Damn, Homebrew I was going to suggest the Lindemann’s. Seriously even if you :mad: HATE :mad: beer, you may still like Lindemanns. It tastes more like rasberry soda! (Warning: it will sneak up on you)
I know what you mean. The OP might have gotten better, or at least shorter, answers if not for the vomit comment.
So, Tabby_Cat, how’s your chicken? Will you try it again now that you’ve got a can? Maybe with wine?
I’ve been making beer can chicken for a while, now, since I first saw it mentioned here on the dope a while back. (BTW, Deep Fried Live’s show on it, is grand fun.)
I really don’t get more than a little hint of beery flavor in the meat, instead it’s just a more even cooking, because of the steam inside the bird heating inside as well as outside the bird.
I’m sorry, I still can’t help but be a little skeptical–not that I’m doubting all of you! Does the hot steam from the can cook the whole bird? Otherwise, if it doesn’t touch the grill, I’m not sure how it gets cooked through (and thus becomes safe to eat). How long do you leave it on the grill for? What would be best to marinate the whole chicken with in advance? Would a dry rub work? I really want to try this, so I want to make sure I do it right–and safe.
First, let me suggest going to the Deep Fried Live link I posted above, it’s actually both amusing and informative.
To answer your questions as best I can - when I do it, I do it in a 375 degree oven (well, okay more like a 425 degree oven, my oven isn’t quite accurate) for an hour, so the bird is being heated from the outside in by the heat of the oven, but the beer in the can is also heating the inside of the bird with a moist heat, letting the bird cook a little faster and more thoroughly than simply heating in the oven alone.
As for preparing the bird, I like first brining it, to make the meat extra juicy, then I use some Old Bay seasoning for a dry rub. It’s a wonderful combination. Marinating would work, too, of course, but that’s up to you. I can only offer direct experience on my mix of brining and dry rub.
I hope you enjoy.
Heh. Okay, I’m sorry for the vomit comment. It’s just sourish… bileish… kinda burns your mouthish… and bitter. 
Chicken turned out GREAT! Although I do wish I’d waited to read more of the responses before I went out and got myself a can of beer just to do that chicken… I’d have tried ginger ale or something else less expensive and more accessible. Well, it did turn out good, so I’m not complaining. 
I do wish that I had a bigger/more ovens, though. Potato bake didn’t turn out as good as I’d have expected, I guess because the oven wasn’t quite hot enough. Ah well. Can’t win all the time.
Thanks all!
I have also never tasted a beer that I like. And I’ve tried Guiness.
If that’s nectar of the gods, that explains why the world is so screwed up.
Mead! *Mead * is the nectar of the Gods! What is wrong with you?!?
Mead is awfully tasty, but I can’t drink it without thinking of goat ass.
Seems that mead picks up flavors from the air, and I drank half my tasty mead from the rennaisance festival before going to the petting zoo part, and the rest tasted like the aroma of goat dung. I couldn’t even finish it.
I’m really glad you went on to explain that first line. I was a little worried that maybe there was an unfortunate “drunk on mead” incident.
I dislike beer. My husband prepared Beer Can Chicken on the outdoor cooker thingy this summer. After my first hesitant bite, he wound up making it least once a week until it got too cold to cook outside. That was hands down some of best chicken I’ve ever eaten in my entire life.
<checks down front of shirt> Madam, please
Actually, I also brew - got my SCA award of arms for brewing, in fact=) though I don’t brew much any more, my favorite brew was mead and without a job I really cant afford the cost of ingredients, and I can do without drinking[and being diabetic and on assorted pain control meds I need to generally avoid drinking]
Many people can still taste the bittering from hops even after a second heating. I am one of them. I do black pepper [prefer long pepper, I like the gingery bite a bit better, and you just cant find szechuan pepper any more=(] though I am not fond of capsicum peppers of most any degree of hotness. Mild salsa or chili is about as hot as that gets, but I make a curry that can curl your chest hairs. [well, maybe not on mrAru, he has alopecia ] I dont even like most belgian cork brews. I regularly get dragged on wine and beer tasting expeditions by various friends, which is why I seem to have 3 of a 4 pack of Midas Touch lurking in my fridge right now=\
If a substance is going to taste bitter to a taster it will taste bitter. Peoples taste sensitivities vary wildly. To mrAru sweet n low is just like sugar, to me it is bitter. I can do splenda just fine, he can taste the chlorine used to crack the sugar. Hops in any amout are wicked bitter to me, I avoid them=) which leaves more beer for you to enjoy+) though I might armwrassle you for the barenjager
aruvqan, I just wanted to comment that it sounds like you have a freakishly sensitive sense of taste there. Nothing wrong with that, of course. But just…wow. Kind of like my mom and her sense of smell. A cow can take a shit 200 miles away and my mom is gagging on the smell.
Not really, though as an ex chef and a foodie, I tend to pay attention to what I eat and drink, and many people are sensitive to tastes and ‘just don’t like whatever food or drink’ If they stopped to consider what it is about whatever it is they dont like, they would notice it is a specific taste that turns them off something. I am not fond of anise flavor, and can pick up on it in tarragon, basil, lichorrice, anise and violet-water. Doesnt stop me from using or eating them, but I am not going to help myself to a whopping huge dollop of pesto on something, but I will cook with it. I can cook with beer, but I really dont like the bitter, and wont drink it, or make something that uses a lot of beer in it [like cooking brats in beer, or a pot roast in beer]
But then again, I dont smoke [since 1981], rarely drink, and dont do the ironman pepper thing, so I do have a good sense of taste, though among my friends not a freakishly sensitive one. Just not contaminated with some of the more common tastebud/sense of smell killers. As I said, I do eat a wide variety of things, and a variety of ‘heat’ levels from plain cream of wheat to curry, in moderation=)
I’m not quite sure what you mean about the chicken not cooking if it’s not touching the grill. Unless maybe you’re talking about one of those electric things sometimes called grills like the George Foreman thingy. What we’re talking about is a gas or charcoal grill, where the food is suspended over the heat source and there’s a lid to hold in the heat. You just shut the lid, and the heat circulates around Mr. Birdie like in a convection oven. How long you cook it depends somewhat on your particular cooking method. We prefer to use indirect heat, so it takes rather longer than if you use direct heat. Whichever method you use, it’s done when the deep meat reaches 180, or when the legs move freely in their sockets.
Marinating in advance would seem to be rather a waste of time, since putting whatever spices you’re using in the can achieves the same thing. The steam drives the flavors into the meat and tenderizes it without the extra time and mess of marinating. As for what spice blends would work best, it’s just a matter of taste. I’m partial to Emeril’s Southwest Essence or his special chicken rub (I especially like the little kick of ginger in the chicken rub), but we’ve made them with all sorts of stuff. You can dry rub the skin, or you can spritz it with oil or just barely rub it with mayo and then sprinkle the spices on (this makes the skin crisp and brown a bit more nicely, ime).
If you’re really hard-core about learning the best techniques and recipes for beer-can chicken, you should check out the book. No, really, there’s a whole book about it called something ridiculously obvious like Beer Can Chicken.
OK, I was thinking about an outdoor grill, but I thought the chicken standing up with the can underneath it would be too tall to close the grill over it. I’m not sure if that would fit in my roommate’s grill or not (and still be able to close), but I’ll probably try this in the normal indoor oven first.
Well, you have to take into account that the vast majority of the can is up inside the chicken, to the point where birdie’s buttocks are very nearly on the grate, so it’s not nearly so tall as what you seem to be envisioning. If you’ve got a tall, thin can or a really big bird it can be a tight fit, but a standard grill should work fine for a standard-size can and a moderately sized chicken.
Oh, and it helps to punch a few extra holes in the top of your can, so the steam gets out into the bird more easily. We also like to either put a lemon half on top of the can (poke several holes in the skin) or pour some lemon juice into the beer. It just adds a bit of extra flavor.
This. Is. Brilliant.
You used the big can of Foster’s, didn’t you?
I must try this next year!
And Tabby_Cat, if you think British beer is bitter, it’d probably kill you to try some of our Sierra Nevada brand here in the U.S. IMHO, British beer is not one bit bitter at all, and believe me, I tried lots and lots (and lots) of it when we were in London. Sierra Nevada, now that’s some highly hoppy stuff, but even if you don’t like that flavor, it’d still make some mighty fine chicken.
Thank you all for the information and the giggles
I was looking for the answer to the taste of
beer can chicken.
I think I will go with a can filled with white wine and herbs
Love this site.
Welcome to the Dope, Deb. Glad we could answer your questions.