From the Kitchen of Couch Potato Man - Easy Beer Can Chicken

Do you like rotisserie chicken?  The fall off the bone rotisserie chicken?  I give you the perfect alternative!  Introducing the beer can chicken!!!!!  I've read a gazillion sites but never tried one.  It seemed kinda stupid.  I have become a HUGE fan!  Fall off the bone, crispy skin, juicy, full flavor chicken!  Better than rotisserie chicken!  Hard to make?  Hardly!!


Ingredients:
1 Chicken (4-5lbs)
1 Favorite Marinade or Rub
1 Can of Favorite Beer

Directions:

So EASY!  Remove all the nasty junk inside the cavity or your chicken.  If you haven't gagged, pat dry your chicken.   Either rub the chicken with your favorite rub or place the chicken in a gallon Ziploc baggy and marinate.  Don't cross contaminate!  Place your chicken in a bowl or dish away from the other food in your fridge.  Be patient!  Let it sit and soak up the flavors!  The longer the better.

I don't have a lot of beer cans lying around.  Bottles yes, beer cans, no.  I just used an old soda can.  Rinse it out before you use it.   Fill the beer can about 3/4 full.  I added more crushed garlic to the can.  Take your chicken and slide it over the can.  Yes, basically up the butt.  Stop laughing now!  I know its funny and sounds ridiculous.   Use the legs of the chicken and the beer can to balance.  Like a tri-pod.  Fold the chicken wings over behind the chicken.  Let the chicken sit to warm up a little before you start to cook it.

The chicken is cooked over indirect heat.  What is indirect heat?  Its simple, the food is not cooked directly over heat.  I cooked my over charcoal on my Weber, Mrs RS.  You will need a pie tin or some kind of drip pan.   The pie tin goes in the middle of your grill.  Once your coals are all heated and starting to turn white, you want to place the coals around your pie tin.  Balance the chicken directly over the pie tin. 

Cook the chicken for about 1 1/2 - 2 hours.   You will want to add more coals about an hour after you started.  I light my coals in my chimney starter, but you can place the coals directly onto  the older coals.  Leave the lid off until those coals ignite.  How do you know its done?  Stick a meat thermometer in the thigh it should read 180 degrees.  Don't have a meat thermometer?  The juices from the chicken should run clear. 

What you have is succulent, juicy, fall off the bone chicken.  Damn tasty too! 

Enjoy!

From The Kitchen of Couch Potato Man - World Famous BBQ Sweet Burgers

Inspired by a recent blog I read. So I'm hoping this is half as good as her blog.

I love to eat and love to the cook. Inspires my creative side. Feeds my creative side.

The ingredients for the WORLD FAMOUS BBQ SWEET BURGER!

For the burger. 80/20 ground beef. Why?!?! 80/20 makes a better tasting, juicer burger than leaner ground beef. Salt and pepper. I used to mix my ground beef with garlic salt, onion powder, salt and pepper. Soup mix sometimes. But now I just form the patties and liberally salt and pepper the outside. Then add my flavoring to the outside while its cooking. Taste SO much better.

For the BBQ sweet sauce. Any plain bbq sauce, soy sauce, brown sugar, cayenne pepper and black pepper. I don't really measure it out, I put in all in a bowl and mix it up. It should be runny and have a deep dark brown look. When you taste it, it should be tangy, sweet and some spice at the end.

For the sweet onions. About 1/4 inch think slices. Brush both sides with olive oil. Salt and pepper both sides.

I set my grill at about medium to medium high. When I'm cooking the burgers I brush the sweet sauce on the burgers. DO NOT BRUSH THE BURGERS UNTIL YOU FLIP IT ONCE! I turn the onions once. I usually only flip my burgers once, but for these I do it twice to carmelize the sugar on the outside. I like my buns spanked...I mean toasted. I brush my buns with olive oil and salt and pepper too. While you're grilling, its required by law that you have one open beer in one hand. This just makes you cook better.

The finished goods!

I top my burger with melted cheddar cheese, grilled onions and a tomato. Bacon is always good on these burgers too. My kids always ask for extra sauce. And I ALWAYS tell people to taste the burger before they start drowning it with ketchup and mustand. And those select few weirdos who use mayonaise.

Helpful hints:

Put toothpics in your onions. They will fall apart when you flip them on the grill. Don't forget to take them out before you eat!

Never ever, EVER poke or push down with your spatula when you are cooking your burger. You are just squeezing all the juices out! If I see you doing this, I will push you down and finish cooking. Well I won't do that, I'll just talk about you behind your back for the rest of the day.

And will you please melt the cheese on the burger on the grill! It only takes an extra 30-60 seconds out of your life for a better burger.

ENJOY!