Beer Can Chicken Question

[Henry Joe Peterson]

I love making the beer can chicken recipe, and have done so with great success many times.

I do have one question that has haunted me every time I make the thing.

How do you get the dang bird off the can?

There must be some easy trick to this that I don't know.

On one end, you have a hot chicken. Which I don't want to manhandle too badly because I don't want too much of that rub to come off on my hands. I figure it tastes better on the chicken.

On the other end, you have a beer can full of hot liquid. Difficult to handle, and you don't want any of it to spill it into the chicken cavity or anywhere else.

Oh sure, I have let the chicken cool for an hour or two and all this would be easier. But even so, sometimes it's tricky removing that can. Plus when you have hungry family members and guests standing around, an hour wait is not an option.

Any suggestions?

Fire away.

Thanks.

HJP

Plus the can full of hot liquid

 

[Konrad Haskins]

Step one would be to spray the can with Pam or similar Canola based spray or just wipe the can down with Canola or Peanut oil before inserting the can. It Aviation Maintenance that is what we would call an Anti-Sieze compound /infopop/emoticons/icon_biggrin.gif

Get a cheap plastic cutting board ($1.95 at Ikea) use a hole saw to drill a hole a little bigger than a bear can in the middle.

Place bird on board with can through hole and pull on can wearing fire gloves.

That's my $0.02 idea, never tried it but seems like it should work.

 

[John F Ford]

HJ,
I have never found a good way. I call the wife and with welding gloves pick up the bird and she pulls the can out with another pair.

John

 

[Michael Vrobel]

The one that works best for me is to use poultry scissors and cut the backbone off the chicken while it's on the can. (Essentially, I'm butterflying it after it's cooked, not before.) I run the scissors between the chicken and the can. Once the backbone is removed, it's easy to pull the chicken off the can.

 

[Guest]

Ok heres how I did it last time. The only thing is I don't cut the top of can completely off the can so Im not sure if you do or not. I open can plus use manual can opener and put a few more holes in top. Using a wooden dowel I grab chicken with kitchen mits (need to wash after) and wife pushed down can with wooden dowel from top. Not too bad. Hope this helps or applies.