There are 2 things I cook a LOT.  Ribeye’s (my favorite, so you should see a blog on this soon) and Beer Butt Chicken. 

Sometimes I will tear up the chicken meat and make chicken fajitas with black beans, salsa, cheese, lettuce, etc.  Other times, I will just cut up the chicken with kitchen scissors into drumsticks, thighs, breasts, and wings.  The kids always love the drumsticks.

Depending on ingredients that I have around the house, I might switch a few ingredients and/or leave out the smoked wood chips but, here is a good recipe you can work from. 

 Ingredients

• 1 whole chicken
• ½ white onion, chopped
• 1 can of beer
• 1 tablespoon freshly ground pepper
• 1 tablespoon sea salt
• 1 tablespoon paprika
• 1 tablespoon brown sugar
• ½ stick of butter
• 1-2 cups of wood chips soaked in water for an hour (hickory or mesquite)
• 1 cup of chicken broth

Other Items (see my post on Top Grilling Accessories)

• Beer Butt Chicken Holder
• Injector

 

Cooking Instructions:

Create the chicken rub with 1 tablespoon of freshly ground pepper, 1 tablespoon sea salt, 1 tablespoon paprika, and optional 1 tablespoon brown sugar.

Create the injector sauce with 1 cup of chicken broth and 1 tablespoon of the chicken rub.

Clean the thawed chicken with cold water and remove neck, giblets and all the other junk inside.  Drink ½ of the beer.  Put chopped onion and ½ of the garlic in the can of beer and put beer can in the beer butt chicken rack. 

Rub 1 tablespoon of butter inside chicken, then rub 1 tablespoon of rub inside chicken.  Pull the chicken over the beer can.  Liberally coat the chicken with butter using the stick of butter over the chicken.  Rub the rest of the chicken rub on the chicken.  If there is any butter left, I just set it on top of the neck cavity so that the butter can melt in and on the chicken as it cooks.

Inject the chicken in the breasts, thighs, and drumsticks.  I usually end up throwing out ½ of the injector sauce…..but having this much makes it easier to draw the sauce into the injector since mine has a whole about an inch up the needle.  I have a hard time trying to draw the sauce into the needle if there isn’t much sauce left.

Create a foil packet of wood chips, poke a few holes and place directly on the burner.

Cook on indirect heat for about 1 ½ to 2 hours.  I usually maintain a 310-330 degree heat. The lid should remain closed for the duration of the cooking.  Once the thigh reaches 180 degrees, it should be done cooking.  You should notice clear juices dripping from the chicken.  This is the point where I start my veggies over the fire.  The chicken can remain on the grill to keep it warm, but it shouldn’t cook much now that the lid is open.

Side Options

For fajitas, you can cook up some bell peppers.  I usually will use about 3 (1 yellow, 1 red, and 1 green), each cut into 6 pieces so that they don’t fall thru the grill.  Grill these for about 15 minutes on high, flipping once so that you get a good browning on both sides.

Again, for fajitas, you can cut a white onion into thick ½ inch thick disks.  It makes it easier to turn them on the grill without them falling apart if they are thick.  Cook for about 15 minutes, turning once. 

You can also cook corn on the cob in the husks. Soak them in water for about an hour before cooking so the husks don’t easily burn.  Cook on high for about 15-20 minutes…rotating occasionally.

Notes

To spice things up, you can add 1 teaspoon of cayenne pepper to the rub.

If you have more chicken broth left over (after using the 1 cup), save it for leftovers.  If you reheat the chicken in the microwave, add some chicken broth to help keep it moist.

-GrillDude