How To Cook Beer Can Chicken on a Two Burner Weber E-210 Grill
07 Sep 2015I’d had my eye on a ‘proper’ BBQ for a few years, but living in an apartment had absolutely nowhere to put it. Having recently moved to a house, one of my first purchases was a Weber grill. I spent about an hour at the Riverside Garden Centre, deciding between the two burner Weber Spirit E-210 Original, and the three burner Weber Spirit E-310 equivalent.
The guy in the shop was pushing to sell the three burner model - “are you sure the two burner model will be big enough if you have a family?” (dude, seriously, I could cook for an army on the E-210), also stating that it wasn’t possible to do indirect cooking with the two burner model, meaning no beer can chicken. Determined to prove him wrong, I started experimenting…
If you’re not sure of the difference there are plenty of descriptions on the internet; but in a nutshell “direct grilling” is where you cook your food directly over the heat source - steaks, kebabs, sausages etc that only take a short amount of time to cook. “Indirect grilling” is where you use the BBQ more like a convection oven, and is a technique typically used for roasts, ribs and other larger cuts that take a longer amount of time.
Beer Can Chicken is that awesome “I want to impress my mates” BBQ piece that you absolutely have to try. Beer, meat, a load of seasoning, what could possibly go wrong?
Ingredients
- A chicken, obviously!
- A tall can of beer
- Spice mix
Spice Mix
Anything bold works on the chicken, but any variation of the following will work (don’t be afraid to experiment!):
- 1 tsp salt
- 2 tsp pepper
- 1 tsp garlic powder
- 2 tsp paprika
- 1 tsp cayenne chilli pepper (less if you don’t like spice)
- 1 tsp coriander
- 1 tsp thyme
Method
- Heat the grill on full whack, both burners on.
- Make the spice mix in a bowl. Smash it up in a pestle and mortar if you want to be flash, but it’s not required. Coat the chicken in olive oil, and rub in the spice mix all over.
- Pour the top third of the can of beer down your throat, and stab a few holes in the top (of the can, not your throat). This lets the beery steam out into the chicken as it heats. Yum. Stick the seasoned chicken over the can of beer.
- Turn off the right hand burner, put the chicken on the right hand side of the BBQ, and close the lid. After 45 minutes, open the lid, turn the chicken around 180 degrees so that the other side of the chicken is facing the “on” burner. Shut the lid again.
- Depending on the size of the chicken, it’ll probably need another 45 minutes or so (check the cooking instructions on the label for the total cooking time). Use a meat thermometer to check the temperature of the chicken if you’re unsure if it’s done.
- Rest it for 10 minutes, then EAT. Accompany with copious amounts of decent beer. Check out my Untappd profile to see some of the stuff I’ve been drinking recently!
So there you have it. Lessons learnt:
- Beer Can Chicken is awesome. Your mates will love it, and you for cooking them it.
- Indirect cooking is possible on a two burner Weber Grill.