James and the Giant "Beer Can Chicken"

It's no secret that I have a slight man-crush on my brown neighbor James D'Silva. And it's not hard to see why. In a nutshell - his (wait for it...) BBQ is much bigger than mine. However, a healthy dose of grilling competition is always a plus - and much to the chagrin of our ladies, and after many a scotch, we continuously try to come up with more and more grandiose recipes to sample ("leg of lamb? how 'bout he WHOLE thing!")

In fact, James has been an inspiration from the beginning; some of my earlier posts were based on recipes I poached off him years ago! As he frequents most, if not all, of my BBQ-ing evenings...he also pops up in more than one picture.

This week's edition of the Bible is dedicated to James and his delicious obsession with Beer can Chicken.

Beer Can Chicken

1 Whole Chicken

1 Small skewer

1 Tall can of beer (opened)

Aluminum foil

It's really quite simple - you drink a little bit of beer from the can so it's about 2/3 full. Mount the chicken on the can - butt down (King Cans are too big - but tall cans like Guinness or Newcastle work great). Small metal chicken skewers can be purchased at the Dollar Store, they work way better then trying to tie the thing up. Close up the neck with a skewer. The tin foil is for the bottom of the can, which will burn and sizzle and the juice from the chicken drips onto it.

Common problems: (1) you need a deep enough barrel on your BBQ to do this! On smaller BBQs I've actually removed the grills, lay down a disposable pan on the lava rocks, just so I could fit he suckers in. (2) Indirect Heat - if you have multiple burners, only turn on one or two of them and place the chicken on the opposite side. (3) You may have to remove that silly heating rack that most BBQs come with. Personally, I think they're useless and I tossed mine out. (4) Don't check it too often - it'll cook better if the temperature inside the barrel is constant.

Cook the chicken for about an hour until a meat thermometer says it's done or it shrivels up and dies. Once it's a nice golden brown and it's really sizzling, it's probably time to check it. The temperature in your BBQ should be between 325 - 375 degrees Fahrenheit (again - one or two burners will be more then enough!) Remove the chicken from the can, and let it rest, covered, on a rack for about 5-10 minutes before you carve it up!

Big Thanks 

...to Angela (James' girlfriend) for buying him a rotisserie for his birthday! 

...to Jessica Rickhaus for sending me that recipe - now we're gonna have to try it out!

Ummmmm....golden brown.

It's like a modern day Romeo and Juliette.

It's gettin' Crazee up in here!