Prep. time: 10 minutes
Cooking time: 1h30
Waiting time: 15 minutes

Beer can chicken has become the dish for making a statement at barbecues.

Big in the US for years, it’s now gaining traction with grilling enthusiasts UK-side.

It involves putting a half-empty (half-full?) can of beer into the chicken’s cavity before roasting it sitting upright on the can using an indirect heat with the lid down.

The idea is that the beer evaporates, infusing the bird from the inside, while the outside is gently roasted by the heat, giving (according to believers) a moist, tasty chicken infused with beer and bbq flavours and an incomparably crispy skin.

Step 1
Preheat your barbecue to 180°C / 350°F and set it up for indirect cooking (ensure there is a large area without direct heat underneath)

Can of beer half full.

Step 2 - Butter mix
In a bowl, mix butter or olive oil, cayenne pepper, pepper, salt and fresh herbs.

Rub the inside and outside of the chicken with the butter mix.

Step 3
Sit chicken on beer can – stretch to fit (you can use a dedicated poultry roaster).

Insert a lemon in its neck to stop steam escaping.

Step 4 - Cooking
Sit it on indirect heat, shut the lid

Cook for up to an hour and a half (depending on size)

Check internal temp – it should have reached 75 degrees – and then rest (as a general rule this should be 50% of the time it took to cook)

Step 5 - Finishing
Remove the chicken from the barbecue and let it cool for around fifteen minutes - still in an upright position - before carefully removing the can.

Discard the can and its contents.

Cut and serve immediately.