Smoked Beer Can Chicken w/ pics

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tbuhr

Newbie
Original poster
Nov 19, 2013
5
10
Thought I'd give this a shot for the first time during college football championships.

I decided to brine the chicken overnight (I saw a lot that said you only need a few hours but I figured what the hell). I don't think I'd ever do poultry again without an overnight brine at this point as both my Turkey this year and these chickens came out perfectly.

I actually found the brine recipe searching the forums here but it was Kosher Salt, Pepper, Granulated Onion, Garlic Flakes, Cayenne Pepper, Vinegar, Dried Rosemary, Dried Thyme, Gallon of Water. I mixed (no heat) and then refrigerated for a few hours before submerging both birds.

For the outside rub I used the recipe in Jeff's book for Beer Can Chicken.

I went with a mixture of apple/cherry for this smoke. I used a Dr. Pepper for one of the chickens (both were around 4.5 lbs) and a good ole' fashioned Budweiser for the other. For the record, I didn't notice a difference really in the taste other than both being moist and delicious.

I know there's a lot of discussion on crisping the skin. I took the route of smoking (225-250) until the internal was at 145 (took about 2 1/2 hours to get to 145) and then I transferred to a pre-heated grill (had the side burners on and the middle one off) at 350 until the birds were up to 165 internal. This worked EXTREMELY well. The skin was crispy and delicious, the legs and wings were maybe the best part because of how well that part of the bird turned out.

Before and after below!



 
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Nice color on the skin! Those chickens look like they are posing for a picture! Could be one of those "awkward family photos" that are so popular now.. lol
 
Those chickens look marvelous!!!

I have tried both wet and dry brine; both ways the bird came out great. Personally I like to try different ways, just to avoid getting bored. If you like the way you do it, stick with it and enjoy it.

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