* Exported from MasterCook *

My Famous Beer Can Chicken

Recipe By :Kristin
Serving Size : 6 Preparation Time :0:00
Categories : Poultry


**Brine Ingredients** 

1 cup sea salt
1 cup brown sugar
hot water
ice

**Chicken Ingredients** 

1 can beer
1 chicken -- about 4 pounds
2 tablespoons rub - recipe below
1 garlic clove
olive oil
wood chips (if smoking the chicken)

**Rub Ingredients** 

1/4 cup coarse salt (sea salt or kosher salt)
1/4 cup brown sugar
1/4 cup sweet paprika
2 tablespoons ground black pepper

Clean chicken. Dissolve salt & sugar in hot water. Cool water (add ice
cubes). Put chicken in pot large enough to completely submerge chicken. 
Add water-salt-sugar mix and add enough cool water to cover the chicken. 
Put chicken and pot in fridge and soak for at least 1 hour. Remove from
solution and rinse, pat dry.

Pop the tab off the beer can. Pour half of the beer over the wood chips
(if smoking - otherwise you can drink it). Use a church-key style can
opener and make 2 additional holes in the top of the can.

Sprinkle 1 tsp of rub inside the body cavity and 1/2 tsp. inside the neck
cavity of the chicken. Rub live oil all over the outside of the chicken. 
Sprinkle the outside with 1 Tsp. of rub and rub it all over the skin. 
Spoon the remaining 1 1/2 tsp. of rub into the beer and add the garlic
clove into the beer. (Don't worry if it foams up - this is normal.)

Hold the bird upright, with opening of the body cavity at the bottom, and
lower it onto the beer can so the can fits into the cavity. Pull the
chicken legs forward to form a sort of tripod, so the bird stands upright.

Place the bird on the grill and smoke or grill if (we use hickory chips)
on low heat until done - 180 degrees F on a meat thermometer. (Ours took
about 3 hours for 2 4 1/2 pound chickens.)

Rub: Mix all ingredients together and store in an airtight container for
up to 6 months.


- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - 

Per Serving (excluding unknown items): 680 Calories; 39g Fat (53.3%
calories from fat); 43g Protein; 33g Carbohydrate; 1g Dietary Fiber; 226mg
Cholesterol; 15229mg Sodium. Exchanges: 0 Grain(Starch); 6 Lean Meat; 0
Vegetable; 4 Fat; 2 Other Carbohydrates.

NOTES : I don't count the brine, or the beer when calc'ing points and I
don't eat the skin and I only eat the white meat so I count as
about 1.5 per ounce. If you eat the skin or dark meat
you'll need to calculate differently.

I combined several beer can chicken recipes to come up with this
one and it never lets us down.

I've also made it with bone-in chicken breasts and just sat the
beer can on the grill.