First Beer Chicken

Dean

In an effort to contribut to this forum by more than asking questions, I'll share my first beer chicken cooking story. I bought my Legg (large egg) last week, after mulling it over, oh, 3 months. Had to do a lot of rationalization with the wife, but the bottom line is that egg owners are pretty irrational from what I've seen. Anyway, I first did a steak, then a prepared brisket from the store, so I was ready to delve into Poultry.[p]I bought a 3 1/2 pounder from the local supermarket, and soaked it overnight in salt water. No kosher salt here, nor brine recipe - just plain old Mortons, by feel. That night, I went to the local convenience store, bought 1 can of Labatts Blue (I only had bottles in the house), sucked down half of it, and wrapped up the rest. [p]The next day, I snuck home in the middle of the afternoon to start up the 'ole big green monument in my backyard. In a light drizzle, I opened the top, looked down to see the fire box almost full, topped it off anyway, and fired it up with a firestarter. I love those firestarters.[p]Then I went in and dried off the chicken, rubbed Montreal Chicken seasoning on it (for a garlicky taste), jammed the beer can up the chicken's large opening, and stalked out in the rain to load it on. The temp seemed right - about 225, so I plopped it on. It looked vunerable just sitting there like that, so I ran back in and grabbed a drip tray - well, all I found quickly was a pizza tray, so I used that. By the time I got everything reset, the temp had dropped to 170, so I waited until it started climbing again, then closed off the bottom vent and top damper to as low as I could get them, and went off to work.[p]I called the wife about an hour later to check on the temp, and it was up to approx 275. I panicked, and had her close off the bottom vent all together. I called again in another hour, and this time I had her close off the top as well. It was approx 240 degrees at that time, and I thought I'd be home in 1/2 and hour. I was expecting about 3 hours of cooking at 225, so I was worried that running hot would get me in trouble. [p]When I got home, the temp was down to almost 180, so I ran inside, and got my Polder (actually, I bought another just like it for only $20, and have been very glad for the purchase since it is so accurate). The temp was surprisingly only in the low 150s. I panicked yet again. I opened both vents all the way, and watched for a while. The temp didn't seem to move. I thought maybe the pizza pan was impeding the air flow. I went inside to get another piece of fire starter, came back out, and the miraculous egg was going again. This time I cranked it up to mid 300's, to just get the darn job done, and kept an eye on the temp. It took another 1/2 hour or so, but I finally got the temp up into the high 170s inside the bird. [p]I probably should have waited for a full 180, but it looked pretty good. I was surprised that it wasn't dark in color on the outside like most roasted birds I'd seen. My wife isn't a big mean-on-the-bone fan, so I was a bit worried about her reception. I'd read other stories on this site about people ditching their eggs because their wife didn't like the smokey taste, or the husbands gorging on egg food when their wives were away. Well I brought the hot bird/beer/pizza sheet inside, though not before it tipped over on the way in and the beer slopped onto my newly refinished deck.[p]I un-beerbutted the bird, set it on a plate, gathered the wife and 3 small kids around, and carved the beast. The wife, who wasn't feeling too well, and normally doesn't comment on food, said it was good (whew!). Then, to my big surprise, both my girls ate some. They're like Mikey, the Life cereal boy, they don't like anything except candy. Then, my baby with few teeth actually ate a bunch of the stuff. Me, I was quite proud of myself, and ate almost half a chicken myself, thinking it was the most tender chicken I've ever had.[p]The next day, I brought the leftovers into work, happened to eat with a couple of co-workers, including a fussy italian cook type person, and a southerner who knows chicken (I'm up north), and both thought my day-old chicken was excellent. Or should I say eggcelent. I haven't told them I'm a new convert to a cooker/smoker cult. They may think I'm odd.[p]So, that is my experience. Any comments or suggestions would be appreciated. My next great frontier will be a turkey. I must say it is most satisfying to cook for a long time on the egg, because it's like starting a train - once it gets going, it seems like a shame to turn it off right away. I will say, however, that when I first fired that thing up, and my thermometer needle pegged well over 750, it was quite a thrill. Next step will be inviting guests over to share my creations once I get this down. I have to make my friend, who said he can cook anything great on his $119 CharBroil, eat his words.

sprinter

Dean,[p]Welcome to the BGE forum, you'll learn more here about cooking than you can imagine. Thanks for your description of your cook, we all can learn from eachother, newbies and the experienced as well.[p]Your cook is not all that different than mine. It takes awhile to understand and learn how your egg will react to different vent/top settings, you'll get accustomed to it in time, just keep practicing. Soon you'll be setting it on 200 for an overnight cook and waking up in the AM with the temp still pegged at 200.[p]The only comment on the cook that I have is to make little adjustments on the vents. I cook mainly with the bottom vent, controlling 90% of my temperature there. I do use a broken pizza stone as a chimney cover (no daisy) but most of the temp control is done below. For a 200-225 degree cook I set the bottom vent open to less than 1/8th inch, just BARELY open. Then I set the top to about a 1/4 inch slit. This holds it right at that temp. For 350 it takes a bit more bottom vent, usually about 1/4 inch opening, then the top open about 1/2 inch.[p]Make slow and deliberate adjustments and see how they work. They will actually react pretty quickly so you can see what the adjustment will do.[p]Good luck with the next cooks. Sounds like you are well on your way to making more awesome Q. I have a 3 1/2 pound chicken on tap for this evening. Rubbed with butter and spices under the skin around noon, will put it on about 350 tonight for about an hour indirect. Looking forward to some good eats this evening.[p]Troy

KennyG

Dean,[p]Welcome to the forum and thanks for sharing the story. You are to be congratulated for getting all the way through the cook before spilling the beer. When I tried my first beer butt bird, I placed it on the grill too close to the front of the Egg and the thermometer stem knocked it over when I was closing the lid. The spilled beer all but snuffed out the coals and a neighbor, who had come over to ask what the green thing was, witnessed the whole thing. Needless to say, dinner was delayed that evening.[p]If you enjoyed the recipe and might be repeating it soon, an inexpensive "vertical chicken roaster" is a great alternative to that unstable beer can. Forum Eggsperience has shown that poultry in general cooks best on the Egg at temps in the 325-350 range. This will also provide the crisp and dark skin you may have been looking for.[p]Good luck to ya and enjoy your Egg. Give us a holler if we can help in any way.[p]