Beer Can Chicken Recipe | Smoking Chicken With Beer (2024)

FAQs

What beer is best for beer can chicken? ›

The best beer for beer can chicken is a light and crisp lager. Avoid beers that are overly hoppy or sweet. Lagers are widely used and a popular choice for beer can chicken. Beer can chicken is one of those “secret” recipes we keep up our sleeves for whenever we have a large amount of people to feed.

Also, beer isn't your only option! You can use your favorite soft drink, such as cola or root beer if you prefer. You can get even more creative with an empty, clean aluminum can. Fill it halfway with chicken stock, wine, or any mix of liquid and herbs and spices.

Rub earlier: For more intense flavor, apply the rub to the chicken 2 hours, 4 hours, or the night before cooking. Baste with beer: For more beer goodness, baste with beer using a spray bottle starting halfway through the cooking process.

Craft beer can chicken is one of the simplest recipes I know and it packs a lot of flavor, especially if you are using a floral IPA. This isn't your typical dry, bland chicken breast! The flavor of the beer enhances the spice rub, leaving you with a tender, moist bird with perfectly crisp skin.

This time around I took a cue from Steven Raichlen and tried it out with cola, Dr Pepper (my favorite cola) to be exact, which resulted in a subtly sweet and spicy bird that easily held its own against those made with beer.

Enhancing Chicken with Beer

Water and fat don't mix, but alcohol and fat do. The alcohol is able to penetrate deep into the meat, carrying the flavors of the brine solution with it. Beer can also break down fat, something that water cannot. You can also baste the chicken with beer.

Pat the chicken dry with paper towels and sprinkle it inside and out with the spice mixture. Prop the chicken on the beer can. Place the beer can inside a metal 9x13-inch baking pan. Lower the chicken leg-side down onto the beer until it is securely propped upright.

And unlike wine or liquor, you can substitute beer cup-for-cup for stock or water when you're braising or making soup. Yet like wine, beer is acidic, which comes in handy when you're baking quick bread, cake or fried foods, because you need a little acidity to activate baking soda.

In order to improve the taste of this canned protein, you need to add texture to it. For example, add cranberries and pecans to your next chicken salad for a textural boost. Toss your drained canned chicken in a bowl with mayonnaise, dried cranberries, pecans, and a scant amount of mayonnaise and Dijon mustard.

I decided to give the recipe a whirl. After reading many recipes I realized that the rub was the important bit when it came to flavour. Substituting the beer would be simple, I could half fill a mason jar with chicken stock or choose a lemon based soda to achieve the same moist result.

At what temperature is a beer can chicken done? ›

Set the can and chicken on one side of the grill.

Cover grill and allow to cook until chicken reaches an internal temperature of 165 on the thickest part of the breast, about 90 minutes. Allow chicken to rest for 10 minutes before carving.

Every time I make it and post it on social media, my friend Jonathan Fox from Fox Bros Bar-B-Q in Georgia tells me to "save the beer and make it with a Dr. Pepper instead." He has always told me he loves the sweet and nutty flavor that it delivers plus you save the beer to drink! In this recipe we make Dr.

IPA stands for India pale ale. It supposedly started being brewed in the UK in the 1780s and became a popular beer among British soldiers and administrators serving in India, which was then under the control of the East India Company.

Beer can infuse food with hoppy, malty, and acidic flavors

Making a pan sauce for sautéed chicken or pork? Substitute beer for the wine; it will deglaze the pan like wine, and add similar but slightly more muted acidic notes.

Most are fair game for beer batter (Pilsner Urquell, Stella Artois, Modelo, and Firestone Pivo Pils are particularly nice), with the exception of Bohemian pilsner, which comes with a heavy dose of spices that can change the overall flavor of your dish. In a beer batter, pilsner is one of the more low-key options.

Wheat beers are great for chicken and seafood. If you're cooking pork, beef, and lamb, you will need ales, porters, and stouts. Hearty meat goes well with belgian ales. Stews pair well with ale.

The best beer styles for marinating steak are those with rich and complex flavors, such as stouts, porters, brown ales, and Belgian ales. These styles can add depth and complexity to the steak, enhancing its flavor.