicken on the other hand, needs about an hour to cook so you don’t want your board burning up before the chicken is done.
Cooking Time & Temperature: We will be cooking HOT, about 375°F to 400°F. (sometimes my grill gets hotter than that but I end up settling down around the 375 mark.
Proper BBQ Grill: You can use a smoker or any charcoal grill as long as it has a cover, decent vents for controlling airflow. Gas grill, hummm, I’m not a fan of gas, but if you have a gas grill, okay. Needless to say, gas is easier to keep the temperature consistent but I think hardwood charcoal is the only way to go.
Charcoal: Hardwood Charcoal. It’s just the best, period. But do NOT use any lighter fluid of any kind. Use a chimney starter. I’ve been using these for years. Not only are they quick and easy, but you save the money on not having to buy starter fluid. And, most importantly, you never have the nasty smell or risk getting that starter fluid flavor into your food.
Prep the Chicken for Grilling:
1.) Rinse the chicken and remove giblets etc. Rinse inside and out. I like my chicken really clean before I grill it.
2.) Be sure it’s fully thawed. In a rush I’ve quick thawed a chicken before and put it on the grill to find out later that the outside is over done but the very center is still cold and blood red. Not good!
3) Rub. Coat the meat with your favorite BBQ spice rub. Inside and out! With a whole chicken, I make sure and coat the outside well AND coat the inside so you get as much flavor of the spice into the meat as possible. You can do a lot of flavor variation at this step. You can go with lemon and/or limes for a citrus flavor, go with an herb mix, or any rub recipe you like. My personal favorite happens to be a Sweet Mesquite Seasoning that I buy at the local Costco store which I’ve not duplicated with a recipe of my own yet. It has what I’d call a sweet southwest flavor. Here are a few spice rub recipes you can try or take a look at our wide selection of BBQ dry rub recipes.
Basic Dry Rub for BBQ Chicken on the grill:
Ingredients:
- 1 tablespoon ground black pepper
- 1 tablespoon ground white pepper
- 1 tablespoon sugar
- 2 teaspoon cayenne pepper
- 2 tablespoon chili powder
- 1 tablespoon ground cumin
- 1 tablespoon garlic powder
- 1 tablespoon brown sugar
- 1 tablespoon ground oregano
- 4 tablespoon paprika (the sweet kind — not the hot kind)
- 1 teaspoon dry mustard
- 1 tablespoon celery salt
- 1 tablespoon salt
Here’s a more common Chicken spice rub. Has what I’d call a more Thanksgiving flavor because of the sage and thyme in the spice mix.
Basic Chicken Dry Rub Recipe:
Ingredients:
- 1 tablespoon onion powder
- 1 tablespoon garlic powder
- 1 tablespoon salt
- 2 teaspoons whole mustard seeds
- 1 teaspoon sage
- 1 teaspoon thyme
- 1 teaspoon paprika
- 1 teaspoon black pepper
Grilling the Chicken:
Once your grill is at the right temperature and all the coals are good and hot, put the whole chicken, breast side up, on the cedar plank and put it in the center of the grill directly over the coals. You want good heat directly under the cedar plank so the cedar will smoke through the whole cooking process. I normally have the coals lowered so they aren’t too close to the grill. Otherwise you can burn up the board if it’s too close. Chicken should be cooked (depending on size) 45 minutes to 1 hour and 15 minutes. All depends on the heat and size of the chicken. You can use a thermometer if you like, but I always use the “until the juices run clear” principle. I just cut into it and make sure it’s cooked to the center and no blood runs out. If you are using a thermometer, the chicken should bet to 170°F.
A Great Chicken BBQ Recipe for Honey Barbecue Chicken
If you’ve been searching for a great chicken BBQ recipe that’s easy and delicious, then give this one a try. It’s a great Honey BBQ Chicken recipe that’s sure to spice up any meal.
- 6 boneless skinless chicken breasts
- 12 tablespoons barbecue sauce
- 6 tablespoons honey
- ½ teaspoon red pepper
- ½ teaspoon pepper
- ½ teaspoon garlic powder
- ½ teaspoon chives
- My secret hint! Boil the chicken in hot water for just a few minutes before you take it to the grill. Basically this makes sure the inside of the chicken is cooked before you finish the job grilling the chicken on the barbecue.
- When you put the chicken breasts on the gill be sure they are over medium heat.
- Generously baste them with barbecue sauce and honey, and sprinkle with the spices.
- Turn them once while cooking and cook for four to five minutes on each side.
- Be careful to not put the bbq sauce on too early as the sugar in the honey can burn.
If you interest in having a dry rub for you chicken bbq recipe then here’s one of my favorites that I use all the time.
- 1 tablespoon ground black pepper
- 1 tablespoon ground white pepper
- 1 tablespoon sugar
- 2 teaspoon cayenne pepper
- 2 tablespoon chili powder
- 1 tablespoon ground cumin
- 1 tablespoon garlic powder
- 1 tablespoon brown sugar
- 1 tablespoon ground oregano
- 4 tablespoon paprika (the sweet kind — not the hot kind)
- 1 teaspoon dry mustard
- 1 tablespoon celery salt
- 1 tablespoon salt
- #instruction#
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