# Smoked Beer Can Chicken



## bearswoodshop (Jan 14, 2006)

It rained here most of the day, and that's when my wife starts to worry,  :roll: , says it inspires me to try something different.  A couple days ago, I received 2 new stainless steel beer can smoker grates from Cabelas, and just had to try them.  Started with the usual, 2 half cans of beer (got frozen somehow) that could not be used, 2 med., size chickens and a brand new bottle of Southwest Spicy Mustard that fell into the grocery cart.  I rubbed the mustard all over the birds and then decided to sprinkle them with some of my BBQ flavor jerky seasoning, and into the smoker they went.  Some cherry wood for smoke and at about 175 degrees they were done.  Man, what a treat, nothing left but the bones, not even that, the dog finished off the bones.  Here's a before and after pic.  BEAR
Sorry, Pictures are in reverse order.  Hey I'm old!


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## jamesb (Jan 14, 2006)

Heck, those look good enough to eat!

James.


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## brianj517 (Jan 14, 2006)

Nice work, Bear! Those birds look awsome!

Beer can chix is one of the wife's favorites! She asks me to make 'em all the time. I couldn't tell from your pictures if you did this, but one trick I use is to stuff 1/4 onion into the neck hole to trap the beer steam in the cavity. This helps ensure a moist and juicy result. Also try adding a Tbs of your favorite rub in the 1/2 can of beer for more flavor!

Cheers,
Brian


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## smoksignlr (Jan 14, 2006)

Hey Bear those look awesome. I had never heard of beer can chickens in Canada. (probably because there is rarely such a thing as 1/2 a beer left). I'm definitely gonna give them a whirl sometime. Nice job. Gary


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## bearswoodshop (Jan 14, 2006)

Nice tip Brian, I will try the onion in the neck next time.  I'm already with you on the spices in the beer, I sometimes add some chopped up garlic as well.  Sometimes when not using the beer can method, I season the bird, wrap in bacon and then put a few strips inside the bird also.  Man, now that's startin to sound good, the wifes gonna kill me if I suggest more chicken so soon.  BEAR


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## deserttoad (Jan 14, 2006)

Hey gang,

I did a great beer can chicken a couple of weeks ago, just fell apart!

I rubbed the chicken inside and out and put the rest of the rub in the beer can.  Then I set it all on a plank over some charcoal and closed the lid.

DT

Hmm, after checking my preview, it appears I have that same photos-in-wrong-order thing too!


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## johnnyreb (Jan 14, 2006)

man all of  those look GOOD!!!

DT i love that plank idea!!!

if yall like BCC yall should try some cornish hens on an energy drink can   
they come out really really juicy


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## bearswoodshop (Jan 14, 2006)

Man that sure looks good Deserttoad, they always look almost to good to eat, (I said almost).  I have an excuse for my pics being in reverse, I'm OLD.  BEAR


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## bearswoodshop (Jan 14, 2006)

Man Crazyhorse, your fast, as I was typing a reply, you snuck one in between.  I will try the cornish hens that way,  they sure look good.  I normally just lay em down, and stuff em full of bacon.  BEAR


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## jamesb (Jan 15, 2006)

I like to do the cornish hens over those itty bitty orange juice cans... perfect fit and the OJ lends a nice flavor...

Ya'll are making me hungry!

Hey Toad, what is the purpose of the girdle (uh string) aronud your bird? Just ot keep the wings from flopping around?

James.


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## deserttoad (Jan 15, 2006)

Hey!  What ya mean "almost"?!  

Did I use the wrong kind of beer?  hehe!

As for the string around my bird - yep, it's to keep the wings tucked in, otherwise they can hang out past the edge of the plank and get pretty roasted.

DT


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## Dutch (Jan 15, 2006)

DT-I usually pull the wings down behind the back (kind of like the 'At Ease' position-if you know what I mean) or I'll just wrap the wing tips in foil.


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## dan-0 (Jan 15, 2006)

sounds good ya'll!

I aint never tried to beer can smoke a chicken before. but come next week I sure am going to give it a whirl


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## cheech (Jan 18, 2006)

One other tip that I have done is instead of the onion stuffed in the neck is to use a lemon instead. That is if you like lemon chicken. It does come off quite strong if you leave it in the whole time.

This just struck me you can place a lemon in the first part and an onion in the last part!


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## ggnutsc (Jan 18, 2006)

Man do those birds look good!!!

I'm curious to know if anyone has ever tried this with anything other than beer? I have always used  1/2 a beer with some soy sauce and trappey's red devil sauce mixed into it.

I haven't had the guts to try anything else like pop, but I'm thinking that it might work OK, or even a 12 ounce can of cider.

I was thinking about chicken tonite..... All of these yummy looking pictures might have just put me over the edge. Especially since BC chicken is one of the few things that come out of the smoker that my wife doesn't mind over-indulging in...

Greg


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## ajthepoolman (Jan 18, 2006)

I pour a generous cup of apple juice into my water pan when I smoke a chicken.

DesertToad, does your wife know that you took her hair thingys and used them to hold the wings of your chicken in place?  :D  Good idea!


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## bob-bqn (Jan 19, 2006)

Greg,

I've tried several different types of cola/soda/pop/coke 
	

	
	
		
		



		
		
	


	





 , juices, and even plain water and have not noticed any differences in flavor. The smoke and spice provide the only flavor differences I can distinguish. Since we don't consume alcohol I don't know if there are detectable subtleties between brands or not but have only heard the bolder dark beers have some effect on the taste.

Water is cheap and I can't tell the difference.


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## tacfolder (Jan 19, 2006)

I used pineapple juice in a can for a chicken.  Different taste, but it was still devoured!

All the pictures look great.  I got a digital camera for Christmas, so I'm going to post some on my next smoke, which is going to have to be soon!!

 8)


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## cheech (Jan 20, 2006)

Never tried anything other than beer. Others that I know have tried pop and said it was good but really should make sure to add some seasoning to the pop. Really I can not see how anything would be better than BEER but I suppose there is the slight chance.


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## ggnutsc (Jan 20, 2006)

I'm going to smoke a couple of chix this weekend. I think I'll probably stick with beer on one of them, but I might try some apple juice or cider on the other one.


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## cheech (Jan 20, 2006)

Apple juice sounds like a great idea!


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## ggnutsc (Jan 20, 2006)

If I get theis done like I hope.... I'll let you know the results when I get back to work on Monday

Greg


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## burksmoke (Jan 22, 2006)

Hey Folks,

The chicks look great! Any tips on getting the skin texture just right?  I've noticed sometimes mine (i mean the chicken's) skin is not as crispy as I like it.

Burk


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## bearswoodshop (Jan 23, 2006)

Burk, sometimes I turn the heat up for the last 20 min. or so and it seems to help without drying out the rest of the meat.  BEAR


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## cheech (Jan 23, 2006)

So for a crispy version of beer can chicken make it a BEAR-Can chicken by turning up the heat.

I like that!


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## ggnutsc (Jan 23, 2006)

I did two chickens on Friday and they came out crispy, but the skin was a trifle on the tough side. I don't know what can be doen to minimize that..... I cooked to 190 internal temp.

On another note.... I cooked one with beer, soy sauce, and redpepper sauce. The other was cooked over a can of apple juice with some cinnamon added to the juice. I plugged both necks with a potato that was pared down to fit. 

There was a definate difference in the smell within the body cavity and even a slightly cinnamon sweet taste to some of the meat around the area where the can was. Other than that there was no appreciable difference between the chickens. 


I have come to the conclusion that the liquid that fills the can makes little/no difference. (When you think about it the primary ingredient in beer is water) The main thing is that there is some source of moisture to be steamed into the bird internally.  With that in mind the new SOP (standard operating procedure) in our home will be pour the beer in a glass, use the empty can to hold water and, drink the beer while the chicken cooks.


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## burksmoke (Jan 23, 2006)

I wonder what effect a good slather of mustard or other ingredient has on the texture of the skin?  Is all just temp.?  

Burk


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## monty (Jan 23, 2006)

Here's an idea I am going to try after I get off winter call. For a beer can chicken I will slather with a mixture of prepared mustard, perhaps a brown or spicey one, olive oil, ground ginger and garlic powder. Perhaps a dash or two of either teryaki or worcesterhire sauce. Any daring souls out there? Otherwise you will have to wait till spring when I am once again a free man!`
Monty


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## smoking falcon (Jan 24, 2006)

Hey guys, I don't want to seem contradictary or anything, but I have to disagree with those that say the beer doesn't add any flavor. I think it depends on what kinds of beer you prefer. I personally prefer a darker beer with more hops flavoring. When I've used this beer, it definitely instills a better flavor rather than an amber beer. I think it also depends on how you prepare your bird. 

I think I'll try an experiment this week and prep the bird with some Canadial Chicken Seasoning, and a dark beer (Guinness?). Maybe mix all this together and sort of marinate the bird for an hour or so and then stick it in the smoker till done.

I'll let you all know how it turns out.

Dennis


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## brianj517 (Jan 25, 2006)

If y'all don't mind, I'm gonna jump on the bandwagon with Dennis. I've always prefered  darker more full bodied beers (both for cooking as well as drinking). Guiness is a great "old standby" and I use it frequently for chickens. Anchor Steam is also an excellent choice with poultry. Both of these impart a very definite flavor to the meat as opposed to some watered down house beer like Bud Lite or other such gruel.

Another one to try, if you can find it, is Young's Double Chocolate stout. Around here it is only sold in pint bottles, so you'll need to transfer it to another can. It's a little more expensive than some other beers and you may be inclined to drink it (cause its just that damn good) rather than sacrifice it to the smoke, but if you give it a try, I can pretty much guarantee that you won't be disappointed.

Cheers,
Brian


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## Dutch (Jan 25, 2006)

Greg, I've used a cherry cola products (Coke, Pepsi and Shasta) and lemon lime sodas with good results as well as diluted apple and craneberry jucies. As for the tougher skin it just comes with the territory though I've thought about pulling the skin off the bird and overlaying the thing with bacon strips.


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## deserttoad (Jan 25, 2006)

In response to the skin thing, the last one I did, the skin was nice and crispy, but not tough at all.  I do remember that I had the Q way to hot when I first started, perhaps it crisped the skin and after I turned the coals down, it got tender and yummy?

DT


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## burksmoke (Jan 26, 2006)

DT,

Good thought on the skin thing.  I will definately try something like that next time.  

Burk


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## deserttoad (Jan 26, 2006)

Hey, I'm not saying that's the way to do it, I'm just guessing that's why mine came out so good.

Sounds like a good reason to create an experiment!

DT


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## burksmoke (Jan 26, 2006)

DT,

Point taken.  I will be experimenting as soon as we get some rain here.  We are still under burn ban and I'm having withdrawal pains.  My smoker has been cold for over 2 weeks. Yuk

Burk


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## deserttoad (Jan 26, 2006)

Dang!

That goes for a backyard Q?  Even if it's on a concrete patio?

I can only imagine your pain...

DT


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## burksmoke (Jan 26, 2006)

DT,

I think I'm allowed to cook on the patio, but my pasture is sooooooo dry that a tiny spark from my big smoker could start a fire real easy.  It would probably burn down the whole place.  

You can't imagine how fast these fires have been spreading.  Low humidity, high temps., hign winds, its like the ground is covered with gasoline.

burk


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## bob-bqn (Jan 26, 2006)

Burk, we were blessed to get 1.5 inches of rain a few days ago and the forecast calls for 0.5 to 1 more inch tomorrow. It almost makes me want to take the day off from work and go play out in the RAIN!!!! Hope you get some rain soon.


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## ranger72 (Feb 7, 2006)

OK! *Bear*!

This is a wonderful thread on *Beer Butt Chicken* or as some call it *Beer Can Chicken!*


I would encourage anyone who smokes chicken to try this most excellent Mop along with the great ideas within this thread about the inside of the chicken such as locating onions and lemons and rub in various internal places of Zee cheeekon! Try this on the outside of Zee Cheeekon as a mop! 

Here it is!   :twisted:  *Lemon Chicken Mop!*   8) 


3 Cups chicken stock

1 whole cup fresh lemon juice freshly squeezed from real lemons (no seeds)

whole onion (small chop)

1 whole stick of butter

2 Tablespoons of Worcestorshire Sauce

2 Tablespoons of Grey Poupon Mustard

2 Tablespoons of whatever rub you used on the outside of  Zee Cheeekon!

melt butter in saucepan and saute chopped onion until clear and soft but not carmelized...then add all other ingredients and bring to a quick boil (stirring a lot) and then reduce heat to simmer til all flavors are melded!

Mop chicken every hour or so!

I theenk you weeel like theese!


ranger72


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## smoksignlr (Feb 8, 2006)

Hi Ranger quick question I did a bird call yesterday. That's where I call up some buds and ask them if they got any old birds they want smoked. No they can't offer their better halfs. But my question is do you think your recipe will work with ducks, turkey,buzzard or whatever else might fly in? Thanks Gary


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## ranger72 (Feb 8, 2006)

Hiya *smoksgnlr*!


You betcha! It is a great mop for any kind of poultry,*especially Buzzards*  :lol: 


It is also great with fish and shellfish and you don't necessarily need to use it only when smoking the above listed dishes. For example if you are grilling a piece of fish you can use this to add flavor to your piece of shark, or swordfish or wahoo or mahi mahi depending on your geographical location.

Oh yes! That includes your Lake Trout Beasties up there in Curve Lake!

ranger72 :)


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## smoksignlr (Feb 8, 2006)

Thanks alot ranger72. I'll keep you all posted on how the bird call goes. Thanks Gary


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## ranger72 (Feb 8, 2006)

:) 


ranger72


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## azweepei (Feb 9, 2006)

I have tried other than beer in my BCC. These include sprite, pepsi, dr pepper, and diet pepsi. Of course i have used beer too, both dark and light; and out of all of em the one cooked with dr pepper turned out to be the juciest and tastiest. I attributed it to all the sugar in the beverage. That got me to thinking about using root beer and crazyhorses method of energy drinks due to the large amounts of sugar in them.


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## dlmad (Feb 14, 2006)

Apple juice works great ,I have also used wine {fruity},seasoned water,lemmon and spice water and thinned out BBQ sauce.


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## jlloyd99 (Feb 15, 2006)

This is in response to the skin comments.  I personally do not like the skin on my chicken when I eat it.  So whenever I do a chicken I loosen the skin and put the rub underneath.  The skin hold in moisture while I'm cooking it and then when the skin comes off after it's done I still have all my yummy spices on the meat!  I do like the idea of wrapping it in bacon as an alternative, I think I'll give that a try next time.


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## ranger72 (Feb 16, 2006)

*Lady J*

Welcome to the forums!

Placeing your spice rub under the skin of the chicken works very well and I wonder if you have tried brining?

I find that brining works very well with all poultry products , however you will find differing opinions on this matter.

There is also the option of Injecting marinades into your various cuts of meat and /or poultry products..There are threads on both methods here 

ranger72 :)


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## jlloyd99 (Feb 16, 2006)

I actually havn't tried brining but may give it a try this weekend as the boy and I are smoking a roaster chicken.  I'm going to try and do it beer can style but it's such a big chicken I'm not sure it will stand upright in the smoker without falling over.  We'll see how it goes and I'm sure that I'll be posting results on Monday.


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## ranger72 (Feb 16, 2006)

I have a horizontal smoker and although i don't have a digi-pic of a beer-can chicken being smoked in my smoker I do have this picture and will attempt to show you how I have done it in the past.

If you look at my attached pic you can see the empty smoker...you may also notice that I have moved my second grate over to the left side of the smoker (you also have the option of totally removing the right-side grate.


Below all on the bottom you may notice a rack lying on the bottom of the smoker; This is usually where I place my steaming pan.

However; (the military word for But) when I do a Beer-can chicken I simply place the chicken upright/verticle (into a throwaway aluminum pan) using the base of the beer-can and the chicken's legs as sort of a tripod and I slide the the pan and the little grate (which you may be able to see,bottom of smoker)  over to the left so that the upright chicken sort of leans or is supported against the left side of the grate.

Then I take a simple piece of all metal mechanics wire (which you can get at any local hardware store) and make a few twists around the backside of the chicken onto the grate and bring the running end of the wire snugly around the chicken's tummy and tie or twist the running end of the wire onto the grate in front of the chicken.

This keeps the chicken from falling over on its side and allows the beer in the beer can to percolate within the chicken and sortof steam the inside while the smoke and heat is doing its magic on the outside...

Sheesh! that was long winded  :lol: but I think you can get the idea and if you have a different kind of smoker then you may be able to rig something similar up.


Hope this helps!

ranger72 8)


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## Dutch (Feb 16, 2006)

I use a beer can stand that has an insert for the can and a wide circular base that keeps everything upright. You can find them at most stores that deal with grills and grilling supplies. I also have a stand called the "Twin" made by Camp Chef that will hold two birds.


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## ranger72 (Feb 16, 2006)

There you go..That's even a better idea!

ranger72


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## bearswoodshop (Feb 16, 2006)

jlloyd99 the double chicken holder from Cabelas (shown in 1st of thread) will hold a mighty big chicken or 2 in this case.  I also have the kind that Dutch is talking about and they also work great, but you can never have to many beer can chicken holders.  Before we found these, cooking 2 chickens was the only way, they would hold each other up, kinda like buds do when they have tooooo many brews.  BEER  :roll:  I mean BEAR.


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## ma?tley ca 1/4 e (Mar 12, 2006)

I just stumbled across this site. It looks like a great place to call home. Here's how I do my chickens. First I soak the wood chunks in beer for at least an hour. I then coat the birds downs with olive oil and my rub. I pour about a 1/2 can of beer in my stands, add rub to the beer and insert into the chicken. I then pour off the beer I was using to soak the chips in into my water bowl and add a few more cans of beer. I cook the chickens on my vertical gas smoker at 350 until done. Now I probably don't need the beer in the water bowl and in the chicken stand, but when the beer cooks down in the bowl and thickens it tends to add some extra flavor. The skin is usually nice and crispyand the meat very tender. Sometimes I will inject them with cajun injector creole butter.

Oh, and I usually use Ice House beer. It's cheap and has a pretty good flavor.


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## Dutch (Mar 12, 2006)

Welcome Mystickal_1. This is an awesome site. There is lots to learn and some great folks that are willing to help out, When you can, pop into "Roll Call" and tells us more about yourself.


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## larry maddock (Mar 15, 2006)

yo dudes and dudettes,

are you folks just hiding the empty cans 
from your honey??

im in self imposed tee totaling this month.

this may be a way to float a few past my gal
with out her rubbing my face in it.


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## bob-bqn (Mar 15, 2006)

I hate to be the one to break this to you Larry, but you can use soda cans as a substitute. :lol:


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## bigdaddyviking67 (Mar 15, 2006)

Just another bit of info, they also make the beer can stands for turkeys and they turn out awesome when done that way. Soda cans, beer cans, soup cans whatever---as long as your using a good beer-cause if your using milwaukee's best you might as well be using water...lol


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## Dutch (Mar 15, 2006)

OK folks, If you want to try and "can" a turkey, check out Camp Chef's latest addition to "canning" technology. First they brought you the "Twins" and now they offer the "Turkey Cannon". Your liquid of choice is poured into the tube (cannon) and the turkey is placed onto the tube. The whole thing is then placed on a grill or in a smoker.


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## ma?tley ca 1/4 e (Mar 15, 2006)

I've been doing turkeys for a while. They turn out fabulous. I use the Sittin' Turkey.  You can find them really cheap here.


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## deserttoad (Mar 16, 2006)

Man, a turkey sounds like a GREAT idea!  But I have to lower the rack in my NBBD just to do a chicken.

Been thinkin' about getting a new smoker, perhaps a propane powered verticle - the idea of not constantly adding charcoal all day is nice.  I suppose there is another thread for what smoker to get, but what do you people think?

I do a lot of ribs, shoulders, and the occasional brisket.

DT


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## bigdaddyviking67 (Mar 16, 2006)

Hey toad, my neighbor has the same smoker, what we did was buy a foil cake pan and set the turkey stand in it, then set the pan on the bottom of the smoker at the right side. We filled the pan with a good dark beer and the damn thing turned out great.


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## bigdaddyviking67 (Mar 19, 2006)

Seeing all them chickens made me smoke a couple myself.


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## buzzard (Mar 19, 2006)

them sure are some good looking birds bigdaddy, i wish i could get mine to look that good.

maby next week i will have to experiment with how to do that


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## bob-bqn (Mar 19, 2006)

bigdaddy those do look good indeed. I noticed what looks like a skewer through the neck opening, what is that for? Does it hold the skin flap over the opening? Thanks.


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## deserttoad (Mar 19, 2006)

I thought perhaps it held an onion or lemon....

DT

And how long at what temp did those birds take?


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## bwsmith_2000 (Mar 19, 2006)

Big Daddy,
       Those are some terrific looking chickens. Tell me they tasted as good as they looked.


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## bigdaddyviking67 (Mar 19, 2006)

Yes desert toad, I used a 1/2 of lemon to plug the neck holes and the juices must have run down the chickens because they had a lemony twang in certain spots. The birds were damn good, I let my wife take one to work with her and she said her co-workers scarfed it down quick, and one guy took the carcass to clean it off. We will be having extra guests this summer at our cookouts she tells me.


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## smokingn00b (Apr 14, 2006)

I spent yesterday reading through all 5 pages of this thread on Beer Can Chicken so I did one myself.  This is only my third smoke.  Here's some pics.  Also I whipped up some of Lady J's Bourbon Mustard Sauce and it's awesome.  The bottle of beer in the pic is what I used just in a pepsi can.


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## ham's on fire (Apr 14, 2006)

That is one fantastic looking chicken.....I'm going to have to try that sauce, oh well what's one more for list of, To Do.  :lol:


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## bob-bqn (Apr 15, 2006)

Indeed that is one tasty looking bird. :D Mmmmmmmm!

I'd like to hear a little more if you don't mind. What temperature did you cook it at and how long did it take?

I've cooked them at 225* and they take around 4 hours + or -. And at 325 when cooks in about 1-1/2 hours.

Thanks.


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## bluefrog (Apr 15, 2006)

Greg,

I have done "beer can chicken" with Dr. Pepper, and with Coke.  LIked the Dr. Pepper wasn't wild about th cola.  I have a feeling that a lot of lquids could be used and would be good.  Maybe others can post what they have experimented with and enjoyed.

Scott


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## smokingn00b (Apr 15, 2006)

That bird up there was cooked at about 225 and it took just over 4 hours to hit 160.  I pulled it then and let it do the rest as it rested.  I used Hickory and Maple but mostly Maple.  As you can see I quartered an onion to plug the neck whole and actually the onion tasted pretty good when it was done.  Overall it was pretty darn good but next time I'm going to try mopping some of that bourbon mustard on it.


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## pyre (Apr 21, 2006)

I'm doing a beer can chicken this weekend.  I'll try to remember to take pictures.  I just hope it comes out as good as yours did!


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## smokingn00b (Apr 21, 2006)

Here's my question for all the experienced smokers.  Is there such a thing as too much smoke?  Me being a young guy new to smoking I think that if the smoker isn't billowing out smoke then it must not be smoking well.  The last chicken I did I got frustrated with the smoke and at one point was adding chips almost every 15 minutes and that chicken didn't taste the greatest.  Any advice?


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## bob-bqn (Apr 21, 2006)

N00b, most assuredly there is such a thing as too much smoke. In fact, when using bolder woods like mesquite and hickory it is very easy to over smoke meats, especially light flavored foods, and thin or ground meats like chicken, ribs, burgers or meatloaf, etcâ€¦

You want to pair lighter flavored foods with lighter flavored woods, thinner meats with lighter woods or shorter exposure to heavier woods, and so on.

Also you can blend light wood with bold wood (i.e. apple & pecan or maple & hickory) to keep the flavor but lighten it up a bit.

As a generally rule when trying new wood flavors start light and increase it more if needed the next time you cook. Over smoked foods can leave a bitter taste in your mouth, literally and figuratively.


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## bluefrog (Apr 21, 2006)

Yes you can have too much smoke.  What I think most of us look for is a thin blue smoke.  When you have REALLY HEAVY smoke you will get creosote deposits and a bitter taste.


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## deserttoad (Apr 21, 2006)

You most certainly can oversmoke meat, just like Bob said, and chicken is an easy one to overdo.

For chicken I've smoked with oak, and then maybe for only the first hour.  I use charcoal for heat and chips for smoke, so I just quit the chips after a bit.

Easiest way to figure it out, is to smoke something every weekend!

DT


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## smokingn00b (Apr 21, 2006)

Every weekend is my goal.  This weekend I'm trying my first pork butt.  I'm using one of the recipes from the pork forum.  Hopefully it will turn out to be as good as everyone says it is.


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## bigdaddyviking67 (Apr 21, 2006)

Hey n00b, if you are burning through chips real quick, soak them in water for 40 minutes or use chunk wood for a longer smoke. I always mix my woods when smoking poultry. I like to use a mix of hickory, cherry and apple. Like the other brothers said, hickory and mesquite are stronger woods and should be used in moderation. Check out this attachment it will guide you on what woods are best for different types of food.


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