In an earlier post I did I mentioned that I was toying
around with beer can chicken. With the diversity and variety of canned beers
now, especially in the craft beer world, I thought it would be fun to do a few
different “experiments” with it. This will be split up into 2 parts for a
couple of reasons, one being that it would be a horribly long post, and the
second is I want to give you all of my thoughts on how and why I came up with
what I did in enough detail so it’s easy for you, and with the start of football season and tailgating season these could be a welcomed addition to your pregame fare.
The traditional beer
can chicken is basically a can of shit beer shoved into the cavity of a whole
chicken with minimal seasonings with maybe the exception of BBQ sauce or some
salt and pepper. There are slight variations here and there, but nothing to die
for. I looked at this like a challenge to make it better, like Steve Austin (The
Six Million Dollar Man, not the wrestler. You’ll get the reference if you are
35 or older if not then Google it kiddies, then it will make sense.). I decided
that I wanted to a few versions to see what I liked best and I narrowed it down
to 4 for our purposes here. What I did
first was find beer that I could work with to make something out of the norm as
far as cooking with beer first. I do also realize I can dump any beer into an
empty soda or beer can but where’s the challenge or fun in that? Then I got the
gears turning on how I was going to do to the chicken. Based on the beer that I
purchased. These days’ singles are easy to find at any wine/beer/liquor store. With
the base of the meals being chicken I wanted to keep the beers relatively
chicken friendly. So these are the 4 beers that I used and before you go into
beer snobbery and/or judge me (that’s my job right?) for what I used listen and
learn, remember here I am the Jedi and you are but a Padawan in the beer can
chicken arts. I used River Towne Hala
Kahiki Pineapple Ale, Old Speckled Hen, 6 Point Sweet Action, and Acardia Wit
Sun. Not my normal choices for beer, I know. I went in with a different angle
when I came up with these, and that was “what can I use to cook with that can
be different and be a good vehicle for chicken.” not the normal “what can I buy
to pair up with chicken.”
Now to the what and why portion. I tried and I feel I
succeeded in making something different and tasty with these, (which won’t be
the only ones I try out either) so here are the recipes and reasoning behind
them. First I want to give my cooking techniques for beer can chicken. First
and foremost don’t be afraid to get a little dirty. Just be clean and sanitary,
it is chicken, and I am not a walking PSA for kitchen sanitation but wash your
hands and keep your prep area clean. First you need a chicken somewhere in the
2 ½ to 3 ½ lb. area. Next you are going to want to open the beer and drink/dump
(I prefer the first option) and stand up the can and place the chicken wings up
and put the chicken over the can like the picture below.
Now for the grilling
part. What I do is an indirect method of sorts, I put the side where the
chicken is on a low and the opposite setting on medium high. This helps prevent
burning and it helps create a convection like air flow. You also want it on low
so the beer in the can gets hot, steaming the inside and imparting flavor but
not boiling over and creating a huge mess. Since all gas grills are different
with their burner set up (front to back or left to right 2 or 4 burners) you
have to plan ahead. If you are using charcoal pile the coals on the opposite
side of where you place the chicken. Timing on this is usually in the 45 min.
to 1 hour depending on the chicken, grill type etc. you want an internal temp
of at least 165 degrees to be sure the chicken is cooked. I highly suggest
purchasing a kitchen thermometer they sell them pretty much everywhere now and
they can range from 5 pucks to 100 or so if you get certain digital ones. OK
now that we got the tech portion done, here are the first 2 of the 4 recipes
that I Did.
1.
Rivertowne Hala Kahiki Jerk Beer Can Chicken
This is probably the head scratcher for
most of you. I am not a big fruit flavored beer guy at all. The first time I
saw this beer from Rivertowne Brewing from Pittsburgh I have to admit it that I
was intrigued more from a cooking standpoint than a drinking one. For what it
is its not half bad sweet and Pineapple flavors abound, so this is our starting
point. Jerk Chicken is traditionally spicy with some fruity/sweet notes, which
is where the Pineapple beer fits in nicely. This is the only one of the 4 that
I marinated, just because it’s the more traditional way to do Jerk chicken.This recipe is altered from the one on my Facebook page, but is pretty close to it.
Jerk
Chicken Marinade
½ Spanish
onion rough chop
4
cloves garlic rough chop
3 green
onions rough chop
1-2 Habanero
or Scotch Bonnet peppers or Jalapeno
1 bunch fresh thyme and cilantro
1 Tbsp. Ancho Chili powder
5 tsp allspice
½ tsp cinnamon
¼ tsp nutmeg
1/2 Cup. olive oil
1 Tbsp. brown
sugar
¼ Cup soy
sauce
1 Tbsp. salt
½ Tbsp. black pepper
Juice of 1/2 lime and 1/2 orange
½ of a Rivertowne Hala Kahiki beer
Mix all of the ingredients all together and
marinate the whole chicken overnight. Reserve the remaining marinade bring it
to a boil (food safety folks it had chicken sitting in it, this will ensure it
to be safe) and use it to baste the chicken while it’s grilling.
2.
Romesco Old Speckled Hen Beer Can Chicken
This was my favorite so far. This uses
a Spanish style Romesco sauce, which is a sauce that is made of roasted
piquillo peppers, as a wet rub with a traditional malty, nutty English ale as a
balance to the tangy rub. The beer also brings out the flavor of the almonds in
the sauce. Side note on this one. Old Speckled Hen is a nitro can and has a
plastic widget in it, it used to be a floating one but now it’s fixed to the
inside bottom of the can (which I didn’t realize at the time) so I had to go
against my initial idea and bust out another widget free one.
Romesco
Sauce
1 can roasted
piquillo or roasted red peppers drained
½ cup toasted
Almonds or hazelnuts
¼ cup red
wine vinegar
1 Tbsp. smoked
paprika
1 tsp cayenne
pepper
4 cloves garlic
Salt and pepper to taste
In your food processor put your almonds
in first and pulse them until they are almost paste like. Add the rest of the
ingredients and process until it’s almost totally smooth. Set up your chicken
then slather the bird with the sauce and cook to the above instructions.
So there you have the first Two in my
series, I hope you like them as much as I had coming up with them and testing
them out. 
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