Beer Can Chicken

The specialties from the restaurant at Tempat Senang in Batam are "Beer Can Chicken" and "Nasi Campur". I told The Husband I wanted Nasi Campur, since we were in Indonesia after all..

But the name "Beer Can Chicken" intrigued me. A simple search on google answered my questions. "Beer can chicken" or also called "Beer in the Butt Chicken", is basically chicken grilled with half a can of beef stuck in its butt. Now the chicken may look ridiculous over the grill or in the oven this way, but this method of cooking the chicken produces a really superbly tender, fall-off-the-bone chicken with crispy skin.

This is because whilst the chicken is dry roasted on the outside, the inside of the chicken is cooked, broiled almost with steamy beer. The fat of the chicken from the skin also drips off easily with the chicken cooked in a standing position. The yeast and malt in the beer also reacts with the chicken, making it extra tender and soft.

Ingredients
- 1 large chicken (about 1.2 - 1.5kg), washed and pat dry
- Half a can of beer
(Be sure to drink the other half whilst it's still cold)
- Seasoning - anything you like
(Fresh herbs, salt, pepper, etc. I used a spicy Indonesia BBQ mix this time around)
- A bit of softened butter
(I used the left over bit of my homemade sundried tomato butter)


What I did
1. Trim away excessively fat bits of the skin
2. Make small incisions in parts of the skin at the breast, back, thighs and slot in the softened butter. This little bit of butter helps to really crisp up the skin during the roasting process
3. Rub the seasoning in. Get it all over the chicken - outside and inside and under the skin where you can as well.
4. Let the marinate do the magic for at least a few hours, overnight if possible
5. Preheat oven at 225 deg C
6. Insert the chicken over the half can of beer and place in a baking tray
7. Turn the heat down to 180 deg C and place chicken on the lowest rack in the oven
8. Roast chicken for about 90 minutes, basting it with the drippings about halfway through the roasting process
9. If the top of the chicken gets a little too dark during the roasting process, cover it lightly with a small piece of aluminum foil

The chicken looks a bit ridiculous, with a can in its butt

Putting the tray on the lowest rack of the oven is necessary because 

the chicken is quite tall, since it's in a standing position

After 90 minutes of roasting..  
Oh my pictures don't do the chicken justice...

Another view of the chicken

Once the chicken is done, be careful as you are removing it from the oven as the beer is quite hot. You can eat the chicken by carving it whilst it's still standing.. but it's probably better (and safer) to lift it off the beer can into a separate tray.

This is one of the most tender roasted chicken I've ever cooked. Do give it a try and let me know how it turns out. If you don't want to use beer, Sprite works just fine too.