Chook Me!

Suggestions on making beer butt chicken?

I have made this several times, and it comes out very moist. The problem is that it does not have much flavor.

Public Comments

1. I found the same problem. Throw some garlic and/or other spices into the beer. Rub the chicken with lime and garlic.
2. Apply a good coating of dry rub on the chicken... inside and out. I guess the fancy cooking term is "season well and season thoroughly" Some chefs recommend adding herbs, spices and flavorants to the beer, but I don't know if that works as well. Another good thing to try is to brine the chicken with herbs and spices. Brining adds a lot of flavor.
3. Better beer can chicken The most basic version of this recipe requires a whole chicken and a can of beer. However if you really want to add a lot of extra flavor you should also include a good Spice Rub. You can go as basic as salt and pepper or you and mix up something fancy. It's entirely up to you. As is the selection of beers. Some people are militant about this decision. You will see advice telling you stout is the only beer for beer can chicken, while others will tell you any beer but stout. I don't want to get into that here. Personally I like a good, malty beer with lots of flavor, but then I like beer and I like the taste of beer. (My friend Bryce has much more to say on the subject). You don't even have to use beer. Wine has become a popular substitution for this recipe. People who prefer to keep their alcohol as far from their food (or themselves) as possible have started using canned chicken broth with seasonings in it. Pretty much anything you want can end up in your chicken. What's important is that there is a good source of liquid to keep the chicken moist as it cooks. For that matter you don't even need to use a can. I know some guys who cook up hundreds of beer can chickens on any given weekend and they use one pint mason jars. There are also a wide range of chicken roasters on the market that do exactly what the can will for nearly infinite more money.
4. I use a good dry rub and usually let it sit overnight. I also put some of the rub under the chicken skin, inside the chicken, and in the beer too and it seems to be better that way. You could also insert garlic cloves into the chicken (sticking out so you can find them) to help it get more flavor inside.
5. I agree, steaming chicken, which is essentially what this cooking technique is, leads to bland chicken. And it completely negates my favorite part of roasted chicken, the crispy skin! Here's a much better recipe: Rub the skin with butter, liberally season the skin and the cavity with salt, pepper, garlic powder, onion powder, oregano, basil and thyme. Cook at 375 until internal temp of 190 at the dark meat. If you don't have a meat thermometer, time to get one, they're cheap and you'll never, ever have dry chicken if you're cooking by temp instead of by time. Dry chicken is just overcooked chicken.
6. Rub the chicken with a little oil and then sprinkle it with barbecue chicken seasoning. Place over 1/2 can of beer and barbecue as usual.