Betsylife

Bay Area Food Stylist available for Print, Digital and Video

  • Portfolio
    • Commercial
    • Editorial
      • Sweet
      • Savory
      • Drinks
      • Conceptual
  • contact
  • More
    • PHOTO + VIDEO SERVICES
    • Blog
    • Shop
      • Login
      • Account
      • Logout
    • about
Betsylife » Recipes » Meat/Seafood » Awesome Beer Can Chicken

Awesome Beer Can Chicken

January 1, 2019 By betsy 13 Comments

Busy summer nights call for an awesome beer can chicken recipe.

With all that has been going on in my life I was really in need of a “set-it-and-forget-it” dinner tonight. I had a whole chicken (the chicken was almost bigger than Leila!), a pre-made BBQ rub….and a lone Budweiser. Time for and awesome beer can chicken!

Awesome Beer Can Chicken

Raw whole chicken on a cutting board next to a can of beer and a small bowl of dry seasoning

My brother gave me a beer can chicken contraption a few years back and we use it all the time. It truly makes the juiciest, most delicious chicken ever! I’m sure you could probably make it without the actual contraption but I’ve never done it.

I started by rubbing my chicken with olive oil, salt, pepper and my pre-made, store bought, BBQ rub. Next is the best part, you have to drink half the beer so it doesn’t boil over onto the grill. I cut the top off my beer can to allow the liquid to fully steam into the chicken while cooking

golden brown whole roasted chicken on a dark background next to a glass of beer

Pop that baby upright onto the contraption and put it on the grill.

Awesome beer can chicken seasoned and ready to go on the grill

Place over indirect heat and let it cook for about and hour to an hour an a half until its cooked to the proper temperature (generally 165 degrees in the breast or 185 degrees in the thigh. Definitely use a meat thermometer)

awesome beer can chicken on a dark platter next to a glass and can of beer.

Mmmm mmmm! It turned out great! (as always) I cannot stress how easy this is. I served mine up with some fresh green beans from Henry’s.

Time to get back to work. I am under some serious deadline pressures this week. I have not looked forward to a weekend like this in SO LONG! Cheers to one more day chained to my desk then a gorgeous warm weekend!

 


 

Wooden dinner table with a green striped linen covered with sliced plated beer can chicken, and bowls of side dishes

 

Collage of images of the awesome beer can chicken in various stages of prep

Try these other great chicken on the grill recipes

 

  • Caprese Grilled Chicken BLT
  • California Chicken Gyros 
  • Pizza Wings
About Betsy

WHY FIT IN WHEN WE WERE BORN TO STAND OUT?

Let's collaborate to create eye catching content that refuses to fade into the background.

FOOD STYLING SERVICES READ FOOD BLOG
PHOTO + VIDEO SERVICES SEARCH RECIPE INDEX
WORK WITH BETSY

Filed Under: feature, Meat/Seafood, Recipes

Comments

  1. Maggie says

    September 23, 2010 at 11:02 pm

    Ok THIS is your stress free dinner?! We had Mac n cheese out of the box…. The kind where u just squeeze out the cheese. I’ve got ALOT to learn 🙂

    Reply
  2. Susan says

    March 30, 2017 at 4:12 pm

    What is your own made bbq sauce?

    Reply
    • betsy says

      March 30, 2017 at 6:00 pm

      Here’s the link http://betsylife.com/homemade-bbq-sauce/

      Reply
  3. Jan says

    May 28, 2017 at 4:50 pm

    Do you put the heat on low?

    Reply
    • betsy says

      May 29, 2017 at 11:33 am

      I use indirect heat. So, hot around the edges and low right under where the chicken is positioned

      Reply
  4. Jim says

    August 16, 2017 at 5:47 pm

    Hi Folks,
    Iam sorry to say that this does not really work. I have tried it many times. Here is how I figured it out, buy ultimately the Web site, Cooking For Engineers put the nail in the coffin.
    But too don’t have to be an engineer to figure it out for yourself.
    1- Just measure the amount of liquid that you are going to use before and after. And you will see floor yourself that hardly any is gone.Well to moisten that old bird much of it should already be turned to moisture and saturated the meat, imparting flavor and tenderness. Guess what? No amount of liquid is gone.
    2- Then ask yourself, wouldn’t the liquid have to be bolling too turn to a vapor? What tempera ture does watter boil at? Are you cooking at that temperature?
    So ín the end someone recommended Spatchcocking a chicken or turkey instead.,for a really delightful flavor, and in lessence time also.
    Try it. Ýou will always do it that way in the future.
    One Summer’s night I walked over to my neighbor’s house can ask him what he was going to barbecue. He said a turkey I asked Had he brined it yet? He had no clue. I said you should always brine pork and foul. You said here take it home and do it yourself which I did. Except I spatchcocked it. Yummy.

    Reply
    • betsy says

      August 17, 2017 at 2:55 pm

      Hi Jim! I appreciate you taking the time to try this and give your feedback. Very thoughtful! While I’m no scientist, I can attest to the tastiness of this chicken.

      Reply
      • Julie J says

        May 1, 2022 at 9:29 am

        It’s one of my favorites, my BFF gave me one of the “contraption ” stands a couple of years ago but before that I just used the can, I’m not an engineer but if done correctly it’s is the moistest, yes, I know that’s not a word,you have ever had. Did it in the oven once, that was a giant mess so whether sunny, rain or snow only the grill now

        Reply
  5. CannedHeat says

    April 5, 2018 at 3:11 pm

    Couple secrets….I’ve been doing these as far back as I can remember in my 48 years. 1) Brine if you have time. 2) Let bird(s) warm up a bit before putting on grill. 3) Get your cooking beer close to boiling before putting bird on….starts the beer-steam process much sooner. 4) Add crushed garlic clove and some thyme springs and rosemary to your beer right before placing bird on top. 5) Keep squirt bottle or squirt gun with water on standby.

    Reply
    • CannedHeat says

      April 5, 2018 at 3:11 pm

      thyme sprigs…sorry.

      Reply
    • betsy says

      April 6, 2018 at 10:07 am

      Thanks for the tips!

      Reply
  6. Joyce says

    June 23, 2019 at 4:31 pm

    Great recipe! Oh wait, there ISN’T a recipe?!? What temp do you set the grill?? Seems like that is a key step. I just wasted 5 minutes reading this over and over again to see if I missed it. Nope!

    Reply
    • betsy says

      June 24, 2019 at 7:33 pm

      I mention indirect heat which means half the grill is on high and the other half is off. Here’s some more info on that https://www.charbroil.com/learn/what-is-indirect-and-direct-grilling/
      Thanks for the feedback, I’ll update the post to be more specific

      Reply

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Recipe Rating




This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

  • Email
  • Facebook
  • Instagram
  • Pinterest
  • RSS
  • Twitter
  • YouTube
Join the BetsyLife List

bundt of the month!

check out my book!

so hot right now

Wooden dinner table with a green striped linen covered with sliced plated beer can chicken, and bowls of side dishes

search a bit

  • Email
  • Facebook
  • Instagram
  • Pinterest
  • RSS
  • Twitter
  • YouTube
AVAILABLE SERVICES
FOOD STYLING
PHOTO + VIDEO

CATEGORIES

  • Appetizers
  • Meals For One
  • Bundt Cakes
  • Pizza + Pasta
  • Meat + Seafood
  • 30 Minutes or Less

JOIN BETSYLIFE

FREE RECIPE DELIVERY
RIGHT TO YOUR INBOX

BETSYLIFE

  • FOOD STYLING SERVICES
  • PHOTO + VIDEO SERVICES
  • ABOUT BETSYLIFE
  • BRAND AMBASSADOR
  • SPONSORED CONTENT
  • contact
  • Privacy Policy
GET IN TOUCH
© 2023 BetsyLife • All Rights Reserved • Website by Anchored Design + Development

Open toolbar Accessibility Tools

Accessibility Tools

  • Increase TextIncrease Text
  • Decrease TextDecrease Text
  • GrayscaleGrayscale
  • High ContrastHigh Contrast
  • Negative ContrastNegative Contrast
  • Light BackgroundLight Background
  • Links UnderlineLinks Underline
  • Readable FontReadable Font
  • Reset Reset