I’d always been a bit intimidated by the prospect of grilling a whole chicken. Burned too many times by charcoal in the past, I guess. But with a gas grill, this was downright easy, and the results were terrific–the juiciest, best-tasting chicken I’ve ever grilled.
Start early on it
I didn’t plan ahead well, so my bird went straight onto the grill after I added my Secret Recipe Chicken Rub, so I don’t think I got the full flavor experience I was after. My advice would be to get your favorite chicken rub on a day ahead and let it soak in overnight. That’s what I usually do for wings, so it stands to reason that it would be a good idea here, too.
Step by Step
- Rinse off one whole bird and make sure you pull out the bag of stuff left in the body cavity. Cut off any excess fat around the bottom of the bird or at the neck.
- Pat dry with a paper towel and rub all over with oil to help keep the bird most. I used olive oil and it worked well for me.
- It is now ready to accept your rub. Here’s a link to some good rub recipes. Personally, I’d never share my rub recipe with anybody, but that’s me. I’m stingy like that.
- Get the rub all over the bird, including inside the body cavity. Just make sure you have about two tablespoons left over…
- …because you’ll need it to go in your beer can. To prepare the can, open a can of your favorite malt beverage and take a big swig of it. By big, I mean about a third of the can. That may be small to some of you, huge to others (I make no judgements either way). Then use a bottle opener with the pointy end (like your mom may have used to open a can of Hawaiian Punch back in the day) and basically open up and remove the entire top of the can. Drop in the two tablespoons of rub that you set aside. It may bubble up and foam a bit, so be prepared to avoid any mess.
- Carefully set the bird, bottom side first, over the beer can. It fits in there pretty nicely, but you’ll want to be careful not to spill, especially as you put it on the grill. You’ll set it right on the grill, with the can taking on most of the weight, and the legs forming a tripod.
- Make sure your gas grill is prepared for indirect grilling. I have four burners, so I set the outer two at a low setting and keep the inner two turned off. Temperature was around 250-275, but I felt like I could probably have gotten a bit hotter without any problem. I grilled this guy (a Perdue Oven Roaster, probably about 3.5 pounds) for 2 hours on the nose and it turned out nice and juicy, and a lot of the leg meat fell right off the bone. For the most part you may have to play cooking-time by ear, depending on the grill temperature, size of the bird, and personal taste. I plan to go with a higher temperature and shorter cooking time next time out.
- I kept a pretty watchful eye on the bird, this being my first beer can chicken, but there were no problems along the way. I sprayed it with a lemon juice/water combination every 20 minutes or so, but this may have been unnecessary.
- When you’re ready to take the bird off the grill, use some wadded up paper towels to lift the bird up. Most likely, there will still be beer in the can, so tip the bird upside down to drain this out.
- You also need to get the can out of there. This may not be the best, or safest way, but I stuck a carving knife into the can and pulled it out that way. There may well be a better and safer way to do this.
- Place the bird on a plate/platter and cover it with foil for about twenty minutes to let it rest.
- Carve up and serve that bad boy.
- Enjoy.
I came across a fantastic hot sauce over the weekend at, of all places, my local IHOP. Cholula is fantastic stuff, and while I’m sure it’s no secret to anyone who loves hot sauces, it was new to me and I’m now crazy for the stuff. The flavors of the peppers are fantastic and this Frank’s Hot Sauce guy is now fully converted. They have some interesting recipes on their Web site, and I think I may try out the one for chicken wings. 
