Spatchcock v. Beer Can

GalanteNate_OneEa · July 2013

I know very few out there would disagree that spatchcock has the majority vote, but today I tried out @chefrustyhamlin 's beer can chicken with chorizo under the skin and I have to say until you try it, you can't vote. It had the most amazing flavor and was the juiciest chicken I have ever had. give it a shot if you haven't already.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S10ABJEx4Qs

dlk7 · July 2013

Can you post the recipe?

GalanteNate_OneEa · July 2013

I couldn't find his recipe spelled out, but I watched the video and mimicked his measurements. I will keep trying to find and post it.

dlk7 · July 2013

Cool - thanks!!!

RV10Flyer · July 2013

I like the sound of that recipe, thanks for posting.

I’m still not convinced that the beer can does much more than hold the chicken vertically and looks/sounds cool.

GalanteNate_OneEa · July 2013

I think you need to cook direct with a drip pan or plate setter legs down with the drip pan in contact so that the beer can (i use the ceramic fake one) heats up enough to steam the interior of the carouse and absolutely pug the neck, as in this recipe with chorizo. I know others use apples and so on. Though in this recipe it was smoked indirect and the chicken came out spicy from the chili peppers in the beer. Either way, moist and delicious. First recipe I have ever tried that came out this good.

GalanteNate_OneEa · July 2013

lol, auto correct, carcass not carouse

Botch · July 2013

One of the barbeque sites I learned about here (may have been Naked Whiz) did some testing on beer can chicken and found that the liquid rose in temperature about as quickly as the chicken itself (makes sense), never boils, and just barely steams. The last beer can chicken I made (I too used the ceramic substitute, a lot more stable) I poured the liquid thru a strainer to taste it directly, at the end of the cook. There was some flavor in it, but it was weak. Very weak. I haven't used that technique since.

Now, on the other hand, stuffing the bird under the skin with chorizo is freaking brilliant! I'm gonna be trying that this weekend, probably on a spatchcocked bird. Chorizo is a mess to cook in a frying pan (it falls apart, and I haven't found an easy way to drain off the grease without losing a bunch of the sand-consistency meat). But, stuffed into a bird, some of the fat should be absorbed by the chicken meat (yum!) and the rest drip into a drip pan (easy cleanup!)

I'm excited to try this!

billyray · July 2013

Here's the Naked Whiz test.

http://www.nakedwhiz.com/beercanchicken.htm

GalanteNate_OneEa · July 2013

The chorizo basted the chicken incredibly and definitely was a nice consistancy once done. You will be thoroughly impressed once you give this a shot.

Botch · July 2013

That's it, thanks BillyRay! Two points:

1. It might seem that, at 198 degrees, that the liquid is close enough to boiling temperature that it should at least be steaming a bit. But, remember the difference between temperature and heat (America's Test Kitchen had a good segment about this): you can raise the temp of water up to the boiling point, but much more heat energy is required before it'll actually start to boil/change phase (kinda like a "stall" point for water, albeit not the same thing

).

2. Does anyone else over the age of 50 have an extremely hard time reading anything, either in print or on a screen, using white type on a black background? I sure do, and it gets worse the older I get. My solution on a screen: hit Command-A, or Control-A (depending on your operating system) and the colors, both background and typeface, will change, almost always more readable than the original white-on-black. For print, I've actually had to drop a couple magazines because their artsy-fartsy format made them unreadable to us older folk; I've written a letter to each explaining why I dropped them. Sport Rider magazine will probably ignore this old fart, but hopefully my BMW magazine, catering to an older crowd, will take note.

vSNOMANv · July 2013

I tried this recipe as my first cook on the BGE. It turned out Incredible. The crisp of the skin was great, (I never eat the skin!), and the chicken was fall apart moist. Nice touch with the sausage and I used Guinness in lieu of a lager.

I managed to stabilize the egg at 350 but after I opened the egg at around an hour or so to add some potatoes and made the mistake of adjusting the vents due to the momentary temp drop and ended up chasing that sweet spot again for the last hour. Overall, it still worked out amazing and the chicken was great.

Great recipe and a big thank you. I look forward to my next cook and continuing to learn how to make the most out of this incredible cooking tool.

BYS1981 · July 2013

I bet a spatchcoked chicken with the sane spices tastes the same, LOL

Griffin · July 2013

Beer can chicken has been debunked (as far as the liquid evaporating and keeping the chicken moist) on numerous sites, but I do like the idea of chorizo under the skin.

@vSNOWMANv No need to adjust the vents after opeing the Egg or adding food. Give it time and it will return to its previous temp.

SmokeyPitt · July 2013

I have no doubt that it was great. However, as others suggested it would taste just as good without all the stuff in the can. If you were to do the same cook and just spatch it or use a vertical roaster I would wager it would be every bit as good. Thus, no reason to waste the beer and veggies in the can! Drink the beer, eat the veggies.

Botch said:

2. Does anyone else over the age of 50 have an extremely hard time reading anything, either in print or on a screen, using white type on a black background? I sure do, and it gets worse the older I get. My solution on a screen: hit Command-A, or Control-A (depending on your operating system) and the colors, both background and typeface, will change, almost always more readable than the original white-on-black. For print, I've actually had to drop a couple magazines because their artsy-fartsy format made them unreadable to us older folk; I've written a letter to each explaining why I dropped them. Sport Rider magazine will probably ignore this old fart, but hopefully my BMW magazine, catering to an older crowd, will take note.

I have had the same problem for years (since my early 30's). I think it affects people with astigmatism.

GalanteNate_OneEa · July 2013

Debunked? I will tell you all that this chicken had multi levels of flavor. You could taste the rub, the chorizo, and the "beer can" mix. I specifically used Landshark (easy coast corona) and absolutely tasted it along with pepper. So I won't tell you beer can makes it jucy but it sur as hell flavored the breast. I'll account the dripping moisture to the chorizo basting top to bottom. So debunked? I think not.

Griffin · July 2013

I've made more beer can chickens than I can count using various beers, juices, liquids and adding spices, herbs and rubs to them. Never once did I pick up a hint of flavor from any of them. The liquid simply never gets hot enough to produce any kind of steam to impart flavor. Believe what you want, look up the facts, but I'll go with straight science. Try sticking a temp probe in the beer next time, monitor the temps and report back. I'll be shocked if you get anywhere near 200 before your chicken is way over done.

nolaegghead · July 2013

Griffin said:

I've made more beer can chickens than I can count using various beers, juices, liquids and adding spices, herbs and rubs to them. Never once did I pick up a hint of flavor from any of them. The liquid simply never gets hot enough to produce any kind of steam to impart flavor. Believe what you want, look up the facts, but I'll go with straight science. Try sticking a temp probe in the beer next time, monitor the temps and report back. I'll be shocked if you get anywhere near 200 before your chicken is way over done.

bingo. It's a gimmick (the beer or whatever liquid in a can). But, in an egg, cooking the chicken with the dark meat up is a good way to cook the dark and white meat properly. They make chicken stands (but you could use a beer can). You need shielding under the bottom. I believe I'm regurgitating Little Steven's diatribe on this subject. And he's usually spot on (unless he's been on a binge).

GalanteNate_OneEa · July 2013

Bingo my butt ( pork that is) cap your bird. Bottom line I'm not asking, I'm telling, Spatchcock is for you, but flavore and moister hands down, this beer can moves the bar.

nolaegghead · July 2013

The moistness is because of some combination of you having a good yard bird, using an egg and you cooked it right. It don't have nuffin' to do with any liquid in the can.

The Naked Whiz · July 2013

I've cooked birds side by side, one with beer and rub in the can and one with nothing in the can. Nothing else was done to the birds. If there were any difference in taste or juiciness, it would have been the beer and/or the rub in the beer that made the difference. There was absolutely no difference in the result. But you can't prepare a bird with all sorts of rubs and other preparations and then compare the results to what you remember other birds being like and be able to draw any meaningful conclusion about the effectiveness of the method. You have to cook 2 birds side by side, the only thing different being done to one is the beer and flavoring.

As for the temperature of the beer, you can get it to approach the boiling point of water near the end of the cook if you use one of the porcelain chicken sitters. I found that the more mass the device had, the closer to 212 the beer would get. A beer can with very little mass only got to 175ish by time the bird was done. And of course, this means that steam, if any, is only present maybe in the last 25% of the cook.

And regardless as I pointed out in my article, due to the placement of the can, only the top of the cavity is exposed to whatever steam might be present. Most of the cavity is in contact with the can, so nothing is going to pass into the bird in that part of the cavity. It's hard to imagine that a little bit of steam in the top of the cavity is somehow going to infuse into the body of the whole bird. This on top of the fact that the cavity is lined with a membrane that doesn't particularly allow water to pass through it. It just doesn't make any sense that beer can chicken would work, and so far, I've never been able to cook 2 birds side by side that had any difference between the two.

And finally, think about it. Do you really think that some rub sitting in some warm beer inside the cavity of the bird surrounded by a somewhat impervious membrane is going to flavor the meat of the chicken more than rub that you might put under the skin of the bird and rub into the meat?

So, I can't find any reason to use the beer and flavorings based on side by side tasting and common sense. Obviously, everyone should do what makes them happy. I spatchcock my birds as I can't imagine wanting a bird any juicier than what I get with that method.

Griffin · July 2013

I've always capped my birds when I did BCC. Not a new idea. I've used lemons, onions and other things. One time, there was excess skin around the neck and using toothpicks I was able to suture it shut. Capping it doesn't make a difference when there is no steam.

Skiddymarker · July 2013

Beer canning on a gasser required a spooge pan under the bird as it was an indirect cook, IMO. I think the moisture in the pan contributed more to the taste of the bird than the beer can. The preferred method was using a spit, rotisserie.

Once in the humid, temp and air controlled egg, the spit is not needed. Spatchcock is the winner hands down, either raised direct or indirect.

Have done a few low temp directs of spatched chicken on the gasser, but you really have to watch it. Anyone else spatched on a gasser? How did that go?

Acn · July 2013

Skiddymarker said:

Beer canning on a gasser required a spooge pan under the bird as it was an indirect cook, IMO. I think the moisture in the pan contributed more to the taste of the bird than the beer can. The preferred method was using a spit, rotisserie.
Once in the humid, temp and air controlled egg, the spit is not needed. Spatchcock is the winner hands down, either raised direct or indirect.

Have done a few low temp directs of spatched chicken on the gasser, but you really have to watch it. Anyone else spatched on a gasser? How did that go?

I've spatched on my gasser, it turned out fine although it does take a little extra watching. I didn't do the entire thing direct; I've got a 4 burner Weber, I had the 2 left burners on medium to medium-high to keep the temp somewhere between 380-425. I started direct and got some color on both sides, and moved it to the indirect side, skin up until it came to temp, or just before. Then I'd move it back to the direct side for a minute or so to crisp up the skin if needed.

WalrusBBQ · July 2013

LOVE ME SOME SPATCHCOCK!

jaydub58 · July 2013

Wow, great pic, Walrus!

Love spatchcock too!

DougQ · July 2013

I've found that the best part about beer-can chicken is the expression on a guest's face who's not familiar with the technique. Extra points if they're friends from another country looking to experience "original" American cuisine...

JRWhitee · July 2013

I did beer can chicken for years but since I tried spatchcock I will never go back. My birds now are hands down more juicy only difference is the skin on beer can gets more crispy.

billyray · July 2013

The only time I do beer can is for the grandkids, because they think it looks cool. I have a double Papa Jeabert's double stainless holder. It has spikes that we do corn on the cobb or baked potatoes on, as well as 2 chicken holders.

http://www.peterpeppers.com/index.htm

fishlessman · July 2013

have done ground bacon onion and sage under the skin on turkey, very good, chorrizzo sounds even better

GalanteNate_OneEa · July 2013

When I cooked the bcc I set my plate setter legs down with my dip pan and ceramic "beer can" in direct contact with it. My ceramic definitely heated up and my fluid level was definitely lower that when I had started. Im sure the chorizo's constant basting had much to do with the juiciness of the bird but I could taste the flavor of the Landshark beer and peppers in the breast meat. Maybe it was mild but since Landshark has a very specific flavor I could definitely taste it. I only say everyone should give it a shot, and then go back to your spineless chicken ways...lol nice pun right?

Spatchcock v. Beer Can

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