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Beer Butt Chicken photo of chicken being carved with a hive flower garnish

One Hour Beer Butt Chicken

One Hour Beer Butt Chicken - it only takes an hour at high heat to infuse flavour into the dry rubbed chicken, while giving it a little tasty char on the skin and yielding a juicy, succulent result.
Course BBQ/Grilling
Cuisine North American
Keyword barbecue, chicken
Prep Time 10 minutes
Cook Time 1 hour
Resting time 15 minutes
Total Time 1 hour 10 minutes
Servings 6 servings or 4 for larger appetites.
Calories 502 kcal
Author Barry C. Parsons

Ingredients

  • 3 pounds whole fresh chicken
  • Smokin Summer Spice Dry Rub
  • 6 ounces beer or chicken stock or water
  • 2 cloves sliced garlic
  • 4 sprigs fresh thyme sage or oregano are good too
  • 6 peppercorns

Instructions

  1. Trim any excess skin and fat from the chicken. Tie the legs together with butcher string and tie the wings to the body of the bird as well with a single length of butcher string as pictured.
  2. Sprinkle the dry rub generously over the entire surface of the chicken.
  3. Add the beer, garlic, thyme and peppercorns to a standard 12 ounce beer or soda can.
  4. Carefully invert the cavity of the chicken over the can and then place it in a shallow baking dish or metal pan.
  5. Preheat gas grill to 450 degrees. I use indirect heat for this method. My gas BBQ grill has 3 burners, so I only turn on the two at the sides and leave the one on the centre off, which is where I palace the pan to hold the chicken/s).
  6. Close the cover and watch the temperature gauge for a few minutes. Regulate the temperature to around 450 degrees but no lower than 425.
  7. Cook for one hour until the skin is crispy and the chicken registers 180 degrees on a meat thermometer in the thickest part of the breast or thigh.
  8. Remove from the BBQ and let the chicken rest for 10-15 minutes before carving and serving.

Recipe Notes

I also often smoke this chicken at about 400-425 degrees in a charcoal kettle grill.  I do it over indirect heat, with the charcoal fire on one side and the chicken/s on the other.

I use a smoke box filled with chips placed over the fire to create the smoke. Hickory or Mesquite are my favourites but you can use any wood chips you like.

You can still smoke the chicken on a gas grill, just put the smoke box filled with wood chips under the racks on the v shaped flame deflectors that most gas grills have.

The chicken, of course is still over indirect heat as described in the recipe.


The nutritional information provided is automatically calculated by third party software and is meant as a guideline only. Exact accuracy is not guaranteed. For recipes where all ingredients may not be used entirely, such as those with coatings on meats, or with sauces or dressings for example, calorie & nutritional values per serving will likely be somewhat lower than indicated.