Drunkin' Chicken

Now what would happen if you stuck a chicken on a can of beer and cooked it on the grill? You'd be surprised how moist the meat would be because the beer does that for you! But would you have a chicken that tastes like beer? No, just moist!This is how the Deen Brothers, Paula Deen's boys, do it, but they call it ":Beer in the Rear Chicken." You can find this book on our website bfcookbooks.com.

We preheat the grill to medium, about 350 degrees, and you can use any grill that has a tall enough lid, but we prefer to use a charcoal grill. We start the charcoal and wait until it has a light gray layer of ash. Then we put a drip pan under the grate in the center, and line the hot coals on each side. Sometimes we have to add a couple more charcoals on each side if they burn up too fast.

Next, we wash and pat dry a four-pound chicken and rub it with the following Mayo Rub from the Deen Brothers to make the skin nice and crisp:

Mayo Rub

1/4 cup mayo                                      1/2 tsp salt
Zest of 1 lemon                                   1/2 tsp black pepper
1 tsp paprika                                        Pinch of cayenne pepper
1/4 tsp celery seed

Last, take a few sips of a 14-ounce can of beer of your choice, then stand the can in the center of the grill. Place the chicken on it by the rear cavity and grill for 1 1/2 or 2 hours until it is 180 degrees. There! Enjoy your meal!

We think a nice grill for the Drunkin' Chicken is our Pro Deluxe Grill - it has a cast iron cooking surface for even heating with adjustable grate height for temperature control. Coals can be easily added without removing the entire grate. You can find it  on our website bestbackyardchef.com.