Smoked Beer Can Chicken

Perfectly seasoned Smoked Beer Can Chicken is set to give your taste buds an experience of a lifetime. This super easy whole chicken recipe serves as a great party center piece even if it’s not the holidays. Just a slice of this amazing dish packs a great deal of flavor that goes well with many side dishes.

Course Main Course

Cuisine dinner

Prep Time 15

Cook Time 1

Total Time 1 45

Servings - 6 people

Calories 519kcal

Author Imma

Ingredients

5 lbs (2.3 kg) chicken whole, bone-in and skin on
1 teaspoon (2 g) bouillon powder more or less, optional
2 teaspoons (10 g) garlic minced
2 tablespoons (14 g)onion powder granulated
2 tablespoons (5.48 g) thyme can be substituted with oregano or basil
1 tablespoon (7 g) paprika
1 teaspoon (2 g) white pepper
salt , to taste
1 can beer , your preference
oil , for basting

Instructions

Preparing the Chicken

Prepare the chicken: Remove neck and giblets from chicken and discard. Rinse chicken with water, inside and out, then pat dry with paper towels.
Pre-season the bird: Rub inside and out of the chicken with salt. Set aside.
Mix the flavors: In a small bowl, combine spices. Generously rub the chicken with the spice combination, then refrigerate until ready to cook.
Prepare the beer: Open the beer can and empty half of it. Don’t go overboard – make sure you leave enough to cook the chicken. If desired, place a sprig of thyme into the beer can

Smoking the Chicken

Assembly: Place beer can on a solid surface. Then gently place the whole chicken over the beer can, with the chicken in the upright position.
Placement: Transfer chicken together with the beer can into the smoker, then use the chicken legs to support its body, so it acts like a tripod, preventing the chicken from falling over.
Close and Cook: Smoke chicken over medium-high heat; covered until cooked through and an instant-read thermometer inserted into the thickest part of thigh registers 165°F in the breast and 180 °F in the thigh.
Remove and Rest: Carefully lift the chicken off the can, have one person remove the chicken while the other holds the beer. You will have to use paper towels as a kitchen cloth. Place chicken on a platter or carving board. Let it sit for another 10 minutes before carving. Discard beer.

Notes

Season Everywhere: When you season the chicken, make sure to cover every inch of it, and I mean every inch. Season the insides of the chicken and make sure to coat it all.
Use a pan: You never know what can happen inside the smoker. So in case things get a little out of hand and the chicken falls over, you have something to catch it.
Drink some of the beer: You don’t necessarily need to drink the beer; you just have to take away about half of the beer. We only need about half of it.

Nutrition