Baked Chicken Recipes

Whole Chicken Recipe: Beer Can Chicken

February 18th, 2010

I throw down the gauntlet to anyone who can come up with a whole chicken recipe that produces a moister, more delicious bird than Beer Can Chicken. No one seems to know how or when this got started, but I’m sure there must be a fraternity or a campsite involved and I’m sure the can of beer used for the chicken was not the only one open at the time!

This method will produce a super moist bird, will not taste at all of beer and will have a wonderfully seasoned crispy skin. This is a fun recipe to try when you have friends over. People are intrigued by the idea and they even like watch the chicken once in a while as it cooks. This can be part of the evening’s entertainment.

This whole chicken recipe makes enough rub for more than one chicken, so set half aside so it doesn’t get contaminated. Rub the other half all over the chicken – inside and out and maybe some up under the skin. You want to be generous with your rub. The rub is simply 1/3 cup each of paprika, salt and black pepper, plus 2/3 cup of packed brown sugar.

As you probably know, anytime there is sugar in the rub, you will need to watch it towards the end of the cooking time to be sure it is not getting too black. If it is, just cover it with foil on the top.

Now that the chicken is ready, we will need half of a can of any brand of beer. You will have to figure out something to do with the other half. The chicken will NOT have any sort of beer taste at the end, but people have used Coke, Dr. Pepper, Sprite, etc., with very good results if you really don’t want to use the beer.

Just set the half a can of beer in your roasting pan and put the chicken’s little butt over the can and set him down on it. Now you are going to want to roast him at 350 degrees. If your chicken is about 3 1/2 pounds, it should take about an hour and a half. Many people put a potato in the chicken’s neck to ensure that none of the moistness of the chicken is released while it is baking.

When the chicken is done, remove it from the oven and let it sit for ten minutes. This will help the chicken retain all of its juices and just makes it a bit easier to remove the can. This is a whole chicken recipe that you will make again – I promise!

Watch two great guys make this while giving you some excellent tips. Watch them here!