Summer time means BBQ time!

I love summer for many reasons. I am very fortunate to have a terrific cottage north of the city to which I can escape the fog and noise pollution of the city. I spend my time reading, napping, gardening, burning stuff, and of course barbequing.

One of the recipes that is most requested by all of my guests is my beer can chicken. It is not only gives you chicken that is so moist that you won’t believe it, but it also is one of the few items that you can put on the barbeque and just leave alone. Over the years I have simplified the recipe greatly and no one has noticed any difference in taste, so I am sharing with you my simplified recipe.

Here's what you need:

- 1 medium size chicken
- A couple of tablespoons of your favorite rub that may include any combination of the following: salt, paprika (smoked, regular, or hot), garlic powder, onion salt, seasoning salt, poultry seasoning, lemon pepper, regular pepper, mixed grilling spices, steak seasoning etc. Note: All spices and herbs should be finely ground – Do not use loose herbs or they will burn.
- 1 can of whatever beer you have on hand.

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Instructions:

The morning that you plan to BBQ, take the chicken and cover it inside out with the spices. It may look like it is going on a little thickly – Don’t worry – It all works out. Return the chicken to the fridge until you are ready to put it on the BBQ. Short on time? No worries. The recipe still works even if the chicken doesn't marinade in the fridge with the spices.

One hour and fifteen minutes before you plan to eat, turn on the BBQ to high on all burners. You now have fifteen minutes to get the chicken ready. Take the seasoned chicken from the fridge and impale it on an open can of your favorite beer. Place it on a pie plate upright. Take a small amount of foil and cover the ends of the chicken legs that are resting on the pie plate – This helps them not to burn. Take another piece of foil and stuff it in the neck of the chicken to stop the steam from coming up through the neck. The ball of foil that you use will depend on the cavity. Take any extra skin around the neck and cover the foil.

Turn all of the BBQ burners down to low and place the chicken on the pie plate on the front part of the grill with the back facing toward the front of the BBQ. Rotate the chicken after it has been on for a half hour. Be careful when closing the BBQ lid as the chicken might fall over.

Chicken will be cooked at one hour. Resist the urge to keep opening the BBQ door several times during the cooking as it will only slow down the cooking time.

Oh and here are a couple of lessons learned by my sister:

1) Place the chicken toward the very front of the grill. It helps the chicken not to burn.

2) Do not use pie plates with holes in them. As you can see the chicken on the left is almost perfectly cooked except the breast is a little too dark as a result of the pie plate being placed at the back of the grill as opposed to the front. You will notice that the chicken on the right however is so char grilled and looks like it is trying to escape from the BBQ as a result of the chicken fat dripping through the holes and igniting on the grill setting the poor bird aflame!

In terms of serving, I'm pretty lazy when it comes to "carving" a chicken. I have found that the best way to disassemble the bird is with kitchen shears. Simply cut at each joint and pile the pieces happily on a serving platter. No fuss, no muss. Happy grilling!