Smoked Beer Can Chicken (Without The Beer)

When beer can chicken first became popular, I thought it looked ridiculous. I pictured the chicken jumping off the chicken roaster stand and start dancing around the grill like an old-time cartoon. But finally, I gave in and tried it. Now, I was the one that looked ridiculous to have taken so long to try this recipe. It’s so simple and easy to prepare and smoke, and the flavors are remarkable and unbelievable for such a silly looking chicken. The skin is crispy and succulent, and the meat is moist, tender, and juicy. With this recipe, we replace the beer with apple juice to give the chicken a fruity and vibrant finish.

WHY YOU SHOULD TRY THIS SMOKED BEER CAN CHICKEN (WITHOUT THE BEER) RECIPE

• Crispy skin, moist and tender meat – the chicken sits over apple juice while it is smoking, creating juicy and tender chicken, while the smoke helps create crispy and delicious skin.

• Only three ingredients – chicken, chicken rub, apple juice and that’s it!

• Easy and fun to make – rub the chicken and feel silly setting the chicken upright on the chicken roaster stand. It’s pretty cool for the first time.

• Easy smoking – once your offset smoker has come to temperature, set it on the grill grate and forget it. 3 to 4 hours later, your chicken is ready to devour.

• But wait, there’s more! – the flavor, the flavor, the flavor!

INGREDIENTS FOR SMOKED BEER CAN CHICKEN (WITHOUT THE BEER)

• 1 – 5 pound whole chicken
• 1 cup chicken rub
• 2 cups apple juice

DIRECTIONS FOR MAKING SMOKED BEER CAN CHICKEN (WITHOUT THE BEER)

1. Bring your offset smoker to temperature – You will want to maintain a temperature of roughly 250 degrees throughout the smoking process.

2. Prepare the chicken – Take the chicken out of the refrigerator and bring your chicken to room temperature. Rinse the chicken in cold water and pat dry with paper towels. Rub the chicken all over with the rib rub, covering all parts and nooks and crannies of the chicken.

3. Prepare the smoking set-up for the chicken – Place the wire cooking rack into the aluminum pan and pour in the two cups of apple juice.

4. Place the chicken on the chicken roaster stand – Push the chicken roaster stand through the chicken’s body cavity until it comes through the neck opening. The chicken will sit comfortably by settling onto the base of the stand. Place the chicken into your smoking set-up.

5. Place the chicken on your offset smoker – Smoke the chicken at roughly 250 degrees for 3½ to 4 hours or until the internal temperature of the chicken in the widest part of the breast is 165 degrees.

6. Remove the chicken from your offset smoker – Cover the chicken with foil and let it rest for 15 minutes. Carefully remove the chicken from the chicken roaster stand and carve the chicken.

VARIATIONS AND SUBSTITUTIONS FOR BEER CAN CHICKEN (WITHOUT THE BEER)

Try different types of poultry – While chicken is the bird that made this dish famous, I have used this recipe for ducks and game hen. Small poultry, like quail, partridge, and pheasant, will work. But unfortunately, a turkey is too large for the chicken roaster holder. But I have an offset smoker Thanksgiving turkey recipe coming up, so stay tuned.

Any fruit juice will do – I mostly use apple juice because of its sweet yet tangy flavor, which works so well with chicken. However, any juice you choose will work just as well, such as orange, grape, grapefruit, pineapple, or even cranberry juice.

Different types of wood to smoke with – While I usually use hickory or mesquite wood to smoke with, using fruit wood adds another dimension of flavor that compliments the added flavor of the apple juice. Try using apple (of course!), cherry, peach, pear, or plumb.

Beer – OK, OK, use beer!

TIPS AND TRICKS FOR BEER CAN CHICKEN (WITHOUT THE BEER)

Add more apple juice – As thesmoking process continues, you will notice that the apple juice in the aluminum pan is slowly disappearing. Simply add more apple juice to your pan and smoke away!

Spray the chicken – In order to keep the outside of the chicken moist, periodically spray the chicken with (yup, you guessed it!) apple juice.

Rotate the aluminum pan – The side of the chicken closest to the firebox will get darker and cook faster. Be sure to rotate the pan from about every 30 minutes to ensure even cooking,

Give the chicken a Superman cape – Since paprika in most chicken rubs darkens as it cooks, it looks like the chicken skin is burning. This is not the case. It’s just the paprika doing its thing. To keep the chicken from completely becoming black, especially where most of the heat is, drape aluminum foil around that part of the chicken to protect the skin.

Raise the temperature – Towards the end of the smoking process (over 3 hours), and depending on the size of your chicken, the internal temperature of the chicken may be below your target temperature of 165 degrees. As the chicken has absorbed most of its smoky flavor by this time, go ahead and crank up your offset smoker by adding more wood to the firebox than normal. This will allow the internal temperature of the offset smoker to rise, and now you are really roasting more than smoking. Be sure to keep an eye on the internal temperature of the chicken so as not to overcook it