The Beer Can Chicken Experiment Pt. 2

                Part II

Now on to part 2, since the first part I tried a couple of others. So I added one of them that I felt came out great. Now keep in mind as I have continually said in past posts, just because it cold out is no reason to put the grill away in storage. Use it all year, after all it is fire and last I checked fire beats snow and cold. Plus your neighbors will think you’re crazy, which is also fun. So here we go the next one. For this one I used 6 point Sweet Action which is a nice hearty cream ale that has some orange and honey notes with a mild bitterness. I thought that this would be a good spot to do one with a BBQ seasoning mix. It’s a really simple mix that you can use on just about anything from chicken to pork to beef.

 BBQ Seasoning Mix 

1/4 c. brown sugar

2 Tbsp. dark chili powder

1 Tbsp.  Paprika

1 tsp   smoked paprika

½ tsp cayenne pepper

1 tsp   onion powder

1 clove garlic minced

1 tsp tomato paste

1 Tbsp. salt

1 tsp black pepper

Mix everything together in a food processor and rub it all over the chicken. A side note here in regards to the tomato paste. One great tool or short cut is to get one of the tubes of tomato paste (they are similar to a toothpaste tube that you can find generally with your Italian/international aisle in most if not every grocery store) instead of getting a can. It’s a little more expensive but you don’t have leftover tomato paste in your fridge that you end up throwing out anyway. With the tube you can use as much or as little as you need, put the cap back on and it lasts for a good long time. Just don’t mistake it for your toothpaste, because that could be weird and pretty unpleasant.

Cooking instructions are on the first installment of this 2 parter. On to the next one which I used Arcadia Wit Sun but any Belgian Wit or “wheat beer” (look for lighter wheat beer with coriander and/or orange peel in them) will work. I used this one because of its availability to me. Other ones that can work well with this one are Bell’s Oberon, Avery White Rascal, Revolution Bottom up, or one from your local area that you like. For this I did something similar to a Coastal French/Provencal rub. Fresh herbs, garlic-type rub.

Herb Rub

¼ c. olive oil (The type is up to you)

3 cloves garlic minced

1 shallot minced

1/4 c. fresh thyme, chopped

¼ c. fresh Rosemary, chopped

¼ c. fresh oregano, chopped

½ c. fresh flat leaf parsley, chopped

Juice and zest of ½ lemon

Salt and pepper

The best way to do this one to get everything chopped fine is in a food processor, rub the mix on the outside of the bird and use the same cooking instructions as the others.

This one is a late addition to my experiments and an easy one to boot. Not that the others were hard but for this one I kind of cheated and it came out great. For the final one, in the now 5 types, of beer can chicken I did a Harissa rubbed chicken. Harissa is a Chili paste used mainly in the Mediterranean coastal countries of Africa (Tunisia, Libya, Algeria, and Morocco mainly). You can make this spicy paste on your own or do as I did and purchase a pre-made one (the cheating part). You can find good Harissa at most Mediterranean or Middle Easter markets or in some better grocery stores. The beer I used for this was Oskar Blues Dale’s pale ale. The reason being that I wanted something with a decent hop presence for some nice flavor and aromas but not a high powered APA or IPA that could have over powered it. The procedure is for this is pretty simple, as are the others. Rub the outside with the Harissa and use my standard technique to cook it.

I hope everyone enjoyed this little bit of experimentation and craziness from me, you can expand upon my insanity by coming up with your own combos and such, just remember fails happen it’s not the end of the world, after all it’s just chicken and beer.