Kenny Chesney Knows The Deal: Beer Can Chicken
Standin' round waiting on beer can chicken…
While I do most of the cooking in my house, my husband Brian is the grill guy. There’s nothing he loves more than grilling up some meat, well, except beer that is. When he first suggested making a beer can chicken one night a few summers back, I’ll be honest. I had no damn clue what that was. I grew up in New York right north of the Bronx, so no, I’d never heard of stuffing a beer can up a chickens butt and cooking it on the grill.
Let me break down for you what exactly it is.
All joking aside, this is actually a really great way to cook the chicken.
It stands upright so it’s easier to handle and put the rub or sauce on the chicken
It dry roasts on the ouside, giving it a superrrrrrrr cripsy skin all the way around
The beer actually steams up inside the chicken, keeping it probably the moist I’ve had.
Depending on what beer you use, the flavors and aromas will actually seep up into the meat. It’s literally heaven.
In short, what you end up with is tender, falling-off-the-bone meat, encased in salty, herby, crispy skin.
How do you make it?
The key to making a perfectly cooked whole beer can chicken requires a little prep work, but the end result is 10000% worth it.
Brine the whole chicken in equal parts vinegar and water and a good amount of salt. let it sit in the fridge for no more than a day.
Remove the chicken from the brine and pat dry with a paper towel.
Crack open your beer of choice and sit the chicken upright onto the beer can (I know no other way to say it than put the can up its butt).
Prepare your sauce to coat the chicken. you can do this before you put the chicken on the grill, but it sometimes gets messy to transfer it, so you can also do this step after you put the chicken on the grill.
Brian always likes to do a mixture of apple cider vinegar, barbeque sauce, smoked paprika, paprika, garlic powder, onion powder, pepper, and chopped herbs. brush this all over the outside of the chicken.
After letting the grill heat up for 10 or so minutes, place the beer can chicken standing upright on one side of the grill. only have the burners turned on on the side of the grill the chicken is NOT on. this allows the chicken to cook but doesn’t put it over direct flame.
Close the grill and the total cooking time will be between 45 minutes an hour, depending on how big the chicken is. The internal temperature should be at 165. Halfway through your cooking time, turn off the flames on one side, slide the chicken over to that side, and turn the flames on the other side of the grill. This will help evenly cook the chicken on both sides.
Let the chicken rest before cutting into it because it will be hawwwwwt.
What do I eat it with?
you can use this as pulled chicken and make barbecue sandwiches with it, put it on tacos, and really use it like you would any rotisserie chicken. this is the way we ate it recently:
We ate it with sundried tomato chimichurri and braised red cabbage as a side.
sundried tomato chimichurri:
Mix together olive oil, cilantro, jalapeno, garlic cloves, lemon juice, lemon zest, apple cider vinegar, salt, pepper, chopped sundried tomato, and water to thin it out.
braised red cabbage:
Chop up a yellow onion and saute with olive oil and garlic. Add in the chopped red cabbage, some ore olive oil over top, a splash of apple cider vinegar and some salt. Cover and let it slow cook for 20-30 minutes until it gets soft.