British BBQ Society Forums

Make sure you start with the classic minion method - a ring of unlit charcoal and full chimney of lit straight in the centre. I find I can run my UDS perfectly well at lower temps just by dumping lit coal next to a pile of unlit, but to get those temps high you really want unlit totally surrounding any lit coals I need maybe 2.5 or 3 vents open to get 300-350 (1 inch holes) but those cookers are so damned efficient you shouldn't struggle at all with higher temperatures

If you're only cooking chicken for an hour or so why do you need any unlit? Admittedly I tend to rotisserie chicken when I'm cooking it whole but I don't think I've ever needed the minion method to cook one beer can style.

One charcoal chimney full of lit won't maintain a temp of 300F+ for an hour I don't think. Maybe in a kettle.. Tbh I always have so much leftover fuel in the drum that it's no big deal to use the minion method as closing off the vents puts the fire out so quickly. With my Pro Q I'd be hesistant as it isn't nearly as airtight

2/3rds of a Chimney of any good briquettes should be more than adequate for beer can chicken.

I use lump, but I seriously doubt you'll get that kinda heat in that volume of space with that little

YetiDave wrote:I use lump, but I seriously doubt you'll get that kinda heat in that volume of space with that little

With briquettes in a kettle, definitely. Haven't used the smoker to cook chicken in years as the kettle is more than up to the job. And whether I'm cooking beer can style, rotisserie or spatchcock that's the amount of fuel that I use. Haven't tried it but pretty certain that that amount of fuel in my 47cm WSM with no water in the pan (or even no pan) would give a temp of 300+. Obviously I've got no idea how he Ops UDS performs but see no real advantage to using that compared to another BBQ. Personal preference with the kit I own when cooking a single chicken is a kettle BBQ.

RobinC wrote:

YetiDave wrote:I use lump, but I seriously doubt you'll get that kinda heat in that volume of space with that little

With briquettes in a kettle, definitely. Haven't used the smoker to cook chicken in years as the kettle is more than up to the job. And whether I'm cooking beer can style, rotisserie or spatchcock that's the amount of fuel that I use. Haven't tried it but pretty certain that that amount of fuel in my 47cm WSM with no water in the pan (or even no pan) would give a temp of 300+. Obviously I've got no idea how he Ops UDS performs but see no real advantage to using that compared to another BBQ. Personal preference with the kit I own when cooking a single chicken is a kettle BBQ.

I always used my kettle over the WSM when I had them, skin was always crispy and never worried too much about temp, the amount of fuel you use limits the maximum temp it will reach, half a small chimney either side of a foil tray with the chicken stood up in it gave the perfect temp

That's pretty much what I do except I prefer to use the rotisserie. Need to try cooking a chicken under a brick at some point as haven't tried that method

Last time I did beer can chicken, I pre-heated my beer can on the coals, so it was steaming up into the bird immediately. I'm not convinced you'd get much steaming going on, with the can half insulated in the chicken and starting from cold.

Nutty wrote:Last time I did beer can chicken, I pre-heated my beer can on the coals, so it was steaming up into the bird immediately. I'm not convinced you'd get much steaming going on, with the can half insulated in the chicken and starting from cold.

I think that the advantage of beer can chicken is the position that the chicken is in whilst it cooks, rather than anything to do with steam. Personal opinion is that it is a bit gimmicky and I now prefer the beer to be inside me than the chicken but appreciate that there are plenty of people out there who are big fans of this method of cooking.