Beer Chicken Recipes

Steps:

• Heat a large pot over medium-high heat. Add the bacon and cook until browned, about 5 minutes. Remove with a slotted spoon and transfer to a paper-towel-lined plate. Season the chicken with salt and pepper and dredge in flour, shaking off the excess. Add the olive oil to the drippings in the pot. Add the chicken in batches and cook over medium-high heat until golden on the bottom, 6 to 7 minutes, then flip and sear the other side, about 1 minute.
• Add the beer, onions, potatoes, mustard, sugar, thyme and 1 cup water to the pot and stir, making sure the chicken is fully submerged. Simmer until the chicken is cooked through, about 15 minutes. Discard the thyme and stir in the bacon and parsley.

Steps:

• Preheat an outdoor grill for medium-high heat, about 375 degrees F (190 degrees C). Mix the brown sugar, chili powder, paprika, dry mustard, salt, and ground black pepper in a small bowl. Place the half-full can of beer in the center of a plate.
• Rinse chicken under cold running water. Discard giblets and neck from chicken; drain and pat dry. Fit whole chicken over the can of beer with the legs on the bottom; keep upright. Sprinkle 1 teaspoon of the seasoning mix into the top cavity of the chicken. The beer may foam up when the seasonings fall inside the can. Rub the remaining seasoning mix over the entire surface of the chicken.
• Place the chicken, standing on the can, directly on the preheated grill. Close the lid and barbeque the chicken until no longer pink at the bone and the juices run clear, about 1 hour 15 minutes. An instant-read thermometer inserted into the thickest part of the thigh, near the bone should read 180 degrees F (82 degrees C). Remove the chicken from the grill and discard the beer can. Cover the chicken with a doubled sheet of aluminum foil, and allow to rest in a warm area for 10 minutes before slicing.

Steps:

• Sauté the chicken pieces in 2 oz of butter and a little oil.
• Add the shallots and the mushrooms and continue to cook.
• When they are well browned, pour over the beer and the gin, season with salt and pepper and simmer on a gentle heat for about an hour, or until the chicken is tender.
• Shortly before serving, arrange the chicken pieces in separate a deep dish and keep hot.
• On a high heat, reduce the sauce by about half, then add the cream to thicken sauce, with the rest of the butter, whisking all the while.
• Whisk in the Guinness (it really makes a lot of difference), then pour back over the chicken and sprinkle the parsley.
• Serve with fresh pasta (I use shells, as they hold the sauce).

Steps:

• Remove neck and giblets from chicken and discard. Rinse chicken inside and out, and pat dry with paper towels. Rub chicken lightly with oil then rub inside and out with salt, pepper and dry rub. Set aside.
• Open beer can and take several gulps (make them big gulps so that the can is half full). Place beer can on a solid surface. Grabbing a chicken leg in each hand, plunk the bird cavity over the beer can. Transfer the bird-on-a-can to your grill and place in the center of the grate, balancing the bird on its 2 legs and the can like a tripod.
• Cook the chicken over medium-high, indirect heat (i.e. no coals or burners on directly under the bird), with the grill cover on, for approximately 1 1/4 hours or until the internal temperature registers 165 degrees F in the breast area and 180 degrees F in the thigh, or until the thigh juice runs clear when stabbed with a sharp knife. Remove from grill and let rest for 10 minutes before carving.

Steps:

• Pour out (or drink) half of beer.
• Prepare grill for high, indirect heat and fit with grill pan (for a charcoal grill, bank coals on 1 side of grill and put drip pan on empty side; for a gas grill, leave 1 burner turned off and place drip pan over unlit burner). Add water to pan to a depth of 1/2".
• Season chicken with 4-3-2-1 Spice Rub. Place cavity of chicken, legs pointing down, onto open can so that it supports chicken upright. Place can, with chicken, on grill over indirect heat (and above drip pan). Grill chicken, covered, until cooked through and an instant-read thermometer inserted into the thickest part of thigh registers 165°F, 45-60 minutes. (If using charcoal, you may need to add more to maintain heat.) Let chicken rest 10 minutes before carving. Serve with pan drippings.

Steps:

• Rinse chicken well inside an out.
• Pat bird completely dry with paper towels.
• To make the rub: mix 4 tbsp paprika, 2 tsp salt, 2 tbsp black pepper, 2 tsp cayenne pepper, and 1/4 cup brown sugar in a small bowl and set it aside.
• To make glaze: mix together 1/4 cup brown sugar, 4 tbsp ketchup, 3 tsp frank's red hot sauce, 4 tbsp white vinegar, 4 tbsp beer (save remainder in can and set it aside), and 2 tbsp of the spice rub you just made in a separate bowl; set aside.
• Pour beer can out (or drink it down) until it is just a bit over half way full and then add crushed bay leaves and 1 tsp of rub to the half full can.
• Loosen the skin on the breasts, legs and thighs of your chicken.
• Massage the rub into the meat under the skin and then all over the outside of the bird's skin as well as inside the cavity.
• Place beer can in the "butt" of the bird making the bird stand upright.
• Preheat grill with all burners on high until grill is heated and ready to cook.
• You must cook indirectly; so if you have 2 burners on your grill, turn one off (for 3 burners turn 1 off, for 4 burners turn 2 off, etc.).
• Place the standing bird on the cooler or "off" burner side of the grill with the breasts facing the hot or "on side of it (you grill should remain at about 375 degrees during the entire cooking process).
• Close lid and cook for 30 minutes, then rotate bird so that the opposite side (the back) is not facing the heated side of the grill and then continue cooking with the lid closed for 30 more minutes.
• Rotate bird back to original position with breasts facing the heat and glaze the entire bird thoroughly with the pre-made glaze; continue cooking 30 more minutes until cooked, brown and slightly crisped.
• Transfer chicken carefully off of beer can and onto cutting board.
• Let rest 5-10 minutes and then carve and enjoy!

Steps:

• Light a lidded barbecue. Let the flames die down and the coals turn ashen, then mound the coal up on one side. If using a small barbecue, you will have to remove the grills and place a sturdy roasting tin on the floor of the barbecue, next to the coals - this will give you space to close the lid once the chicken is in. If you have a large barbecue, the chicken can sit directly on the grills (or on a tray on the grills, so that it doesn't topple over.)
• To make the rub, mix all the ingredients together with a good grinding of black pepper. Drizzle the chicken with the oil, sprinkle over the rub and massage it into the skin, making sure you get into all the nooks and crannies, even inside the cavity.
• Use a can opener to take off the top of the can of beer. Pour out half the beer (tip into a glass to drink!) and leave the rest in the can, as it will keep the chicken moist while it cooks. Pop the chicken onto the can, legs down, so that it looks like it is sitting upright with the can in its cavity. Stand the chicken and can upright on the barbecue, either in the roasting tin or directly on the grill, on the side with no coals. Close the lid and cook for 1 hr 20 mins until the chicken is browned, the meat tender and the juices run clear. If the juices aren't clear, cook for a further 10 mins, then check again. (To cook in the oven, heat to 200C/180C fan/gas 6. Sit the chicken on a baking tray, place in the bottom of the oven, and follow the same cooking time.)
• Remove the chicken from the barbecue, cover lightly with foil and leave to rest for 20 mins before serving.