I love it when a single recipe combines a bunch of foods that I would thoroughly enjoy on their own and yields a final product even greater than the sum of its component parts. Garlicky, spice-rubbed roast chicken with crispy skin; bacon that is crisp but still offers a little chew; golden, malty beer…if these weren’t great enough on their own (and they are), there is a recipe that beautifully integrates these already near-perfect foods and manages to create a dish where they work together in delicious, drool-inspiring harmony.
I am talking about beer can chicken, a concept I’d like to believe was invented by some rowdy, rural Midwesterners–having spent some time in Minnesota, I know how much they like their beer–who had already consumed several cans of beer at a cookout before deciding it would be funny to shove the last half-consumed can up the ass-end of a whole chicken and stand it up like it was doing the poultry equivalent of a keg-stand. The idea to then cook it like this, still sitting atop the can in a kind of perverse vertical rotisserie style, would just be the (drunken) logical conclusion; a sort of farm-boy precursor to Epic Meal Time, in my mind.
I don’t know who actually invented the idea, but if it was, in fact, drunken party-goers, they managed to accidentally stumble upon some really great culinary engineering concepts. Putting an open beer inside the chicken cavity effectively causes beer steam to moisten and flavor the chicken from the inside out throughout the entire cooking process, so you’ll end up with incredibly juicy dark AND white meat. Second, draping slices of bacon outside the top of the bird means means that, as the chicken cooks, the rendered bacon fat will slowly drip down and coat the entire exterior, glazing the meat in a salty, porky sheen, locking the chicken’s natural moisture in, helping fry the skin to perfect crispiness, and leaving you with crunchy pieces of bacon to garnish your sliced chicken meat with.
This dish can be prepared in a skillet in an oven, but with summer rolling around, I’d suggest getting a six-pack (or two), some friends, and a grill so you can make and eat your beer can chicken outside. There’s less potential for spills/grease splatters and, besides, who doesn’t love to cook and eat outdoors? Have fun, guys!!!
Beer Can Chicken
Adapted from a recipe by Guy Fieri
Ingredients
- 1 (3 to 4-lb.) whole chicken
- 1 tsp. dried oregano
- 1 tsp. garlic powder
- 1 T. onion powder
- 1 tsp. paprika
- 1 tsp. ground ginger
- 1 tsp. dried sage
- 1 tsp. sea salt
- 1 T. freshly ground black pepper
- 2 cloves garlic, smashed
- 1 (12-ounce) can of beer
- 1/2 pound bacon
Method
- Preheat oven to 450 degrees F. Rinse chicken with cold water and pat dry with paper towels
- Mix dry ingredients in small bowl. Rub 1/2 of the ingredients on inside cavity of chicken. Gently peel skin away from chicken and rub mixture into meat of chicken
- Place 1/3 of the bacon inside the chicken cavity and drape the remaining 2/3 of the bacon down the outside of the chicken. Attach the bacon to the chicken with toothpicks
- Open beer can, pour out about 1/2 cup (by which I mean, pour into a glass and drink it). Drop the garlic cloves into the beer can. Place chicken, open end down, over the beer can to insert the beer into the cavity. Place chicken, standing up, in large skillet
- Place chicken in the oven for 10 minutes and then lower temperature to 325 degrees F and roast for another 1 1/2 – 2 hours, or until the internal temperature in the thickest part of the thigh reaches 165 degrees F on an instant-read thermometer
Noodle Therapy 