Mmm...is for Mommy: More Grilling Adventures

Summer might be winding down, but my aspirations of becoming 'Grill Master of the House' are not. This is a technique I've heard being raved about for years but was out of my comfort zone, until now. Initially I wanted to try this Root Beer-Can Chicken recipe from Cooking Light, but for the life of me could not remember to pick up 2 cans of root beer (Mommy Brain never goes away, right?)... so I swiped one of hubby's beer and let my imagination take over.

First thing you need to do is grab a can of beer, any ol' beer. Then you drink half of it, or in my case, make fruit fly traps because I just can't stand beer without a bottle of wine first. Some people have said to poke extra holes in the top of the can and some haven't. I did, but probably won't bother next time.

Then I popped the can up the chicken's butt (sorry, no real tactful way for me to say it) and gave it a good rub down. I used my Epicure Barbecue Rub, but any mixture of herbs and or spices would work fine. Having chili and paprika in it gives the end result a nice BBQ colour.

I had half of my gas grill preheated to medium and transferred the chick-can to the other side of the grill. This indirect heat makes it less likely for the chicken to burn while being thoroughly cooked.

At the hour mark, I very lightly brushed on a small bit of barbecue sauce (only about a tbsp or so), just to add some shine. I repeated this 10 minutes later. At 1 hour, 20 minutes, my chicken was done.

Removing the chicken was a challenge, and now I know why I've seen some pics where the can and chicken were placed on a baking sheet... I had to use my biggest tongs and try to grab hold of the chicken whilst gently removing her beer can stem. Eventually I won the battle, but it wasn't pretty and the beer can may or may not have flown off the deck.