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fresh/grilled - Beer Butt Chicken

Source of Recipe

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The original Beer-Butt Chicken recipe demonstrated by the author for the first time ever on the Regis & Kathie Lee Show in 1999, and about a thousand times thereafter. There is nothing like this recipe for cooking up a bronze-colored, moist, and incredibly flavorful chicken. Not to mention the awe-inspiring way it’s cooked and presented.

fresh/grilled - Beer Butt Chicken

1, 4 to 5 pound whole chicken

dry rub ingredients:
1 teaspoon brown sugar
1 teaspoon garlic powder
1 teaspoon onion powder
1 teaspoon dried summer savory
1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper
1 teaspoon paprika
1 teaspoon dry yellow mustard
1 tablespoon sea salt (ground fine)

basting spray ingredients:
1, 12 ounce can of your favorite beer, or
...fruit juice, wine, or soda may be substituted
1 cup apple cider
2 tablespoons olive oil
2 tablespoons balsamic vinegar

Heat the grill to medium heat (400 to 500 degrees F) for indirect cooking.
Mix the rub in a small bowl until it’s well incorporated. Set aside.
Wash, dry, and season the chicken generously inside and out with the rub.
Work the mixture well into the skin and under the skin wherever possible.
Place in a medium bowl, cover, and set aside at room temperature for 20 to 30 minutes.
Pour half the can of beer or other liquid you’ve chosen into a spray bottle,
add the cider, olive oil, and vinegar, and set aside.
Take the beer can in one hand with the remaining liquid (half a beer) still
inside and insert it vertically into the bottom end of the chicken while keeping
the bird vertical as well.
Place the chicken on the grill over indirect heat and use the legs, and the can
itself, to form a tripod to hold the chicken upright. This positioning does 2
things: 1st, it helps drain off the fat as the chicken cooks; 2nd, the beer steams
the inside of the chicken, while the outside is cooked by the BBQ heat, making it
the most moist bird you’ve ever laid yer eyes, or gums, on.
Some people put a small potato or carrot in the neck opening of the chicken to
keep the steam inside, I prefer to let it pass through.
Cook for 1 1/2 to 2 hours. During the cooking time, spray the chicken all around
with the basting spray several times.
The chicken is done when the internal temperature reaches 180°.
Carefully remove the bird, still perched on the can, and place it on a heatproof
countertop. After your guests have reacted appropriately, remove the chicken
from the beer can with tongs while holding the can with an oven mitt (careful!
That aluminum can is very hot).
Give the chicken one more spritz of the basting spray, then carve and serve.
Serves 2 to 4