Test Kitchen - Big Bud's Beer Can Chicken

Today for dinner I decided to try Guy Fieri's Big Bud Beer Can Chicken, courtesy of the Food Network. I don't know why, but sometimes I get a craving to cook a whole chicken and I just can't resist! Little thinks I'm crazy, but I actually think they're kinda cute! Plus I needed to buy some beer anyway so....why not? Match mad in heaven. The first recipe I found was this one for Bon Appetit's Beer Can Chicken and it looked glorious, but I don't have a grill so it wasn't an option. My plan was to steal the cook time from Guy Fieri's recipe and then use the rub from the BA recipe, but Guy Fieri's had such great reviews I decided to just follow the whole thing. Plus, they even have the short video from the episode up, so there's no way to get confused. Prepping the chicken was a piece of cake and it made the apartment smell so deliciouuussssss! Mmmm. One of the reviews suggested using Bud Light Lime, so I decided to go with that. I stupidly bought these weirdly tall and skinny cans, but I think they may have actually worked better; they kept the chicken up and off the baking pan much better than a regular 12 oz can would. I also couldn't find a chicken as small as Guy recommends, so I wound up with a 4.5 lb bird and added an extra 30 min to the cook time.  It turned out great! All in all, I will definitely be making this recipe again.

Big Bud's Beer Can Chicken by Guy Fieri
(Courtesy of the Food Network, original recipe and how to video here)

Ingredients

• 1 (2 to 3-pound) (4 to 5 lb ) whole chicken
• 1 teaspoon dried oregano
• 1 teaspoon garlic powder
• 1 tablespoon onion powder
• 1 teaspoon paprika
• 1 teaspoon ground ginger
• 1 teaspoon dried sage
• 1 teaspoon sea salt
• 1 tablespoon freshly ground black pepper
• 2 cloves garlic, smashed
• 1 (12-ounce) can beer (I used Bud Light Lime)
• 1/2 pound bacon

Directions

• Preheat oven to 450 degrees F
• Remove giblets and wash chicken with cold water. Pat dry with paper towels to ensure dry rub sticks. 
• Mix all the dry ingredients together in a small bowl. Rub 1/2 of the dry ingredients on the inside cavity of the chicken. Rub the other 1/2 of the dry ingredients under the skin of the chicken. You may need to use a knife to ensure the skin is completely peeled away from the meat on both sides. 
• Open the beer can and pour out about 1/2 a cup (into a glass for drinking later of course!). Drop the garlic cloves into the beer can. Then place the chicken, open end down, over the beer can to insert the beer can into the cavity. The chicken should balance on the can unassisted. Then place the chicken, standing up, in a large saute pan or baking dish. 
• Drape the bacon over the sides of the chicken, tucking the top ~1/3 of the bacon strip into the top cavity of the chicken. This will hold it in place, but you can also pierce the bacon to the chicken with toothpicks for additional stickage.
• Carefully place the bacon covered chicken in the oven for 10 minutes to crisp the bacon, then lower the temperature to 325 degrees F 350 degrees F and cook for another 1 hour 1.5 hours, or until the internal temperature in the thickest part of the thigh reaches 165 degrees F on an instant-read thermometer.

Enjoy and serve with this green been salad or this shaved brussel sprout salad! Both are some of my all time favorites. I plan on using the leftover chicken to make these chicken pesto sandwiches.