- Jul 15, 2007
- 781
- 14
Beer Can Chicken
oday was the day I have been looking forward to all week. I had promised that I was going to do beer can chicken and the day had finally arrived. I love chicken and there is no better chicken then roasted in the smoker after a long brine bath. I started off with 3 chickens, averaging about 6-7 lbs each. I soaked them in a brine bath for approximately 12 hours. The brine recipe is below.
2 gallons purified drinking water
2 cups kosher salt
11/2 cups of brown sugar
4 sprigs rosemary
6 sprigs thyme
20 pepper corns
Bring one gallon of the water to a slight boil and reduce heat to simmer. Add herbs and pepper corns and simmer for 10 minutes to steep some aroma from them. Turn off the heat and add the salt and sugar slowly, stirring as you pour. When the water turns clear, add 8 cups of ice cubes to begin a quick cool down of the brine. Transfer your brine from the stock pot to a plastic bucket or cooler that you are going to use to brine with and add the other gallon of water. I buy 2 one gallon containers of drinking water and place one in the fridge the night before making my brine. I want to add cold water to my brine to ensure the poultry doesn't sit at a warm temperature for too long. I also leave the top loose so cold air can easily enter.
I place my 5 gallon brine bucket into my fridge and let it sit there overnight, for at least 12 hours. One hour prior to smoking your chicken, remove the bucket from the fridge and crack the lid. This will take some of the chill off of the chicken. At this point, you can clean your smoker if needed, soak a few big chunks of your favorite wood (I used Hickory) and get your chimney starter going. For this cook I used both Cowboy brands of wood chunks and lump coal.
Once the chimney was started, I removed the chickens from the brine and patted dry. I inserted beer can chicken racks into the birds' cavities and rubbed them down good with Magic BBQ rub, which is available for mail shipping on the left navbar. I swear by this rub for all of my BBQ! Once the coals were ready, I poured them into my modified charcoal pan and placed the chickens on the lower smoker rack. I would need the room on the top soon.
I par boiled some red potatoes meanwhile and mixed some mayo, basil and Parmesan cheese to mix in with them. I mixed em all together and placed the foil pan on the top rack of the smoker once the chicken breasts hit 155 degrees. I was only looking to brown the potatoes a little bit, as they were mostly cooked.
When the chicken breasts reached 170 degrees, I pulled them and the potatoes. The chicken had a wonderful aroma. I let it set for about the longest 15 minutes of my life. Finally, after what seemed like an eternity, I cut into the chicken to see some of the most juiciest meat ever. I got to tell ya, I'll ALWAYS brine my chicken. The potatoes came out great, but next time I'm going to add a bit more mayo.
I hope you enjoyed reading about my adventure today. I used small thumbnails to prevent those that don't want the full sized pics from having to download them. If you'd like to see a bigger pic, please click on the thumbnail.
2 gallons purified drinking water
2 cups kosher salt
11/2 cups of brown sugar
4 sprigs rosemary
6 sprigs thyme
20 pepper corns
Bring one gallon of the water to a slight boil and reduce heat to simmer. Add herbs and pepper corns and simmer for 10 minutes to steep some aroma from them. Turn off the heat and add the salt and sugar slowly, stirring as you pour. When the water turns clear, add 8 cups of ice cubes to begin a quick cool down of the brine. Transfer your brine from the stock pot to a plastic bucket or cooler that you are going to use to brine with and add the other gallon of water. I buy 2 one gallon containers of drinking water and place one in the fridge the night before making my brine. I want to add cold water to my brine to ensure the poultry doesn't sit at a warm temperature for too long. I also leave the top loose so cold air can easily enter.
I place my 5 gallon brine bucket into my fridge and let it sit there overnight, for at least 12 hours. One hour prior to smoking your chicken, remove the bucket from the fridge and crack the lid. This will take some of the chill off of the chicken. At this point, you can clean your smoker if needed, soak a few big chunks of your favorite wood (I used Hickory) and get your chimney starter going. For this cook I used both Cowboy brands of wood chunks and lump coal.
Once the chimney was started, I removed the chickens from the brine and patted dry. I inserted beer can chicken racks into the birds' cavities and rubbed them down good with Magic BBQ rub, which is available for mail shipping on the left navbar. I swear by this rub for all of my BBQ! Once the coals were ready, I poured them into my modified charcoal pan and placed the chickens on the lower smoker rack. I would need the room on the top soon.
I par boiled some red potatoes meanwhile and mixed some mayo, basil and Parmesan cheese to mix in with them. I mixed em all together and placed the foil pan on the top rack of the smoker once the chicken breasts hit 155 degrees. I was only looking to brown the potatoes a little bit, as they were mostly cooked.
When the chicken breasts reached 170 degrees, I pulled them and the potatoes. The chicken had a wonderful aroma. I let it set for about the longest 15 minutes of my life. Finally, after what seemed like an eternity, I cut into the chicken to see some of the most juiciest meat ever. I got to tell ya, I'll ALWAYS brine my chicken. The potatoes came out great, but next time I'm going to add a bit more mayo.
I hope you enjoyed reading about my adventure today. I used small thumbnails to prevent those that don't want the full sized pics from having to download them. If you'd like to see a bigger pic, please click on the thumbnail.
