Beer Can Chicken how high heat ?


 
J

John Furdyn

TVWBB Pro
What would be the highest (Cook) Temp recommended for Beer can chicken (4 lb Fryer).

I know Kevin and alot of you cook "Chickens" at 400 or 450 maybe.

But what about a Beer Can chicken ?

Thanks
 
I did a chicken on my kettle using he Weber poultry roaster, it was about a 4lb bird. I just basically let it rip, the temps hovered between 400 and 450, one of the best whole birds I've ever done.
 
Dave

What you are saying is true.

I'm thinking about, using a chimmney of hot briquettes, just spreading around the outside edge of the charcoal ring.

Then putting the cooking grate on the "charcoal ring/bowl", throwing on a little wood puting the chicken in the center of the cooking grate and put the lid on. No middle section. I assuming the tempes will go pretty high this way, that' why I'm asking the question.

This would probably be similar to using a Weber charcoal "Grill", which I don't have.

Thanks
 
John, you ought to be able to get the WSM up close to that even with the middle section, propping the door, and maybe even leave the lid ajar like Bryan S does. I would do it on the top grate and maybe leave the water pan out altogether to get more off a grilling environment.
 
Ken

That a thought, leaving the water pan out.

I've had great luck cooking chicken "pieces" without the water pan, searing on the lower cooking grate and the move up top till done.
 
I've done BCC a few times and always use an empty, foiled water pan; simply to catch the drippings and avoid flare ups. I fill the chamber about half full w/ charcoal and dump a full chimney of lit on top of that. Temps run anywhere from 325-425. Sometimes even hotter. Birds come out great, with crispy skin.
 
JimK

Talking about crispy skin. I'm wondering if anyone saw "Primal Grill" a week or so back.

Steven did a beer can chicken, which he marinaded in some kind of wine type marinade.
Then took it out of the marinade, brushed with some oilive oil he said to "Help" make the skin "Crispy". I believe he cooked it at 350.

I always thought once you put any liquid on the skin, before or during the cooking you would loose the crispness of the skin.
 
Originally posted by John Furdyn:

I always thought once you put any liquid on the skin, before or during the cooking you would loose the crispness of the skin.
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You do if it is "water based" not "oil based" I usually dry my birds and then coat with a thin layer of clarified butter before coating with my rub. Then I baste the chicken with the butter a few times through out the cooking process. My chicken skin always turns out crispier this way. The oil heats up on the skin and helps cook it, water just cools the skin until it evaporates off....or, uh, something like that.

Weldon
 
Originally posted by John Furdyn:
But what about a Beer Can chicken ?
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I've never done beer can chicken, so I have a question for you John. What is it about beer can chicken that you like vs just laying the whole chicken on the grate or butterflying? In your opinion, are the beer can chickens jucier? Just wondering, not questioning the beer can method. Enjoy your chicken
 
DaveG

I only did Beer Can chicken once several years ago on my gasser. I don't even really remember how exactly it came out. i think it was pretty good.

I bought a Beer Can "Holder" at a garage sale a few months back brand new never used so I thought I'd give it a try.

I see these guy's cooking beer can chicken on TV and, it looks good so I guess I just want to give it a try.
 
John, one tip I can give you about BC chicken is if your roaster didn't come with a plug for the neck hole like the Weber one has, then you would be well advised to stick something in the neck hole of the chicken to force the steam to permeate the meat rather than going straight up the hole. I've seen people use lemon halves or a hunk of onion, anything that you can stick in there and seal it up should work well. The Weber roaster comes with a metal plug that fits right in there and seals it nicely. It made a big difference VS when I used to do them without plugging the hole. HTH
 
Ken

No my roaster didn't come with a plug.

I will probably use an onion like you suggest.

Thanks for the tip.

Planning on cooking the chicken saterday.
 
Originally posted by John Furdyn:
I bought a Beer Can "Holder" at a garage sale a few months back brand new never used so I thought I'd give it a try.

I see these guy's cooking beer can chicken on TV and, it looks good so I guess I just want to give it a try.
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Ok, post what you thought of it compared to non-beer can. In particular, if it was juicier than non-beer can.
 
About 1/3 ring of unlit lump, about 1/3 chimney of lit on top, couple hunks of wood, lid ajar, all vents wide open....walk away, come back in 45 minutes to check, done inside of an hour. Temp often pegs my vent thermometer so > 450.
 
You can leave the water pan out, no worries. You won't get any flare ups, cause the lid will be on during the cook. I've been grilling on the WSM for many years, and never had any flare up issues, zip, zero, none, and I'm always cooking over lump.
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I grill more on the WSM than I smoke. Once you take the lid off, you'll get some flames after a few min, but it's not like instant flames. Plus you are cooking so far away from the hot coals, not a problem in my book. I agree with Ken in the 400º-450º range and leave the lid hang off to get it there. Also you can oil or butter the skin to help with the crispy skin thing. IMO, Chicken ain't worth eating if you can't eat the skin.
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I know that oil or butter on the skin will help crisp it up.

What I was curious about on the primal grill show was that steven "Marinaded" the whole chicken in a liquid (Wine) based marinade then took it out of the marinade and brushed the oil on the chicken.

I thought once you marinaded the chicken in the "liquid" that getting a "Crispy" skin was not possible ?

I thought I read that somewhere, about brining or marinadeing ?
 
I do my bcc at 375 to 400 degrees - and yes, butter will help make a crisper skin.

Also, I never "plug" the top - and my bcc always turns out great.

Ray
 
Originally posted by John Furdyn:

I thought once you marinaded the chicken in the "liquid" that getting a "Crispy" skin was not possible ?
Click to expand...

Every time I've brined a turkey or turkey breast and cooked on the WSM at higher heat, I've had crispy skin.
 
Originally posted by John Furdyn:
I know that oil or butter on the skin will help crisp it up.

What I was curious about on the primal grill show was that steven "Marinaded" the whole chicken in a liquid (Wine) based marinade then took it out of the marinade and brushed the oil on the chicken.

I thought once you marinaded the chicken in the "liquid" that getting a "Crispy" skin was not possible ?

I thought I read that somewhere, about brining or marinadeing ?
Click to expand...

Every time I do RoadSide chicken I get nice crispy skin, maybe it depends on the type of marinade.
 
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