Beer butt birds...

[M38A1]

A new "first" for me this evening...

I've cooked beer butt birds before yet I was truely amazed this evening at how this bird turned out. I took a whole chicken at 5lbs, washed in cold water and patted dry, rubbed with olive oil and then a rub I made a few weeks ago along with a maple brown sugar mix. Placed a MGD in the rack and planted the bird.

The interesting part is I fired up the Longhorn and put the cooking grate over the charcoal in the firebox end and let the bird go for 2 hours with one stick of mesquite for some smoke.

Well, two hours later at a thigh temp of 185*F, I pulled it from the firebox and let it sit about 10 minutes before carving it up. I think it's been the best beer butt bird I've done and the first on the firebox side vs the smoke chamber. Also, the new elevated charcoal Buster helped me with worked perfectly for this application!

Look out Zilla - I'm finding out I can grill on this smoker! :D

http://www.m38a1.com/g503/060105.jpg

[grillmaster]

That looks awesome M38 I've done beer butt chicks quite a few times and it one our favorites here.

[bigwheel]

Yeppers that do look mighty scrumtious..congrats. I tried swabbing with Olive Oyl a few times but mine did not never come out that good. It just sorta seemed to make em sticky and sooty or something. Guess I was doing something wrong on that deal.

bigwheel

[DoubleBarrelSmoker]

m38- that looks really nice- I just got a beer butt holder from a friend and was wondering if they work well in the smoker??

[kpigout]

Never thought of doing that in the firebox. I may have to try that!

[M38A1]

m38- that looks really nice- I just got a beer butt holder from a friend and was wondering if they work well in the smoker??

DblBbl-
I've typically done them on the smoker chamber side of the house for 3-4 hours with pretty good results. IMO, I now believe there's something to cooking chickens hot and fast instead of low and slow...

~m38a1

[rstcso]

That looks very good. I notice you didn't take the time for any "after" pictures, or better yet, there wasn't any to take :lol: . I appreciate your experimenting and posting the results. I'm not a very original thinker (outside of the box, so to speak), so you help expand the size of my box I have to think in.

[DoubleBarrelSmoker]

m38- that looks really nice- I just got a beer butt holder from a friend and was wondering if they work well in the smoker??

DblBbl-
I've typically done them on the smoker chamber side of the house for 3-4 hours with pretty good results. IMO, I now believe there's something to cooking chickens hot and fast instead of low and slow...

~m38a1
OK- I'm gonna give it a try - I'll let you know what happens

[gordo]

M38 agree with the hot and fast part...
Have seen many teams moving in that direction for the past few years, and more and more of them are cooking with direct heat or on grills for
their chicken entry's at contest... That bird you did looks great... :D
thanks for posting the pics
gordo

[Buster]

Yeah Gordo, from what I've observed at contests, most chicken is kinda "slow-grilled". Calling it bbq is stretching it a bit.

Looks like M38 is using the Weber kettle concept :-) Meat above and off to the side of the charcoal. Now, it looks like we need much larger fireboxes so them pits can multi-task.

[Blind Hog BBQ]

Thanks for reminding me of how you are supposed to do a beer butt chicken. I used to do them that way 4 or 5 years ago but stopped after I started cooking on a offset. Yum crispy crunchy skin juicy sweet meat :) :) Thanks for the lesson m38 :D I think I am going to cook one this weekend "old style" 8) 8)

[corndog]

This is how I have been doing my beer butts on the WSM. I use the water pan as a diffuser, but just add more lit coals to get the temp up to around 350. When the skin gets crispy, throw on some TPJ...MMMMMmmmmm

[nuknfutz]

The bird looks great! Did you rotate it during the cook to get the even coloring? I just got a rotis for my little unit and am going to give it a shot this weekend. Coals on each side and let it spin.

[TexLaw]

That bird looks great, M38! I cook my chickens hot and fast, and I've always preferred the results over low and slow. I haven't cooked any chicken in a while, so I may have to do something like that this weekend.


TL

[Grumpy Gator]

You definitely found the secret to yardbird, M38. Chicken is so tender to start with that low & slow doesn't benefit it. Crank that sucker up and add some smoke wood. Crispy chicken skin way better than that rubbery stuff.

Lookin' good!

[TexLaw]

Even without the skin, hot and fast turns out better. I know it gives some folks the screaming willies to think about chicken without skin, but it does happen around my place from time to time.


TL

[M38A1]

Yes, I rotated the bird at about halfway or 1 hour. Just swapped orientation in the firebox since it seemed a bit 'tight' with the size of the bird and coal bed. (dang that really sounds funny out of context...)

I like the "slow-grill" term as it's what happened!

~m38a1

[1044]

Atsa tasty bird.

[Zilla]

Thanks Jeepster, That looks great! I'm gonna try that this week end. I hope Mine comes out that good. I'm getting tired of Ham! :lol:

[Paul Taylor]

Definitely be worth giving a whirl to.I am always having my eyes out for new methods.Hey if it will work, why not?

Paul Taylor

[Steve-O]

Here's a cool Beer Butt Chicken gadget

http://usera.imagecave.com/Steve-O/BBQ/ChickenThrone.jpg

You can seat two chickens here and use it to move them around after they cook. I smoke mine for a couple hours then turn up the heat to crisp up the skin.

[TB]

Did one last night at 350F.

[Paymaster]

I have cooked'm on a gas grill many times, but me thinks I will try this. Great Picture M38.

[vinman]

Nice looking birds!
Now here's a good ? Does anyone think that there is a difference in flavor depending what type of liquid is in the can? I've heard of some folks (who shal remain nameless) that don't like to waste good beer so they just use water or Pepsi inside of their bird. :shock:

[M38A1]

The only difference I've been able to tell is the 'heavier' beers, ie: not lite's seem to have more of a hop or malt flavor to them. I've done some heavy stout beers and could tell it was a beer flavor. I've also tried the fruit juices but couldn't tell what they were other than a moist chicken.
~m38a1

[vinman]

The last one I did with a Shiner 96 and I did taste just a hint of beer flavor. Maybe next time I'll use a stout.

[david brace]

I had one with a stout in it's 'cooking aperture' and it's the only time that i have enjoyed a stout. Guinness is not my favorite at all...in fact I do not like stout beer, but this bird tasted real good after a stout was in the can. I have never done one myself...but on the firebox side is the best idea for yardbird...

DB

[TexLaw]

I like M38's idea about using a beer that is maltier (e.g., Fuller's ESB or some Oktoberfest, doppelbock, or porter) or with good hop aroma and flavor (e.g., an IPA) for the chicken. I don't know about a stout, though. While a stout has plenty of malt flavor, most stouts also have significant coffee notes, and that doesn't sound too good with chicken.


TL