Once again, sack leads and I follow. His post of shouting to the world that he is the future beer butt chicken commander stuck in my mind as I went to the store yesterday afternoon looking for something delicious to grill. I paced back and forth in front of the meat section, trying to find the right piece of meat to cook and eat. My eyes glanced at the chicken section and there was my answer. Whole chickens - $0.49 per pound - limit 2 per day. My mind raced, sack had just completed such an adventure recently, I too am capable of sucj fancy grilling. I snatch the chicken from its precious space on the shelf and sprinted to exit. I threw my money at the cashier and laughed maniacally - Chicken you have met your match!
We rode home in quiet solitude - the chicken and I. No words were exchanged, yet I felt a vibe from the chicken. It somehow knew the unspeakable things I was going to do.
My little birdie was 4.5 lbs. I gently laid it in the pan. Prepared the dry rub (hungarian paprika, dry mustard, salt, and brown sugar). I gently massaged the rub onto the flesh of the chicken. A fresh Miller High Life was cracked open, a few gulps to reach the desired level and then I stuffed the can with rosemary, jalepenos, and garlic cloves. I gently plopped the bird on the can and stood him up for the world to see. I put him in the fridge to sit and think about the choices that had been made in his life as I went oout to prepare the grill.
My grill came with two metal containers that let me isolate the coals so I can get the “indirect” heat. I went with the no pan method and planned to set the chicken right on the grill. the grill was progressing nicely and I brought out the star of the show and placed him gently on the grill. I had doubts as whether or not my lid would fit but to my suprise there was plenty of space left. Here are some action shots of the bird in action.
I came back an hour and a half later, stuck him with the meat thermometer and was almost to the desired temperature. Another 15 minutes went by and the chicken had reached the end of its time in hell.
The chicken sat for another ten minutes to set up and then the eating commenced. Quite delicious and very simple. It really does make the chicken quite moist as the liquid in the can heats up and helps cook the bird from the inside out.
Once again my props go to senor sack for reminding me of the better things in life.
Excellent red crisping action on the bird over all and impressive (..most impressive…) with the panless tactic as well. It’d be interesting to taste the difference between a Miller High Life bird and Budweiser bird. I wonder how this might work with Guinness? Perhaps line the bird cavity with orange slices and put the usual onion + garlic in the beer but add some powdered red chile or chipotle powder, too. A sort of inverse Poultry Al’Orange. hmm…. That could be kickass… Between the two of you guys, the ol’ culinary juices are flowin’ (no pun intended).
The skin was quite tasty. I’m really enjoying the hungarian paprika, a little spicier. I used it on some ribs I made the weekend before last.
a little background on paprika.
I have never tried a drunken bird, but after reading this, it has become Summer priority #1
Hungarian paprika sounds like a good choice for my crappie slabs about to be lured into the boat this weekend. A mix into my batter sounds like just the right “Secret Recipe”
beautiful bird!
I’ve done this very surprised chicken a couple of times now, but since my handy portagrill doesn’t allow standing adult birds, I’ve done it in the regular oven. It works just fine, and with the sizzling hot summers we don’t have in Noway, this might be just as well. Not much fun to stand outside drinking cold beer with mittens and long woolen underwear.
Anyways, excellent method for stuffing a bird. How about a chick gallery? You’d surely attract a strange crowd.