1st time beer can chicken

[Iclickhappy]

Last night I had a lovely meal of beer can chicken (not actually on a can but using a vertical roasting stand) and I'd like to thank this forum for giving me loads of information and opening up the world of real BBQ.

2 hour cook with the roaster on one side of the coal grate of my OTP with a starter of big K retail charcoal piled up over the other. I used a bit of foil to protect the bird from the direct heat.

The temp gauge on the lid read 200 c for the first hour or so then began dropping to around 150 when I took the bird out. I used a digital thermometer to check the thigh temperature which was ok according to the webber site (@74 c) but since stripping the carcass there are many pink bits near the joints which will go in the oven before being eaten.

As the coals were only on one side so perhaps I checked the temperature of the thigh closest to the coals and the other would have shown it wasn't properly cooked. Oh well, as it was just me and the wife we were able to enjoy the breast which was nicely cooked and I've learnt what not to do next time.

The chicken in the roaster poked through the central hole in the 'gourmet grill' giving some direct and indirect grilling surface which I didn't make use of this time but it's good to know for the future.

I used some Memphis dust rub, pushed some butter down beneath the skin over the breast and added lemon juice to the water in the roaster dish. The skin was nice and crispy but I think if would have benefited with some caramelised BBQ sauce smothered over it.

Hope my brain dump is interesting/useful to someone here.

Tried to post a photo but 'board attachment quota has been reached'???

[CHokKA]

Those pink bits in the chicken are unlikely to have been undercooked meat. Usually meat on the bone is pinkish once cooked. If the chicken had cooked to the point of having crispy skin after 2 hours on the BBQ, unless you'd done something majorly wrong with the coals or vents, your chicken will have been perfectly done. I find that it takes about an hour and a half for a chicken in my Weber MasterTouch. The pink in the meat is most likely from haemoglobin and also for younger birds the marrow can give the pinkish tinge.

Also, don't pay attention to the thermometer in the lid of your Weber. It is most likely very inaccurate. Invest in a Maverick ET7 thermometer so that you can keep one probe in the meat whilst it cooks, and the other on the grid level so that you get an accurate reading whilst cooking

[JEC]

As above pink on outside is from smoke and inside is normally next to the bone, if you checked all four parts with a temperature probe it will have been ok. Glad it went well.

[Iclickhappy]

Thanks, i have the carcass in the fridge and will investigate if it's just pink near the bones or in the flesh.

I used a thermocouple to keep an eye on the temperature at the grate when I cooked ribs but it was raining for most of yesterday's cook and it's not waterproof. I'll have to checkout a ET7, I like the idea of knowing the temp of the meat whilst it is cooking.

Here is a picture of the cooked chicken.

I think I trimmed off too much skin from around the neck as it has shrunk leaving the meat exposed.

[img]http://tapatalk.imageshack.com/v2/14/08/26/75a6e19074d38777d44ceb2868c1a0f5.jpg[/img]

[PDC7]

Can you post a link to the roaster you used?

[Iclickhappy]

http://www.johnlewis.com/john-lewis-bbq ... er/p711701

[PDC7]

Thanks, just bought one marked down in sainsburys, £1.50 looks like it will be a great fit with the gourmet grill