Recipes / Chicken
Beer-can chicken on the kettle braai
A whole chicken rubbed with paprika and garlic, cooked upright on a half-full can of beer with the lid on and the coals banked to the sides.
- Prep
- 20 min
- On the fire
- 1 hr 30 min
- Plan ahead
- 10 minutes resting
- Serves
- 4
- Done at
- 165°F (74°C)
Ingredients
Rub
Method
Cooking on gas?
- Set up for indirect heat: light the outside burners (or one side of a two-burner grill) and leave the burner under the food off.
- Close the lid and adjust the lit burners until the lid thermometer reads the temperature in the recipe. Put a drip tray under meat.
- Gas holds a steady heat, so you can skip any step that adds fresh coals. Go by a thermometer in the food rather than the clock.
- For a smoky taste, put a handful of wood chips in a smoker box, or a foil parcel pierced with a few holes, over a lit burner while the grill preheats.
- Light the charcoal. When it is covered in grey ash, bank it in two equal heaps on opposite sides of the bottom grid, with a foil drip tray in the middle.
- Mix the rub ingredients. Pull out any fat from inside the chicken and pat it dry inside and out.
- Rub the chicken all over with the oil, then with the rub. Put 1 teaspoon of the rub inside the cavity.
- Open the can and pour out or drink half the beer. Make two more holes in the top with a can opener and spoon in 1 teaspoon of the rub.
- Stand the can on a board and lower the chicken over it so the can goes into the cavity. Pull the legs forward so the bird stands on the can and its two legs like a tripod.
- Stand the chicken in the middle of the cooking grid, over the drip tray and away from the coals. Put the lid on with the top and bottom vents open halfway.
- Cook for 75 to 90 minutes without lifting the lid for the first hour. Aim for about 180°C (350°F) on the lid thermometer, and add 8 to 10 briquettes to each side after an hour if the heat drops.
- Lift the chicken, still on its can, onto a tray with tongs and a cloth. Rest it for 10 minutes, then twist the can out carefully and carve.
Done when: the skin is deep brown and crisp, the juices run clear and a thermometer in the thickest part of the breast reads 74°C (165°F). The thigh eats better at 80°C (175°F), and on this cook it usually gets there first.
Tips
- The can and beer stay very hot. Wear oven gloves and keep the chicken upright when you move it, or the beer spills over the coals.
- Use a cheap lager. The beer adds steam more than flavour, so a can of ginger beer, cola or water with a lemon slice also works.
- A metal beer-can chicken stand is steadier than a can on its own and costs little. Fill its cup the same way.
Beer-can chicken started as an American barbecue trick and spread to South Africa with the kettle braai. Standing the bird upright lets the heat move all round it, so the skin browns evenly while the beer steams gently inside. It is a good way to cook a whole chicken for a small group without spatchcocking it. If you are new to banking coals, read setting up a kettle braai for indirect cooking first.