Beer Can Chicken
- One 4-pound chicken
- One 12-ounce can of beer
- 2 tablespoons Garlicky Barbecue Marinade
- 2 tablespoons Seven-Spice Dry Rub
- 1 cup hickory or other hardwood chips, soaked in water
- Cider Mop Spray
- 1/2 cup Sweet and Sticky Barbecue Sauce mixed with 1/2 cup water
- Rub the Garlicky Barbecue Marinade all over the chicken and refrigerate overnight, or for 4 hours at room temperature.
- Bring the chicken to room temperature and sprinkle the Seven-Spice Dry Rub all over the skin.
- Light a charcoal fire in a covered grill and set it up for indirect grilling: When the temperature reaches 225, carefully push the hot coals to one side and place a drip pan filled with 1 cup of water on the opposite side.
- Alternatively, bring a smoker to 225.
- Discard (or drink) half of the beer.
- Stand the chicken upright on the can, with its legs pointing down.
- Transfer the chicken on the beer can to the grill, setting it over the drip pan and cover the grill; you'll need to cook the chicken for about 3 hours total.
- To maintain the temperature at 225, replenish the charcoal with a fresh batch of burning coals every hour.
- Add more water to the drip pan when half of it is evaporated.
- After the first 45 minutes, rotate the chicken, then drain 1/2 cup of the wood chips and scatter them over the coals.
- After another 45 minutes, drain and scatter the remaining wood chips over the coals.
- Rotate the chicken again, and spray the chicken with the Cider Mop Spray.
- Rotate and spray the bird twice more, at 45-minute intervals.
- The chicken is done when an instant-read thermometer inserted in an inner thigh registers 165.
- Remove and discard the beer can.
- Transfer the bird to a carving board; let rest for 20 minutes.
- Remove the drip pan from the grill.
- Stoke the coals and spread them in an even layer.
- Replenish with fresh coals to make a medium-hot fire.
- Cut the chicken in half through the backbone and brush it all over with the diluted Sweet and Sticky Barbecue Sauce.
- Grill the chicken, skin side down, until lightly charred.
- Turn and brush it with more sauce.
- Continue grilling, brushing and turning until the chicken skin is crisp and glazed, about 15 minutes.
- Serve at once.
chicken, beer, barbecue marinade, rub, hickory, mop spray, sweet and sticky
Taken from www.foodandwine.com/recipes/beer-can-chicken (may not work)