by Thunderbird30 » 25 Jan 2015, 15:51
Well here's my thoughts on it....
Think about this: You've never seen a fine dining restaurant serve Beer Can Chicken, have you? That's because professional chefs know this is not the best way to roast a chicken.
Yes, I know Beer Can Chicken tastes wonderful. Yes, I know neighbours and family think Beer Can Chicken is fabulous. It absolutely positively is fabulous. What's not to love about roast chicken?
Yes, I know there are two books on to the subject, a blog, millions of devotees, and scores of gadgets to assist the process. Yes, with the fowl perched comically on its legs seemingly guzzling brew through its posterior, Beer Can Chicken is a show-stopper.
But Beer Butt Bird remains a gimmick, a waste of good beer, an inferior cooking technique, and it is hazardous. In the words of Sterling Ball of BigPoppaSmokers.com "I think Beer Can Chicken is a religion. We need a little separation of faith and science here." Unless you do a blind taste test, gallus a gallus, you cannot pronounce one method superior.
First, let's look at what beer can chicken gets right
The recommended procedure is to use room temperature beer, (most people use cold beer right from the fridge), drink half the can, and punch holes in the top. Some folks put herbs and spices in the can. The ideal bird is 3 1/2 to 5 pounds and you want a nice flavourful rub. Some folks inject. You fold back the wings so they don't burn, the can is inserted in the cavity and the whole apparatus sits on three points, the can and the two drumsticks. It is placed over indirect heat in a 2-zone system so it can cook by convection heat. Some rookies make the mistake of placing it directly over the heat and this inevitably results in a cremated fowl since fat drips out the bottom and the direct heat cooks the bottom far faster than the breasts. If you have heat from both sides you usually don't need to turn the bird. Do it right, and when you are done you have a lovely roast chicken.
1) Crackly skin. Do it right and you'll always have crunchy, crackly, tasty skin, and the vertical orientation drains fat well.
2) Even exterior browning. Beer Can Chicken doesn't tie the legs together as is done in the classic French method, so the crotch area browns better than when the meat is trussed.
3) Cooks white meat and dark meat to proper temps. Breasts should be removed at about 160°F and dark meat is best in the 170 to 180°F range. Vertical roasting with the legs facing the heat helps the dark meat heat faster than the breasts.
4) It looks really cool! BCC is an impressive presentation having that little humanoid standing there in the middle of the table, legs, splayed in a come hither look, arms wide beckoning you. But....
Now let's look at the many things beer can chicken gets wrong
MYTH: The beer moisturises the meat. There is no way on earth the beer can escape the can and contact the flesh because the can blocks sideways movement and the beer never gets hot enough to steam and come out the top. That means no steam. Zero. Zip. Nada.
But even if the beer got hot enough to evaporate, it can't because it is covered by a layer of chicken fat! That's right, as the chicken cooks, fat and juices (myoglobin) drip into the can, and fat floats on top of the beer preventing any aromatics or moisture from escaping. The can actually weighs more after the cooking session because of the fat and myoglobin!
Also the can is inserted half way up the cavity and blocks the meat from contact with the beer. The can is like a condom. The surface area of the exterior of the bird is vastly greater than the surface area of the cavity, and after blocking off most of the cavity with the can, there is very little surface area for flavour to penetrate, just the 2" or so above the can in the shoulder. But because the meat is cold, it shouldn't get above 165F or so, any vapours coming our of the can would condense on the meat inside the shoulder and drip back into the can. Of course that doesn't happen because the beer never evaporates.
And anyone who says the beer crisps the skin, which is separated from the can by at least 1" of meat really has been smoking more than chicken. The skin is crisp because there is warm dry air all around it and because fat drips away in the vertical orientation.
MYTH: The beer adds flavour. On average, 92% percent of beer is flavourless water and 5% is flavourless alcohol. All the flavour compounds are at most 3.5% of the weight: 1 to 2.5% sugars with 0.5 to 1% a mix of proteins, minerals, small chain organic acids, and esters, aldehydes, and ketones, which are a mix of acids and alcohols. Finally, 0.25% of the beer is carbon dioxide under pressure to make it bubble.
That means that in a 12 ounce can of beer, there is about 1 teaspoon of flavour, even in big dark beers like stout the flavour compounds are a very small part of the brew. In other words, it is impossible for the beer to flavour the meat in any detectable way. Yes, you might be able to smell beer while it is cooking, but that smell is the result of immeasurably small parts per billion of the aromatics.
And no, it won't make any difference if you use soft drinks or other beverages. None of them will evaporate any faster or contribute any more flavour.
John Kass of, a columnist for The Chicago Tribune raves about beer can chicken. He says you need to put a "hoofta" or two of spices and herbs in the can, the hoofta being a Greek measurement of undetermined quantities, perhaps a handful. The problem is that most of the compounds in herbs and spices don't dissolve in water, but they do in oil and alcohol. But there is not much alcohol in beer. Even then, only a few molecules will escape the can, and most go right out the top.
The whole process can be dangerous.
If you use just a plain old beer can, no fancy gadget, getting the bird and can off the grill is tricky. How do you grab it, by the can or by the bird? With what? And separating the two can be especially tricky because they are hot and they tend to stick together. Spill hot beer and fat on bare legs and feet in sandals and your July 4 will be spent in the emergency room.
How'd you like some plastic in your hoofta? Brewers do not test the plastic liners inside the can at cooking temperatures, and the ink on the outside of the can is not likely food grade.There are many recipes that cooks have been passing around for years that use beer to flavour chicken, and some of them suggest using an actual can of beer in the cooking process. While many people swear by these methods, and apparently they produce some delicious results, it's not one that brewers of beer either endorse or recommend, since cans aren't designed for this purpose. They do, however, recommend many recipes using beer and for cooks to be creative with beer in many other dishes as well." Some beers, like Guinness Stout, have a "widget", a plastic ball in the can that helps release the CO2 in the beer and who knows what it is made of and how it will behave when heated. Beware of widgets.
Because the meat in the cavity is not heated from within, if you don't use an accurate digital thermometer you run the risk of undercooked meat down in there. You must take the meat temp close to the ribs, not in the centre of the breast as usual, because the coldest part is down by the cavity.
I guess that the end answer is to try it yourself and see what you think!