Last nights BBQ was 2 whole chickens cooked beer can style.  Instead of using the typical Beer Can Recipe, I went with a Lemonade Can recipe, which in my opinion is much better.  I have done this one many times in the past and the chicken always comes out nice, tender, and juicy.  This is a very simple recipe that can be used for any type of get together or family dinner.  Normally, I create a BBQ Sauce that goes with this recipe, but since it was a very busy day and wanted to keep things fairly simple, I decided to just use store bought BBQ sauce.  I have included this recipe at the bottom of this entry if you would like to give it a shot sometime.

Ingredients (Per Chicken):

  • 1 T Lemonade Powder
  • 1 T Brown Sugar
  • 1 T Paprika
  • 2 t hickory-smoked salt (Old Bay Seasoning)
  • 1 t Lemon Pepper
  • 1 t. Garlic Powder
  • 1 t. Onion Powder
  • 1/4 t Celery Seed
  • 1 Can Lemonade
  • 1 Chicken (3 1/2 to 4 lbs.)
  • 2 t Vegetable Oil
  • 2 C wood chips or chunks (I used Cherry Wood Chips this time)
  • 1 12 oz can of Lemonade
  • BBQ Sauce (preferably, from the recipe that follows)

Preparation Instructions:

  1. Rub: In a bowl, mix the lemonade powder, brown sugar, paprika, hickory salt, lemon pepper, garlic, onion powder, and celery seed.
  2. Prepare the chicken by removing any giblets or odd body parts from the cavity in the chicken (you may reserve this for another use if desired). 
  3. Remove and toss any fat just inside the cavities of the bird.
  4. Rinse the chicken, in and out, with cold water.
  5. Dry chicken fairly well with paper towels.
  6. Sprinkle 1 t of the Rub inside the body cavity of the chicken and massage into the cavity of the chicken
  7. Sprinkle 1/2 t of the Rub inside the neck of the chicken, and massage
  8. Massage the rest of the rub all over the skin of the chicken, reserving 2 teaspoons of rub (if doing the optional sauce), and 1 tablespoon for the lemonade.
  9. Open the can of lemonade and remove the tab off the can.
  10. Pour half the lemonade out and set aside if doing the optional sauce.
  11. Use a church-key-style can opener; make additional 2 holes on the top of the can.
  12. Put the 2 tablespoons of reserved rub into the can of lemonade
  13. Pop the can into the main body cavity of the bird, and place on the grill. (I really recommend getting a beer can chicken holder, then can be found at just about any hardware store and a lot of grocery stores)

Cooking Instructions:

  1. Prepare the grill as you normally wood for indirect grilling
  2. Place chicken on the grill
  3. On occasion, check the chicken and maybe rotate it to get and even cook across the chicken.
  4. Pull chicken when the temperature is 160 in the breast and 180 for the dark meat.
  5. Let rest for about 15 minutes to let the juices settle
  6. Slice and serve.

Cooking Log:

  1. I put the 2 chickens on the grill around 5:55 p.m. with 2 handfuls of cherry wood chips.
  2. Added another handful of wood chips around 6:45
  3. At about 7:15, I added another batch of hot charcoal and another handful of cheery wood chips.
  4. At about 7:45, the temperature in the breast hit the desired temp, and pulled to let rest
  5. At about 8:00, I slice up the chicken

Results:
The chicken turned out excellent.  It had a real nice flavor and was definitely a hit with the party we had.  I actually didn't use any BBQ sauce with the chicken, definitely did not need it, but check out the next section for a BBQ sauce that goes great with this chicken.  This chicken went great with the Blue Moon Pumpkin Ale that I was drinking last night.  Originally I had planned to do 4 birds, but not as many people showed up for dinner as planned.

Lemonade Mustard Sauce:

Ingredients:

  • 1 T butter
  • 2 to 3 shallots (1 small onion is fine) finely chopped, approximately 1 cup.
  • 3/4 C lemonade (reserved from Lemonade Chicken)
  • 1/2 C firmly package light brown sugar
  • 6 T Dijon Mustard
  • 3 T fresh lemon juice
  • 1/2 t grated lemon zest
  • Coarse salt and freshly ground black pepper

Instructions:

  1. Melt the butter in a sauce pan over medium heat.
  2. Add shallots or onion and cook until they start to brown
  3. Add lemonade and increase the heat to high and let boil until reduced to 2 T.
  4. Stir in brown sugar, mustard, lemon juice, and lemon zest, 2 t of reserved rub (if above rubbed was used).
  5. Lower heat to medium and let the sauce simmer until thick and richly flavored.
  6. Add salt and pepper to taste.

Source: Beer-Can Chicken by Steven Raichlen


J