TBO.com - TBO is Tampa Bay Online

Can-Do Recipe Makes Absolutely Fantastic Chicken

ADVERTISEMENT

By TONY "FATSO" SICILIANO

The Tampa Tribune

Published: April 9, 2008

Do the math with me.

Chicken + Beer Can = Great Chicken

Whether it's called Beer Can Chicken, or Chicken on a Can or Drunken Chicken, it all equals the same thing: an absolutely fantastic chicken! Every stooge who writes a barbecue book and every blabbermouth with pretty hair who has a cooking show on television have their own version of this recipe.

Well, here's a little secret: Whatever they call the recipe, it is all just about the same. I don't know who invented it (although I am sure several people will try to claim it); I just know I didn't. All I have is my own twist on it. I also know that it is as close to a perfect recipe for the backyard barbecuer as there can be. Whether you have been grilling every weekend for the past 50 years or if you bought your grill last week, this recipe will deliver for you.

The genius behind Beer Can Chicken is in the way it's cooked. The heat from the coals and the smoke from the wood will cook the chicken from the outside in. The can of liquid on which you prop the bird heats up, steams and cooks the bird from the inside out. The end result is some of the best chicken you've ever had off of a grill.

The secret is the can of liquid. Cooking on the grill is a lesson in evaporation. The heat eliminates the moisture on anything you throw over the flame. In this recipe, the can of liquid replaces the moisture lost during the cooking process.

But what kind of liquid should you use in your can for the best results? That is up to you. For example, my father-in-law uses Diet Dr Pepper. You can use wine, broth, apple juice or just plain old water as your liquid. And, oh yeah, you can use beer.

Just take a standard 12-ounce aluminum can and fill it halfway with whatever you want to use. Be sure the liquid is at least at room temperature. The chicken won't care if you use warm beer; the warmer the beer is when you start, the sooner it can steam the inside of the chicken.

Just stand the chicken up with the can in the bottom cavity. Balance your bird on the grill with the can and the two legs touching the grill grate.

Once it's cooked, removing the chicken from the grill and taking the bird off of the can is an adventure in itself. You may want to employ a couple of sets of tongs and the assistance of another person to hold everything still.

TONY FATSO'S ULTIMATE CHICKEN ON A CAN

1 chicken (4- to 6-pound fryer is ideal)

1 12-ounce can cheap beer

1 cup of Tony Fatso's All-Purpose Barbecue Rub, divided (recipe follows)

1 whole orange, lemon or lime

2 tablespoons olive oil

First things first. A lot of chickens sold in supermarkets or warehouse clubs have a bag of innards stuffed inside of them. Don't gross yourself out later; please remove them now.

Prepare a charcoal grill for indirect cooking; start soaking your hardwood chips in cold water. I recommend hickory or apple chips, or a combination of both.

Rinse off your chicken, and dry it completely with a paper towel. Pop open your can of cheap beer, and empty half (to use as you see fit). Use a can opener to remove the top of the can; this allows the most moisture to leave the can during cooking. Mix

1/4 cup of the spice rub into the liquid. Cut citrus in half, and squeeze half of the liquid into the can. Save the other half.

Massage the olive oil onto the outside of the chicken, and sprinkle with the rest of the spice rub. Feel free to slip some rub under the skin of the chicken and even inside the cavity if you like. Carefully put the chicken on the can and stand the chicken up. Wedge the remaining half of citrus into the neck cavity. (This traps all of the steam from the liquid inside the chicken, and it also adds its own natural juices and flavors.)

Add your hardwood pieces to your grill. Put the whole thing on the cool portion of your indirect grill, and close the lid. You're going to cook this for about 3 hours at 300 degrees, or until the temperature in the breast reaches 170 degrees. If you put the bird on a disposable pie plate while it is cooking, all of the drippings will be caught for you to whip up some gravy.

After you take it off the grill, let the chicken rest on the can for about 10 minutes. Carefully remove the can. Now just carve this baby, and get ready for the best chicken you will ever have.

Tony's tip: Go to the grilling aisle at a big-box retailer or home improvement store for a metal holder for the can; it will stabilize the chicken. The holder should cost about $3, and it is worth the money.

TONY FATSO'S ALL-PURPOSE BARBECUE RUB

1/4 cup of light brown sugar

2 tablespoons salt

2 tablespoons black pepper

1 tablespoon paprika

1 teaspoon granulated garlic powder

1 tablespoon celery seed

1 tablespoon cinnamon

Measure all ingredients into a medium-size bowl. Combine thoroughly. Use as you see fit.

Tony "Fatso" Siciliano is the host of "On the Grill Radio" from 3 to 5 p.m. every Saturday on WFLA, 970 AM. For information, go to onthegrillradio.com.

Share this:

Loading Comments...

Email Print

ADVERTISEMENT