Heavenly Beer Can Chicken - September 2005 Newsletter
Good morning and welcome to the September edition of the Smoking-Meat.com monthly newsletter. I am your host, Jeff Phillips and we will be talking about some interesting aspects of smoking in this issue.. namely, Beer Can Chicken.
I trust that everyone had a wonderful labor day full of laziness, smoked food and the company of many family and friends. I kept the fires hot and even fired up the grill for some tasty country style ribs in a hurry, coated with my special naked rib rub. I am loving the cooler weather and looking forward to fall, my favorite time of year.
Turkey Season is Just Around the Corner
As you all know.. with fall comes thoughts of turkeys and holidays and now is the time to start learning to smoke a turkey and getting in some good practice before the relatives start coming in on Thanksgiving. I will be dealing with smoking turkey in the October and November issues so that is something to look forward to.
I wanted to let everyone know that you can access the newsletter archives here in case you miss one.. for instance last month I spilled my guts on my 4 personal secrets to preparing and smoking the perfect brisket and if you missed it then you need to go back and read it.
Finally.. an Online eCourse Covering the Basics of Smoking!
I took it upon myself a few months ago to compile a course on the basics of smoking meat.. one that could be read right from your inbox and would be broken up into logical chapters covering all of the things that new smokers would need to know. I know what new smokers need to know because I get tons of emails from new smokers asking questions on all of the things that require a little explaining such as picking out good meat at the supermarket, tending the fires, what kinds of wood to use, how and why to use marinades, rubs, sauces, etc and much more.
All of these things are explained in great detail in the new 5-Day eCourse.. click here to take advantage of this free offer and get started today learning all of the things you never knew.
If you sign up for this and have any trouble receiving it via email simply go here to download the complete course.. I am going to use this as a coffee fund so I will charge a buck for the ecourse and it is definitely worth it. You may also opt to do this as opposed to doing the course over a 5 day timeframe even if you are not having trouble.
If you read the eCourse via email and it really helps you then you may also consider donating a dollar or two to my coffee fund at the website using the "donate" button.
| If you have friends, family or coworkers who are not signed up for this newsletter or you feel could benefit from the eCourse, please send them the link so they can take advantage as well. |
Beer Can Chicken Recipe
Beer can chicken is probably one of my favorite ways to eat chicken.. this is so easy to do and yet yields so much flavor. I am going to share my own special way of making this summertime favorite which originates from the "Smoke It" book by Paul Kirk so listen up.
Beer Marinade
2 cups of Italian Dressing
12 oz of flat beer from 2 cans of beer, reserving 1/2 of each beer
4 large garlic cloves, minced
2 Tbs grated onions
2 Tbs cane sugar
1 Tbs course ground black pepper
2 tsp kosher salt
1 tsp grated lemon zest
1 tsp fresh tarragon leaves
The Rub (this is a decent rub.. I usually use my own special rub which you can acquire here)
1/2 cup cane sugar
1/3 cup celery salt
1/3 cup onion salt
2 Tbs garlic salt
1/3 cup paprika
1 Tbs chili powder
2 tsp lemon pepper
2 tsp fine ground black pepper
1 to 2 tsp cayenne ( 1 for mild or 2 for hot.. you can do 3 or 4 if you are insane!)
1 tsp rubbed sage
1 tsp dried basil leaves
1 tsp dried tarragon leaves
You will also need 2 whole chickens of about 3 to 4 pounds each
Instructions
Start out by making the beer marinade.. just mix all of the ingredients together and blend well with a wire whisk. Prepare the chickens by removing the giblets and rinsing the chickens, inside and out, with cold water.
Pat the chickens dry with a paper towel and place in a large plastic bag such as a 1 gallon ziploc.. pour the beer marinade over the chickens and close the plastic bag making sure to remove as much air as possible from the bag while sealing shut.
You will need to marinate the chickens for about 4 hours.
Make the rub in this recipe above or if you purchased my recipe which is now on sale by the way, mix it according to the directions.
Once the chicken is done marinating, remove it from the fridge, pat dry with a paper towel and coat it heavily with the rub you made.
Now place the chickens in the smoker sitting upright on top of the half full beer cans with the legs out front. Smoke cook with your favorite wood (I like fruit woods such as plum and apricot but you can also do well with hickory, oak, mesquite, or pecan) for about 4 hours or until the breast of thigh reaches 165-170 degrees.
A Great Tip From Steve
For some reason, I ask for your tips but do not receive very many. I understand.. most people come to the site to learn and over 94% of you consider yourselves to be newbies. But today as I was writing the newsletter I heard the familiar chime that indicates I have mail and it was a great tip about how to get (almost) free help with cleaning out the garage, moving furniture or just about anything you can imagine.
Actually it was a tip on a great way to smoke bologna to feed your volunteers or just as a snack while the ribs are smoking but it made my mouth water as I read it so I figured I would throw it in as last minute entry.
This is a little something that a friend and I tried while smoking some ribs for a High School Football Booster Fund Raiser. We wanted something to feed the guys helping us with the chore of rubbing and smoking a bunch of ribs and chickens. So,since we didn't have a lot of money left over in the budget we purchased a 5lb stick of Bologna. We took a piece of
1" inside diameter pvc pipe and hollowed out the stick of bologna. We then rubbed it with the same rub that we had used on our ribs, then we used a piece of the bologna from inside the pvc and rolled it into a ball and plugged one end of the bologna stick. We then put barbecue sauce and onions and peppers into the hole in the bologna, then we plugged the other end and placed on our smoker with the ribs. We turned it several times over the next 15 or 20 mins. Then we placed it loosely in foil and continued to cook it for approx. 45 mins. We then removed it from the foil and sliced it into 1/2 inch thick slices. Then brushed them with more sauce and let them cook for another 10 to 15 mins. The guys loved this. We had people coming to help us, just to get a slice of bologna. We paid 7 dollars for the stick of bologna and used spices and rubs that we already had. We got about 15 slices out of our stick. I feel like we got some fairly cheap labor from those guys that day...haha Try this and let me know what you think. It's something great to nibble on while waiting for your ribs to finish. We also added a few ice cold beers to the recipe, but the cooks and not the food was marinated in these.
Steve
Thanks Steve for this great tip.
If you would like to be featured with your tip then send it to me and I will add it to the BBQ tips web page and maybe add it to the monthly newsletter.
Jeff's Naked Rib Rub (You really want this and you know you do)
I am still offering my super wonderful rib rub recipe which I charge for simply because of the years of hard work through trial and error that have gone into producing this perfect blend of spices and ingredients and because this is how I am able to pay for the server, hosting, domain, newsletter sending service, etc.
If you have not acquired this recipe then you are missing out on a little piece of heaven... ask anyone who has purchased the recipe. Get the rub recipe now!
As an addendum.. I am now also offering the recipe to my famous barbecue sauce for $9.95 or you can buy both recipes for only $18.95
I would like to order both recipes since it is the best deal!
If you have already ordered my special rib rub recipe and are interested in the sauce recipe (the perfect compliment) then shoot me an email and I will send you details on how to get the sauce recipe at an unbeatable deal. I promise to make it well worth your time.
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Have a Wonderful Day and Keep Smoking (meat that is)!!!
Jeff Phillips
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