Meathead on beercan chicken

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Re: Meathead on beercan chicken

Postby keith157 » 01 Jul 2012, 18:05

I have a problem with "scientific" experiments not just because the language is too techie but purely for this reason. Two years ago the Govt set up a couple of scientific research projects to study the health benefits of eggs. The results in plain English were
Test 1= Eggs are good for you
Test 2= Eggs are bad for you.
Both projects used the same test scenarios and methodology. Just look at the weather forecast, each gets the same data but each seems to interpret it in different ways. I'm old fashioned enough to go by what works for me or adapt or use what others have done. I can pick up a flavour of herbs and the wine used when I do it but haven't found much difference in moisture between BCC and using the vertical roaster I mentioned.
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Re: Meathead on beercan chicken

Postby FlashGordon » 02 Jul 2012, 21:57

sorry for hijacking this one...... so you guys cook/ed beer can chicken and didn't taste beer? what beer did you use?

I've done it a few times, and for friends, and they have raved about it, now this may be placebo effect but i also get the taste of beer, well larger which is what i use, the smell of this cooking it amazing to me, I've often shoved a lime in the cavity as well which i kinda liked.
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Re: Meathead on beercan chicken

Postby keith157 » 03 Jul 2012, 01:19

No apology necessary, have you tried drinking something other than the beer or lager you've cooked with i.e. as a blind tatse?
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Re: Meathead on beercan chicken

Postby FlashGordon » 03 Jul 2012, 07:12

Not as yet, I've considered making a gravy from left over juice but not got round to it.
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Re: Meathead on beercan chicken

Postby KamadoSimon » 03 Jul 2012, 07:35

Re: Naked Whiz's tests.

The best chicken cooks for me so far on the Kamdao Joe have been:

- spatchcocked direct grilling - very moist & great skin due to the high heat. So agree with him on this one;

- indirect - best for moistness but not as successful for crispy skin. Determined to get this right though! I think I am not leaving the chicken uncovered in the fridge for long enough still. Going to try 48 hours next time.

I did a whole chicken last night on a wireframed vertical chicken holder which in turn was sat in a roasting tin with liquid (just water) in it. I found no difference in moistness from cooking it sitting normally indirect. OK not a side by side comparison but I've done a fair few chickens now to compare & this did not stand out for me in terms of extra moistness.

I've tried adding flavour via the liquid under the meat being something other than water (e.g. cider, beer etc) and never found any transfer of flavour. So tend to agree with NW there too.

But the area I disagree with him on is around the liquid boiling or not. If you place the liquid in a roasting pan, the vertical holder inside that & then place the whole thing on the grill, the liquid always boils for me. I guess the extra surface area of the metal pan means it heats the liquid more efficiently & thus boils it. Still didn't get any transfer of flavour though.

So for me, I'll use a vertical chicken holder on the grill, but only if I need the space to get other things on the grill at the same time i.e. for no moistness or flavour reasons.

Brining, on the other hand, I have found to be successful in adding flavour to the meat.
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Re: Meathead on beercan chicken

Postby FlashGordon » 03 Jul 2012, 12:26

Out of interest what beer did you use?

The only downfall i find is the skin, its been horrible.

The last time i did it, i used Bud, probably overcooked it slightly in terms of time, but its was moist, and fell apart. I just shredded it, and served it on butties. I need to do two i think and see if its placebo, but i feel i get the taste of larger. I used about 3/4 a can, and it definantely boils.
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Re: Meathead on beercan chicken

Postby KamadoSimon » 03 Jul 2012, 12:37

I have used a bottled real ale as well as a lager (Stella). Both of which did boil / steam away during the cook, but neither or which added any flavour that I could tell.

Yeh, even at 400F (which is what last nights was cooked at (370-420F)), I have found that I am not getting crispy skin. I would think that this is down to the moist atmosphere that the Kamado creates - but others do achieve it so can't be that. Going to have to try drying the skin out longer in the fridge before cooking & then oil right before cooking.

I am cooking using a maverick - so I am pulling when the breast meat is 165-170F - so I know I am not over-cooking it. After the Kamado itself, so far this has made the biggest difference in terms of ensuring moist chicken for me.
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Re: Meathead on beercan chicken

Postby beercan » 30 May 2013, 16:00

I know I will get shot for bringing up a real old thread or maybe not who knows lol.

I did some research on this a while ago and believe it or not the beer that comes out on top is good old Newcastle brown ( and believe it or not that was from an American web site ) which if you think about it makes sense. Any real ale by definition is going to be bitter and lagers already have too many chemicals in.
I did use a proper beer can tripod which was donated by my brother in the states and holds a can about coke can width filled two thirds full . ( bonus you get to drink the rest !)
A good dry rub on the skin produced nice crisp skin and some of the rub also added with the beer.The meat itself took on a great flavour and was very moist.
It was cooked in a 22 weber one touch with no top grill and coals on one side only and the bird sat in a tray next to them, this was a good size chicken about 5 lb and to be fair there would have been room for two in there.
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Re: Meathead on beercan chicken

Postby keith157 » 30 May 2013, 17:20

There is never a problem regenerating a topic if you have something new to add which you have. For hoppy beers in the summer I've used Hopback Summer Lightening as it has a good strong flavour and is the only one I've tried since my initial post. There must be some flavour profile, sharp, sour, sweet, bitter etc as it's been commented on and I use a perforated metal can rather than a beer can so it's kind of a blind tasting.
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Re: Meathead on beercan chicken

Postby beercan » 01 Jun 2013, 08:57

Lol thanks for not shooting !

The bit that may amuse was the first time we ever tried this at my brothers in California.
Everything was nicely prepped and ready to go then the missus pipes up with the question
" so do you have to open the can of beer ? "
Okay it was a blonde moment which she soon realised when we asked how were we going to explain to the guests
that the chicken was now orbiting the space station.
To be fair to her we were already well into a good wine tasting session lol.
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