iCook: 'Beer-in-the-butt' chicken with Parmentier potatoes

Caporegime
Joined
13 May 2003
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34,488
Location
Warwickshire
Basically: get a beer can, drink half, cut the top off with a tin opener, stick it in a chicken, roast chicken!

The beer steams the inside and keeps it moist whilst cooking, also imparting a great flavour.

Tl;dr pic:

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:D.

Recipe:

- Get a reasonable chicken, I used an £8 free range corn fed from Tesco. Season its skin with sea salt, then stick it in the fridge over night with its skin exposed.

- Drink a can of lager or something, open its top up with a can opener, then fill it halfway with your cooking beer of choice. Halfway because otherwise it just spills over into the tray. I used a local ale, (Purity Pure UBU).

- Put some rosemary, garlic, and lemon into the can also. You can alternatively use any chicken-friendly herb that you fancy...tarragon, sage, thyme...

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- Create a rub for the chicken. I used extra virgin olive oil, a chicken stock cube, some chopped rosemary, and salt. Rub it all over the chicken.

- Slide the chicken onto the can.

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- Stick a whole pealed onion in the neck, both for flavour and to try and trap some of the steam from the beer:

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- Put the chicken into a hot oven (230 deg C fan!). It needs to be this hot if you want a very crispy skin.

- Meanwhile, for the parmentier potatoes (or a variation thereof), cube some Maris Pipers.

- Fry in plenty of butter with chopped garlic for five minutes, just to melt the butter and coat the potatoes.

- Set aside. Fry a couple of shallots and some streaky bacon, then add back to the potatoes. I also added some chopped rosemary. To finish, they need ~15 mins at the top of a 200 degree oven (fan). Alternatively, allow to cool and put the batch in the freezer for later, as I did with the unused potatoes (I prepared an entire bag of Maris Pipers).

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Meat thermometer tells me it's done!

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Rest...

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...and make up a gravy from the chicken bits from the baking tray and the onion from the chicken neck, using white whine and a roux to thicken if necessary.

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Served with some steamed broccoli:

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The humble chicken...crispy skin and super-moist meat, vastly underrated in restaurants across the land!
 
looks delish! I will defo try this however wont be using that French Rubbish :p Does Peroni come in can form yet?

Robbie G said:
I used a local ale, (Purity Pure UBU).

I only used the 1664 can as a vessel ;).

As an aside, how does the meat thermometer work as far as telling you the chicken is cooked?

It has both a temperature scale and a list of types of meats...the arrow rotates and when it lines up, it's ready. With chicken, I usually aim for the pork setting, firstly because chicken overcooks very easily, and secondly, it keeps cooking for a while afterwards while it's resting.
 
Wzd - that looks amazing.

Was gonna say, I wonder if the OP has been given Jamie Oliver's US cookbook for Christmas? :p

Haha, nope :). Just Googled beer can chicken and based it on the first recipe I found. I first heard about it from Googling moist roast chicken.

The thermometer should be placed into the thickest part of the thigh and making sure not to touch the bone.

Once the breast is at a certain point on the scale, I know the whole bird is cooked. I do the clear juices test on the thigh anyway so it doesn't really matter. Consistency is the key more than where it goes, though I agree conventional wisdom states that the thermometer should go in the dark meat.
 
That sounds far, far, far too long :p. > 200 degrees C for 2.5 hours will turn it into cardboard.

Imo the can decreases the cooking time, as it cooks more quickly from the inside. I would check the juices after 50 minutes and estimate it taking ~ 1hr. It will carry on cooking while resting also.

What beer did you use out of interest?
 
Why salt it and leave it over night? Surely that'll only draw out moisture

Yes.

...and harm the taste?

No.

I normally do this as it gives a crispier skin. Also since when does removing moisture reduce the intensity of the flavour of something? It's normally the other way round. Many experts of steak cooking advocate seasoning the beef a day in advance to draw out moisture, intensify flavours, and help make that nice crust on the outside.

Meat themometers! *spit*. I can't stand the use of them! Not only do they put a massive hole in the bird, which will harm the taste if you do it regularly but there is no need for them. Just put a small knife into the bird, and if the juices are clear then it's ready.

Otherwise, looks good. Seen this done before and keep meaning to try it. Probably do it this weekend.

Massive hole? Harm taste? Do it regularly? Lolwut?

Why would you 'do it regularly'? You do it once at the start of cooking. It stays in start to finish.

Also not needing something doesn't mean it's not useful. You don't need a car or a house (or to browse OcUK apparently :D).

Anyway happy chickening this summer OcUKers! Do it on the BBQ not in the oven unlike me, it's much nicer!
 
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