Beer Can Chicken is one of my favorite go to meals when cooking for a group of friends or family. This is as simple as sticking a whole roaster chicken on a beer can set up, but i'm going to take it a step further.
Step 1: Brine! Brining enhances flavor and helps retain moisture. I take a standard brine recipe fromt he internet and add a few things here and there. My secret is to add 1-2 tablespoons of olive oil to a pot and saute with 1 onion sliced up, Southwest seasoning (purchased from Sams in my case), couple sprigs of Thyme, chopped garlic, and maybe a tablespoon of butter. Sautee for about 4-5 minutes and then add 2-3 cups of water (you want enough water to be able to cover the amount of chicken you are brining). Add 1/2 cup of sugar and a cup of salt and bring to a boil. Boil for 5 minutes or so until all fo the flavors are absorbed in the mixture. Once the bring is done I begin to add 1 cup of ice at a time, keep adding the ice until your brine is cold (anything hot will begin to cook the chicken). Add your chicken and everything in brine (all ingredients, not just the water) together in a brine bag. Tie a not and put it in the fridge for 6-24 hours. I like to brine my chickent he night before.
Step 2: Prepping the chicken. Remove all the chicken from the bag and let it rest coming up to room temp, just before i'm ready to cook I will season with some of the Southwest seasoning and maybe a little BBQ or Chicken rub I use. Make sure to season the inside of the roaster chicken well too, not just the exterior. I use the Beer Can Chicken set up sold at Publix - cheap and simple. Crack open a beer, put it in the middle, add some seasoning to the beer can (starts to foam a bit), and the plop your roaster chicken right down over the beer can.
Prepping lollipop chicken takes some time and patience, but it's pretty cool once it's ready to eat. You basically want to cut all around the bottom of the drum to the bone and peel the skin back until the bottom is just all bone. Wrap the bone in foil so that it is clean, rather than black, once the chicken is fully cooked. Again, I will season here more often with a BBQ rub or chicken rub, the southwest tends to be better on a whole chicken or chicken quarters.
Step 3: Cooking the chicken. I will set up my Big Green Egg for direct cooking at a temp around 300 degrees or so. The beauty of a BGE is flare ups are really not a problem once the lid is closed even with direct cooking. The direct set up also allows for a crisper skin which is good on chicken. You can see my grill arrangement in the picture, and I will stick my digital thermometer into one of the breasts on the whole chicken. I cook my chicken until it reaches 160 degrees internal temp or until the juices run clear. Near the end of the cook I will start to baste my lollipop chicken with some sauce (bbq, jerk, honey mustard, etc.) so that there is a nice caramelization once it's finished.
That's pretty much it! Peal the foil off and eat it like a lollipop. You can also easily dip it in sauce of your choice. I'll cut the beer can chicken into whole breast, sliced breast, chicken wings, chicken quarter, and then a seperated drumstick and thigh. This way everyone can choose what part they like the most.
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