Beer Can Chicken

Ever since our beautiful spring weather hit, I've had the urge to use our grill. I thought this year I would try some new recipes and spice things up a little. I know there are numerous variations of Beer Can chicken out there, I happened to see this one on an episode of Grill It with Bobby Flay. I really liked the idea of using a smoker box to smoke meat on the grill. I had no idea you could smoke meat on a gas grill. I did a quick search and found that Sur La Table carries these smoker boxes. I picked one up last week along with some hickory chips and set to work making this recipe. The chicken came out perfectly cooked and really moist. Very much like a rotisserie chicken. I have read the beer can method is supposed to imitate spit cooking. We didn't get as much smoke flavor as we anticipated, however, we think maybe we should have started the smoker box on the grill before the chicken. After we took the chicken off the grill, the smoker box was really smoking. The recipe was good, although a little spicier than I anticipated. I loved cooking the chicken this way and think I'm going to invest in a vertical roaster. I'm looking forward to trying more new fun recipes on our grill this spring and summer.


Robin Koury's Spice of Life Beer Can Chicken

• 4 pound chicken
• 1/4 cup paprika
• 2 tablespoons brown sugar
• 1 teaspoon kosher salt
• 1 heaping teaspoon cayenne pepper
• 1 teaspoon onion powder
• 1 teaspoon garlic salt
• 1 teaspoon chili powder
• 2 tablespoons butter, melted
• 1/2 can beer (recommended Sam Adams White Ale)
• 3 cups apple wood smoking chips
• 1 disposable aluminum pie plate (or drip pan)
• 1 tablespoon honey

Soak the wood chips in water for at least 2 hours.

When ready to grill, preheat 1 of the burners to 350 degrees F.

Make sure the chicken is clean and innards are removed; pat dry with a paper towel and set aside. In a small mixing bowl, add paprika, brown sugar, kosher salt, cayenne pepper, onion powder, garlic salt, chili powder and mix well. Take the chicken and separate the skin from the breast taking care not to tear or remove skin. Apply the spice rub directly to the chicken breast, under the skin. Apply rub to the entire chicken, inside and out, reserving at least 2 tablespoons. Punch 2 holes at the top of the can, with a manual hand-held can opener. In a new bowl, mix butter and remaining spice rub. Add this mixture to the half-full can of beer. Place chicken over beer can and insert into the cavity of the chicken, keeping beer can standing up.

Place the wood chips in a foil smoker pouch over the active burner on the grill and set the chicken, on a pie plate, over the in-active burner. Close the lid. Rotate the chicken every 20 minutes. 5 minutes before cooking is complete, drizzle the honey over the chicken. The chicken should take about 1 hour and 20 minutes to cook, or until an instant-read thermometer registers 155 degrees F. Slice and serve.

Source: Grill It with Bobby Flay/Foodnetwork.com