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| Trust me, you will never experience
chicken that is easier to prepare, or more perfectly cooked.
The steaming beer keeps the meat moist while the high
heat crisps the skin, delivering a perfect bird each time,
every time. The technique couldn't be simpler: grab a
can of beer from the fridge. Open it and take a few gulps.
Then rub down a 4 pound chicken generously with salt,
pepper, and your favorite fresh or dry herbs (i.e., rosemary,
thyme, sage, garlic, etc.). Grab a leg in each hand and
plunk the bird cavity over the beer can (see photo). I
hope it's as good for you as it is for the chicken.
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Make
sure that the bird is well balanced before closing lid.
Otherwise your bird may tip, spilling the beer. Note
When removing cooked chicken from grill, be careful
not to spill contents of beer can as it will be very
hot.
Little
Feat Dixie Chicken
Your favorite beer
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Beer
Can Chicken
serves 4 |
Q) Why did the chicken cross the road?
A) Because it couldn't remember where it left its beer
One of the nice things about being a surreal gourmet (as opposed
to a real gourmet) is that the Universe often provides me with
foods that are ready-made works of surreal art. In the vegetable
world, purple potatoes, yellow tomatoes and blood oranges all
look so unnatural right off the vine that they require little
embellishment to qualify as surreal. Sometimes it's the cooking
method that makes the dish incongruous. I've poached salmon
in a dishwasher, cooked trout on my car engine and ironed a
midnight snack. With grilling season upon us, it's the perfect
time to début my new favorite trick: Beer Can Chicken.
As soon as the concept was mentioned to me by Elizabeth Karmel,
the grilling guru at Weber Grills, I knew it had surreal written
all over it. Why even Salvador Dali couldn't have come up with
an image more surreal, or shocking than a 4 pound roaster perched
upright on a can of Bud, pirouetting over a bed of red hot coals.
And the best part is that since you don't need any fancy rotisserie
implements, you can afford to go hog wild and buy the whole
six pack. |
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| 1 |
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1 4-5 pound
whole chicken |
| 1 |
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16-ounce
(tall boy) can of beer |
| 2 |
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teaspoons
salt |
| 1 |
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teaspoon
black pepper |
| 3 |
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tablespoons
of your favorite dry spice rub |
| 2 |
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tablespoons
vegetable oil |
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| 1 |
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Set up your grill for
indirect cooking. On a charcoal grill, this means spreading
the coals around the outer edges, but not directly below
the food. On a gas grill the outer burners are lit, but
not the middle one. Once the grill is covered (which it
should always be for indirect grilling) the circulating
heat works like a convection oven, so there is no need
to turn the food. |
| 2 |
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Remove neck and giblets.
Discard. Rinse chicken inside and out; pat dry with paper
towels. Rub chicken lightly with oil, then rub inside
and out with salt, pepper and dry rub. Set aside. |
| 3 |
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Open beer can and take
several gulps (make them big gulps so that the can is
half full). Place beer can on a solid surface. Grabbing
a chicken leg in each hand, plunk the bird cavity over
the beer can. Transfer the bird-on-a-can to your grill
and place in the center of the grate, balancing the bird
on its two legs and the can like a tripod.. |
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Cook chicken over high
indirect heat, with the grill cover on for approximately
1 1/4 hours or until the internal temperature registers
165ºF in the breast area and 180ºF in the thigh, or until
the thigh juice runs clear when stabbed with a sharp knife.
Remove from grill and let rest for 10 minutes before carving. |
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