Smoked Beer Can Chicken Recipe

Step 1

Preheat your grill (with a lid) to 225°F. If you are using wood chips in your smoker now is a good time to get them soaking. I like to use around 1/4 of the beer mixed with a little bit of water or whiskey. Make an additional 2 holes in the top of the beer can, this will help the beer absorb into the chicken better.

Step 2

Remove the giblets from the chicken's cavity and rinse the chicken thoroughly with lots of fresh running water. Dab completely dry with a paper towel both inside and out.

Step 3

Drizzle the oil over the entire outside of the bid, making sure to rub it all over with your hands for an even coating that the rub will stick to. Sprinkle over around 2 tablespoon of the remaining rub onto the outside of the bird. Put the remaining rub into the beer can. The beer should foam up slightly, don't worry this is normal.

Step 4

Next, we need to place the bird on top of the beer can. Hold the bird upright with the cavity facing towards the bottom. Lower the bird onto the beer can and lower until you get around 3/4 (or more) of the way down the can. Once the can is in place pull the legs forward to form a tripod. This should be enough to support the bird standing by itself.

Step 5

Tuck the wing tips behind the chickens back.

Step 6

Set up your grill for indirect grilling according to your grill manufacturers instructions.If you are using a gas or charcoal grill place a large drip pan under the chicken as there will be lots of runoff (perfect for making gravy later).

Step 7

Place your chicken in the center of your cooking grate. You want it to be balancing on the can and the two legs. Make sure the chicken is sitting over your drip pan, this is very important. You want to savor all those delicious juices for a gravy, and obviously stop any potential flare-ups from occurring.

Step 8

Cover your grill and cook until 120° then increase the temperature to 350°F and cook until the chicken skin is a dark golden brown and super crispy. You want your chicken to be cooked to an internal temperature of 165°F. The best place to check the temperature is in the middle of the thickest part of the thigh, making sure to not touch the bone. This should take somewhere around 1 1/4 - 1 3/4 hours. If you do notice the bird browning to fast, wrap it loosely with aluminum foil until it has come to temperature.

Step 9

Once the bird has come to temperature, remove from the grill. Do this by using tongs to grab the can and carefully transfer it to a platter.

Step 10

Let the bird rest for at least 10 minutes to let the juices rest and the proteins to redistribute. Remove the chicken from the can and serve!