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smoking BEER CAN CHICKEN SCIENCE

OK... The point of contact moisture addition, the upright stabilization... FANTASTIC.

Just one thing.......

Seasoning in the beer?!?!?!?

Or even....WASTING BEER IN THE CAN?!?!?!?!?

Seasonings in the beer: sounds cool, must work eh?

The principal of distillation, and the other principal of "reducing" render this USELESS at best.

Doesn't the beer and seasoning just condense while JUST water evaporates?

There are countries that desalinate water by boiling sea water and collecting the steam. If that SHITE has no salt or other flavorings in it, how can beer expect to impart a salty rub?

So therefore, why reduce perfectly good beer to a sludge in the can, while nearly pure water moistens (but does not flavor) the bird?

This is not a debate. Please PROVE ME WRONG!!!!!!
 
I dunno what you just said. I'll read the post again later after a few hosky's..but I think you're saying that you could have clorox bleach in the can and due to your theory of only h2o being distilled it would not impart a poison bleach flavor to the meat. Yes? No?

Salute', TB.
 
the alcohol will turn to vapor at 173 degrees and then the water will vaporize at 212 degrees along with most other liquids so most will evaporate and "oils" would be left behind I would assume....
 
To be honest I don't like moist chicken, I like it on the dry side. So I've never done the beer butt, but I do marinate in beer and spcies, and highly recommend it.
 
texas blues said:
I dunno what you just said. I'll read the post again later after a few hosky's..but I think you're saying that you could have clorox bleach in the can and due to your theory of only h2o being distilled it would not impart a poison bleach flavor to the meat. Yes? No?

Salute', TB.

You got it, but picked a bad example. If you have clorox the chloride would evaporate first, then the water.

If you have beer, the alcohol would evaporate first, then the water and the salts and spices you might have added will be left in the can. But that is not completely true, many spices containe volatile substances that would evaporate. Think of black pepper - when it is freshly ground it has a wonderful aroma and can give you a nice little kick in the face but it quickly becomes bland and boring. The same is true for many spices and other things like coffee. Much of what we percieve as taste is actually smell/aroma. How does you food taste when you have a stuffy nose?
 
I don't know how it works but it does. We used to cook beer butt chicken every weekend, and got carried away to the point with the seasoning that alot of people were complaining it was too spicy. The only place spises were added was to the beer in the can.
 
im going to have to agree with MrArboc - spices have oils / aromatic compounds that would come out and help flavor the chicken.

give it a try Cheezy - make 2 beer can chickens at the same time. Put JUST water into one can - do the other with beer/spices. Don't put any rub on either one. Then see if you can tell a difference. Easiest way to find out sometimes is to test your theory and see if it holds water.
 
I injected and rubbed, naught but water in the can. (actually a caffiene free pepsi can....*GASP!*;))

Yeah, when you cook soup, you smell it. So something other than water comes out.

I guess I have arrived at the decision that:

Some flavor would come out, but you are wasting 90% of the seasoning you put in there. Definitely wasting the beer.;)

The chicken came out fantastic and moist.

I injected and rubbed exactly the amount of seasoning I wanted. No need for seasoning in the can.
 
Its almost the same debate they have on the smoking forums whether to use liquids other than water in the water pan. I sometimes add herbs and aromatic spices but personally I wouldn't waste good beer or wine.
 
Exactly the same Potowie.

Unless, of course, the beer and spices boil over and gush up into the bird, but then your bird is WAAAAAAAAY over cooked.
 
What you are doing is flavoring the chicken with beer and spice aroma. Aromas flavor foods. In fact it's done all the time with a vaporizer.

You ever put an onion in the fridge and everything tastes like onions?
 
Dude - drink the first five beers, and only stuff the sixth up the bipod's butt...! You won't mourn the lost beer quite as much...
 
POTAWIE said:
If you leave an open beer in the fridge, will the fridge smell like beer?

i left a pair of my boxers in the fridge - guess what the fridge smelled like?? :eek:



seriously though - just don't use expensive beer. i think you're right in that if wouldn't matter if you used Coors Light or Bud Light or Heineken. Your chicken would probably come out tasting the same.
 
I know some types of sausage are traditionally steamed in beer and I'm sure there is more flavor than water. I think its all a matter of whether the added flavor its worth having one less beer to drink
 
We have always used cheap beer when making them, since different beers didn't seem to make it taste different. I really think u would get the same end result using water and spices instead of beer and spices, but I haven't ever tried that, but I just might this weekend after the rib failure on Sunday.
 
I did this for the first time 2 nights ago. I used a cheap ass Tecate with seasoning in it. It was the most tender chicken I've ever tasted. The skin was also nice and crispy to perfection. I honestly couldn't tell you if the seasoning/rub in the beer helped. It was just good! And when I buy beer I get the 30 count so wasting 1 beer wasn't a big deal.
 
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