Beer Can Chicken

No football season is complete with out making Beer Can Chicken!  It's great for those away games that you watch from home because it takes a little while to cook, but it is so worth it.  Roasting the bird over the beer makes for perfectly tender & juicy chicken every time.  Besides, what goes better with football then grilling & beer?  And men, well of course they love this.  You had them at beer. 

Ingredients:

1- 4-5 lb Whole Chicken

1- 12oz can of Beer

1/2 head of Garlic

2 Sprigs of fresh Thyme

1 Sprig of fresh Rosemary

1 small Yellow Onion (whole)

1/4 cup Rub

Directions:

Light your charcoal chimney, filling it full of charcoal.  Or if using a gas grill, heat grill to medium heat.  Remove & discard the bags inside the cavity of the chicken. Rinse the chicken inside & out.  Then pat dry with paper towels.

Crack open the beer & drink half of it.  Use what ever beer you like, just make sure it's in a can!  Fill the (half full of beer) can with the cloves of garlic & fresh herbs.  If you have a 'Beer Can Chicken Stand', place the beer in the center. 

Carefully place the whole chicken on top of the beer can.

You can certainly do this with out a stand, but it makes it so much easier if you do! You can find stands almost anywhere from Bed Bath & Beyond & Walmart to Williams Sonoma.

Rub the outside of the chicken with the spice rub.  We used a store bought rub this time, but we also make it ourselves some times.  Use your favorite spices, or you could simply salt & pepper the outside, omitting the rub all together! 

Place a whole onion in the neck of the bird.  We had to peel off a couple of the layers of the onion to get it small enough to fit in.  The onion traps the steam inside the bird, keeping the meat flavorful & moist.

Prepare your grill for indirect heat (charcoal to 1 side of the grill or 1/2 the burners of a gas grill lit).  Carefully place the chicken on the grill (on the cool side) & cover.  Cook over medium heat, keeping the lid on as much as possible for 1 1/4- 1 1/2 hours, or until it is fully cooked (when a meat thermometer inserted into the thickest part of the thigh reads 160°F - 165°F).

Using extreme caution (the beer inside will be screaming hot!) remove the chicken from the grill & wrap aluminum foil around to keep warm.  Let the chicken rest for 10-15 minutes.  Then (using extreme caution again) pull the chicken off of the beer can & serve.