Guinness Beer Can Chicken
Cajun Rub and Smoked Guinness Beer Can Chicken! Bean is here for Spring Break, which is incredibly exciting. One of the topics for discussion we always have is what to grill. As I posed Bean this question the other night, he quickly came back with beer can chicken. Good choice, as it is a perennial fav around here. Now this kid is not your average frozen chicken strip kid. So, when I asked him what kind of rub he wanted, I knew I wouldn't get an answer like "just my shoulders". Nope, Bean answered, "cajun".
After an ever so slight double take, I asked Bean what was in his cajun rub. He didn't have an answer, so I turned him on to the never-ending Internet to find the answer.
After a quick primer on don't-stop-at-just-the-first-Google-search-result, Bean pulled up a rub recipe, and we were off.
Cajun Rub and Smoked Guinness Beer Can Chicken
Whole Chicken
Can of Guinness Beer
(Found on the Interwebs by Bean, it makes about a cup and a half)
Wood Chips
1. Soak your wood chips in water. I again went to the most excellent wine infused chips from Green Leaf BBQ.
2. Prep your grill for indirect medium and ready a drip tray filled with water to place below the chicken.
3. Prep your chicken by rinsing it off under cold water and blotting it dry with paper towels.
4. Prep your Guinness Can by opening it and drinking about an eighth of it. Repeat and savor. With a church key, cut several openings in to the top of the can. With the top cut open, drop a few tablespoons of rub into the can.
5. Supply your chicken with a little Guinness of its own, by sliding your majestic bird on to its new beer throne. The Guinness can is tall, so chances are your bird, like ours, will be on its tippy toes. That's okay, because it's not you.
6. With the bird seated, rub the outside of the chicken with oil (we used canola) and then cover with rub. Also, since any chance we get to
, we take, Bean had a little play too.
7. With the chicken ready, get the grill smoking by placing your wood chips on the hot coals. Close the lid. Once the grill starts to smoke, you are ready. Place your chicken on the grate, over the drip pan, and close the lid.
One issue here. Remember the tall Guinness can we talked about earlier? Well unfortunately, it's a little too tall for the lid to close. Thankfully, I have the rotisserie ring standing by for these unforeseen moments. With the ring in place, we had plenty of room to spare. If not, we would have to turn the can into a lazy-boy, and that wasn't in the cards.
8. Let the chicken cook for about an hour and fifteen minutes, remove, carve, and serve!
The other neat part about this meal were the sides. I can probably count on one hand how many 11 year olds suggest having asparagus wrapped in prosciutto and steamed artichokes as dinner vegetables. Bless this angel.
So, while I finished up the chicken, Bean worked the Summit and his asparagus. I think he is on to something. His cajun rub turned out great, and thanks to the obscenely large Guinness can, this chicken was one of the most moist beer can chickens I have had in a long time. Bean hit this one out of the park. Well done!
Bean will be back this week with some more meals, this is for certain!
