Grilling is almost like a summer olympic sport in my house. Ever spring I anticipate dustin off our weber and get out the charcoal. When the weather is finally warm enough, there is nothing better than a summer night spent grilling on the patio. Beer can chicken is something I always wanted to make. Don’t wait! Make it immediately before summer is gone. It is the juiciest chicken in the world. I cannot wait to make it again.
We recently had family in town. Since moving, we had not explored one of the oldest farmers markets in the country. It is a short drive from our new house. We wandered around the market with the plan to get groceries to grill out for dinner. A farmers market is an experience in itself. You can find so many different types of fruits, veggies, meats, trinket and this market had chickens and bunnies.
After visiting booth after booth to see the different items and prices we came across a butcher that had fabulous prices on free range organic whole chickens. I felt like they were steal. We go two. This is where my idea for finally making beer can chicken really came to light! We also picked up some other items we needed for the week and sides for our chicken, corn and pineapple. It was a perfect grilling meal. Beer can chicken, corn and grilled pineapple.
Beer Can Chicken is not a quick dinner. Plan for two hours, we didn’t. I wound up having to take our chickens off the cans half way through in order to cook them quicker. I am still trying to imagine how they could have been any juicier. Next time I will certainly find out. Normally, we would have done corn on the grill. We were grilling two whole birds and there wasn’t enough room for the corn. We made it inside on the stove. Pineapple, however, is an amazing grilled item. We had to get those over the heat!
Beer Can Chicken Recipe
Time: 2 hours
Serves 6-8 (for two chickens)
Ingredients:
- 2 Whole Chickens
- 2 Cans of Beer – we used Bud Light
- 2 Tbsp Olive Oil
- Your Favorite Chicken Seasoning – we made 1 cajun and 1 lemon/thyme/rosemary
- Grill
Directions:
- Start your grill or light your coals.
- Remove the neck and giblets from the chickens and discard.
- Rinse them off under cool water and dry off with a paper towel.
- Rub outside of the chickens with olive oil.
- Rub the entire chickens with seasoning of your choice.
- Open the cans of beer and drink or pour out 1/4 of each beer.
- Place the cans on top of a cutting board or tray that you can carry out to the grill.
- Pick up the entire chicken, one at a time. Place them onto the beer cans. Almost the entire can will be inside the empty cavity of the bird. It should look like you chicken is sitting on top of the can with the wings should be on top and legs on bottom by the can.
- Transfer the birds to the grill using your tray or cutting board. Carefully place each chicken, still with the beer can inside of it, onto the grill. The beer can and each chickens legs should be sitting on the grill.
- Cook for one hour over medium high heat in the center of your grill.
- After one hour check the chicken by stabbing the thigh with a sharp knife. If the juice runs clear remove the chicken. If it is not clear, cook another 30 minutes and check again.
- Once the juice is clear, remove from the grill. Let sit for 10 minutes.
- Remove your chicken from the beer can and serve!
