Beer Can Chicken

Recipe: Beer Can Chicken

Here’s an innovative way to guarantee a flavorful, juicy chicken roasting experience, with minimal work involved! I tried this recipe out recently for a friendly chicken cook-off, and was very pleased with the outcome. While it would have been even more delicious had I been able to cook the chicken on a grill (alas, an upright chicken requires quite a bit of head room- which most small hibachi grills do not have, and further- I don’t own a grill myself), the result was still delicious.

Ingredients:

• 2 tablespoon garlic powder
• 1 tablespoon onion flakes
• 1 tablespoon ground cumin
• 1 tablespoon ground coriander
• 1 tablespoon paprika
• 1 tablespoon kosher salt
• 1 tablespoon freshly ground black pepper
• 1 teaspoon cayenne pepper
• 1/2 cup extra-virgin olive oil
• 1 lemon, zested
• 1 (3 1/2 to 4-pound) chicken
• 1 (12-ounce) can beer
  

Directions:

• Preheat your oven to 325 degrees.
• Mix the spice rub ingredients in a medium bowl until they are well blended.
• Rinse your bird, pat it dry, and rub it all over with olive oil (I know, it feels a bit like rubbing tanning oil all over an eager beach-goer).
• Rub your bird with the dry-rub, covering it all over, inside and out.
• Crack open the beer, and empty out about a third of it. Poke a few holes in the top. Pour some of the dry rub – if you have any left - into the can.
• Place the chicken on top of the can. This involves some somewhat awkward finagling, and the result should look like your chicken is perched, legs on the bottom and wings on the top, quite naturally.
• Place the chicken (on the can) on a baking sheet with sides, and bake for about one hour. For crispier skin, broil the chicken for the last 10 minutes.