Recipe - Beer Butt Chicken

Beer Butt Chicken

Synopsis: One my favourite recipes for summer cooking. It looks weird as hell, but if prepared correctly, it'll be one of the juiciest, most mouthwatering birds you'll ever eat. Ever. I like the whole aspect of theatre thing when you cook it, because it looks so damn weird on the grill that people will wonder what brand of crack you switched to.

Ingredients & Materials:
1 Working BBQ Grill
1 Whole Chicken
3 Tablespoons: Sugar
3 Tablespoons: Sea Salt
3 Tablespoons: Paprika
2 Tablespoons: Black Pepper
1 Beer Can (One that hasn't been opened. That's right, a full can of beer. The 355mL can works best. The brand doesn't matter. I, myself use Labbatt Blue)

Recipe:
First, you need to make your seasoning using the sugar, sea salt, paprika, and black pepper (grounded form). You can change the amounts of each to suit your own flavouring, or even change the seasoning entirely. I recommend the above as it gives that true BBQ-y taste. Feel free to use your favourite meat rub, even premade ones will work. Another recipe uses garlic, basil, cayenne, salt, and pepper. Experiment to fit your tastes.

Take a whole chicken, give it a water "wash" and rub the marinate all over it. Outside AND Inside. As much as you can. The goal is to get as much of the marinate as possible to stick to the chicken skin. The reason for "washing" the chicken is to aid the dry marinate powder in sticking to the chicken skin.

Refridgerate marinated chicken for approximately 30 minutes.

Preheat the barbeque on HIGH heat for 30 minutes. (one side of the barbeque only, leave the other side off)

While the chicken and the barbeque is preheating is marinating, take this time to prepare the barbeque and beer can. The beer can should have the top cut off (with the use of a can opener)

Pour approximately One Quarter (1/4) of the beer into a cup and drink (You need some rest after all that hard work, don't you?). Seriously, you don't need that beer.

Take marinated chicken out of the fridge and lower the chicken over top of it. The beer can goes into the chicken's body cavity, bring it down until the meat is at about the same level as the can. This allows the chicken to stand upright on the grill.

Turn heat down to medium and place the upright chicken (so the can is in it's natural standing position) on the side of the barbeque that is OFF and close the lid.

Rotate chicken every 30-45 minutes to get that crispy skin effect going. Takes about 3-4 hours to cook.

When chicken is ready for consumption, remove the can from the chicken VERY CAREFULLY. There will still be liquid in the can and you do NOT want it to spill anywhere, especially on the chicken. Not to mention the metal can will be hot. Yea, that too.

Serve as you would a regular chicken: Breast? Or Leg?

Note: Cooking times vary pending on the size of your chicken and the temperature of your grill. Compensate as needed.