Beer Can Chicken
Special equipment needed:
Meat thermometer
Ingredients:
Whole chicken (4-5lb)- we love _____ brand.
16 oz. can of beer. Keep it simple, typically a lager or pilsner will suit you best. You don't want something overly hoppy because the hops get weird with the heat.
3- 4 sprigs of thyme
3- 4 sprigs of thyme
3/4 cup of ground coffee. Preferably a dark roast but anything medium-dark will work.
Simply Organic All-Season salt
Instructions:
*This preparation is really going to benefit from some hardwood lump charcoal smoke. Will it be delicious on a gas grill? Yes, absolutely. But if you can, go charcoal.
Get your charcoal started in a charcoal starter chimney if you have one. We'll need approximately 2 chimneys’ full of hot coals in total.
Place your charcoal (in stages if needed) on opposite sides of your grill. If you have a huge grill, you can move the charcoal piles in towards each other some. What we want is heat around the chicken, not directly underneath. We don't want to sear it with direct flame; we're mostly baking it with the addition of smoke.
Liberally coat the entire chicken with the All-Season Salt.
Do the same with the coffee grounds. Make sure to fully coat the chicken. We're looking for a crust!
Stuff the cavity with rosemary and thyme.
Open the beer (taste it for good measure?) and place the chicken on open beer can in the middle of the grill (below). You want the chicken to rest down on the can some. Think of the can as the 3rd leg of the chicken as you try to stand it up on the grill.
Grilling- After about 45 minutes or so, open your grill and give it a look. Do you need more charcoal? Is the charcoal too close to the chicken? You'll want to keep an eye on things after the 45-60 minute mark. We're looking for an internal temperature of around 170º in the thickest areas. Cooking time varies on grill, heat, bird size, etc.
When the bird is done cooking, carefully remove the beer can from the cavity and let the bird rest a few minutes before carving up.
Enjoy!