anybody ever smoke a beer can chicken in your CG?

i have two 4 pound whole chickens i need to get rid of to make some room in the freezer for spring, and since we're having some company over saturday for dinner i figured why not try this... has anybody tried this in there CG or any other offset FB style grill? how long where your cooking times? should i inject it or will it still be fine with the beer up its butt and my waterpans filled? figured i'd just give it a rub, fill my pans, shove a can up there butt , and make sure the rest of the cans went to good use while i wait. i would imagine this would taste very good doing it this way.

I done BBC low-n-slow using the SFB as well as grilled indirect with charcoal in the MC on my CG. I've really never tracked time on BBC. I cook them by temp. I check both the breast & thigh. I like grilling indirect for BBC better than low-n-slow smoking. The skin gets crisper.

I pour about half the beer out & add some garlic power & creole seasoning to the beer. I don't use any water pans. I rub the skin with EVOO & dust with creole seasoning. If I'm only doing a couple of chickens in indirect heat, I will start them as far from the charcoal as possible then move them closer when the IT hits around 150 to crisp the skin. Cooking temp is between 300-330.

I use the same shaker basket I have in the SFB when I grill indirect. I put the basket on the SFB side of the main chamber & leave out one of the cooking grates. I start with about 3/4 chimney of lit briquettes. I make up a couple of foil packets with a couple handfuls of soaked wood chips in each. After the first packet burns out, I replace it with the second one.

yea i guess if i have to i can always go the standard route on the beer can chicken....but would really like to try the smoked method....just would like to know what i'm looking at for cooking times. i've seen times all over the place on some searches i've done on google, yahoo, etc. and would like to hear what the pros here have to say.

I've done this many times on my CG. It takes about 3-3.5 hours cooking time depending on the temp. I tried to keep them at 250. It's a bit moister than the indirect method and I think you get a little more smoke flavor if you are using wood. Other than that I keep everything the same as a quicker indirect cook.

pour about half the beer out & add some garlic power & creole seasoning to the beer

I just dont believe this.....you cant find ANY better thing to with this beer other than to 'pour' it out ? At least pour in out into yo mouth man....

I actually smoke all of my chickens that way, brew city bbqer. I've found that they take about 2-3 hours to get to 165°F, and they're always moist. If you keep them toward the SFB end you often get high enough temps to crisp the skin, too.

I've mentioned this several times before,
if you heat your can "liquid" in a sauce pan prior to
cooking your times will godown dramatically and
you greatly decrease the likelyhood of under done thighs
and over done breasts..

Just like a stuffed bird takes more time to cook than an unstuffed bird.

I usually take the liquid to at least a slight simmer.
Approx. 180*, pour it back in the can and I use
wire BCC holders from Lowes or Walmart to
hold the cans.

Smoke roast @ 300-315 until done.

Quicker and gives you a crispy skin.

-YB

CanadaBBQGuy wrote:

I actually smoke all of my chickens that way, brew city bbqer. I've found that they take about 2-3 hours to get to 165°F, and they're always moist. If you keep them toward the SFB end you often get high enough temps to crisp the skin, too.

I achieve pretty much the same results. With the BCCs over by the SFB, I generally keep the temps at about 275 or so and they take around 2.5 to 3 hrs to cook. If I cook at about 295 to 300 or so, then it is much closer to 2 hours.

I've said it before and I'll say it again.
That beer can (or whatever is in it) doesn't do squat to the chicken.

I just tie the legs together and cook it indirect for 1hr 15min on my Weber Kettle with a couple cherry chunks.
Did one last night in fact.
Juicy as can be and never opened the lid.

Heebzman wrote:

pour about half the beer out & add some garlic power & creole seasoning to the beer

I just dont believe this.....you cant find ANY better thing to with this beer other than to 'pour' it out ? At least pour in out into yo mouth man....

I never said where I poured it. Since I normally start cooking early in the AM, its a little tough to chug down some beer. I have a couple of those freezable mugs that I keep in the freezer part of the fridge. I do pour the beer into those & sit back in the fridge to consume at a more reasonable hour.

p-nut wrote:

I've said it before and I'll say it again.
That beer can (or whatever is in it) doesn't do squat to the chicken.

I agree. The can makes a convenient stand for the chicken, especially if you're cooking several and you have space issues. Also can provide a "wow factor" for your guests. Otherwise, it doesn't do anything as far as moisture & flavor are concerned.

Kenny 13 wrote:

p-nut wrote:

I've said it before and I'll say it again.
That beer can (or whatever is in it) doesn't do squat to the chicken.

I agree. The can makes a convenient stand for the chicken, especially if you're cooking several and you have space issues. Also can provide a "wow factor" for your guests. Otherwise, it doesn't do anything as far as moisture & flavor are concerned.

That's why I tie the legs. It sits just fine like that.

I will respectfully agree to disagree with some of the folks who don't think BCC helps the chicken. I have never had a BCC that isn't moist and juicy, ever. Some of the other ways I've used to cook chicken have turned out a mixed bag: some birds were just as moist, others were disappointing.

As for cooking times: I've found with the Weber Championship briquettes I can get the CG up near 350 even in the cold weather. Cooked close to 350 my times are 1.5 to 1.75 hours and you get crispy skin. Cooked down at 225 it takes about 3-3.5 hours and you won't really be interested in the skin. I don't use the beer can, I use the Weber poultry stands which hold slightly less than 1/2 can of beer. I will be interested in trying to preheat the beer before cooking.

Lastly as for the beer. IMHO BBC would be worth it just for this: I get an excuse to buy a six pack of beer no questions asked. Because I don't have to use the can I can get bottles. You see where I'm going to drink it I buy something I like and you can't buy individual bottles of that. Now there is an unwritten rule around here-the cook gets the leftover 1/2 bottle of beer for each chicken. I generally cook these two at a time and while I could use 1/2 a bottle for each, that is not how it works. One chicken gets half a bottle and I get the other half. Same goes for the second bird. Everything is 50-50. Lastly I generally cook BCC on the weekend and it is never too early for a beer on the weekend IMHO. During the week you could always invoke the: "Its 5:00 PM somewhere" rule.





These were cooked for 1.75 hours at 350 near the SFB end of the smoker. The temperature probes in one thigh of each bird make it a low maintenance cook

Jim

Many years ago I did an experiment and did one bbc and one with just the legs tied. Couldn't tell the different in either of them. Both dripping with liquid.

I cook on my weber kettle indirect.
I put down a drip pan in the middle with some water in it.
Dump 1/2 chimney of unlit charcoal on each side of the pan.
Dump one full lit chimney on the unlit and dump a couple cherry chunks on it.
Put the chicken over the drop pan and close the lid.
I never open the lid and in 1hr 15min it's perfect everytime.

I use some of those vertical chicken roasters when I'm cooking BCCs. They're built to put a beer can inside the part that goes inside the chicken and they work very well. But I've forgotten the can inside a few times and like p-nut, I found that the chicken stayed just as good.

So maybe it's just the fact that the chicken is on some sort of stand that makes the difference. I know it isn't brining that makes the chicken juicy either, as I usually cook mine unbrined and I've found it no different from brined chicken either. (I only brine older chickens as they actually do tend to dry out more than the younger hens.)

But hey - barbecue and grilling is all about the freedom to cook however you feel like. If beer in the can works for you, then go right ahead and use it. If not, then that's OK too.

There really are no right or wrong answers if something works for you - just different ways to cook. I've got a brother-in-law who still boils-and-burns his ribs and he swears by them even though he likes my ribs even better than his. Go figure.