{"id":751,"date":"2009-04-16T00:31:32","date_gmt":"2009-04-16T05:31:32","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/crankymouse.com\/?p=751"},"modified":"2009-04-16T06:46:28","modified_gmt":"2009-04-16T11:46:28","slug":"classic-rock-grilled-chicken-smoke-on-the-water","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/crankymouse.com\/index.php\/2009\/04\/16\/classic-rock-grilled-chicken-smoke-on-the-water\/","title":{"rendered":"Classic Rock Grilled Chicken – Smoke on the Water"},"content":{"rendered":"

Recently a coworker asked me what I thought was the best way to grill a whole chicken.\u00a0 I had to think for a few moments because it’s not something I’ve done for quite a while.\u00a0 After I described my technique, I went home and checked the freezer.\u00a0 As I expected, I found the roasting chicken that I had placed there last year safe in its cryogenic coma.\u00a0 This particular chicken was sad and lonely as it was missing its twin.\u00a0 A few dollars can be saved by buying them in a twin pack <\/strong>at the local Costco, so that’s what we do.<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

It was time to grill a chicken. \u00a0So, last Friday, Good Friday, vacation day Friday, became the perfect opportunity to grill up the perfect early season chicken.<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

There are two things you need to properly grill a chicken.\u00a0 Smoke and steam.<\/strong>\u00a0 The smoke is the easy part; a well seasoned (read dirty) gas grill will provide plenty of that, and steam is as easy as heating water.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\"Chicken<\/a><\/p>\n

To begin, you will need the following:<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

1 chicken<\/p>\n

1 \u00bd tbsp olive oil<\/p>\n

1 lemon<\/p>\n

5 cloves of garlic<\/p>\n

1 tbsp black pepper<\/p>\n

1 tbsp kosher salt<\/p>\n

1 tsp basil<\/p>\n

1 tsp parsley<\/p>\n

1 tsp thyme<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

You will also need a chicken stand or beer can and a foil pan.\u00a0 Before you do anything else, go set up your grill.\u00a0 My grill isn’t the biggest you’ve ever seen, but I like it that way, it uses less gas than those fancy big ones.\u00a0 But because it is a bit smaller, I need to modify it slightly for doing chicken.\u00a0 I pull off the top two grates, turn one sideways and put it directly on top of the lava rock.\u00a0 On top of this I put a foil pan with about 1 \u00bd inches of water in the bottom.\u00a0 Light the grill, set it to medium high and close the lid.<\/p>\n

\"Grill<\/a><\/p>\n

Inside, open a beer (today it’s Sam Adams Black Lager), cut the lemon in half and collect the juice, saving one half of it for later.\u00a0 Add the olive oil to the juice and press the garlic into the liquid.\u00a0 In a separate vessel, make a rub by combining the dry ingredients.<\/p>\n

\"Lemon\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Rinse the chicken and remove any organs and necks that were included.\u00a0 Pat dry with a paper towel and move to a cutting board or large plate.\u00a0 I like to use rubber gloves for this but that’s up to you.\u00a0 Rub the chicken with as much of the oil\/lemon mixture as it will hold.\u00a0 Then coat the entire bird with the rub, turning it to ensure full coverage.<\/p>\n

\"Chicken<\/a><\/p>\n

Here is where you can go a few different ways.\u00a0 I’m sure you’ve heard of “beer butt chicken”, well I’ve tried that many times, and I really think that it is a gimmick.\u00a0 It sounds funny, but in the end, it’s just a waste of a sub par beer.\u00a0 Nevertheless, for this technique, we will need to stand the chicken upright, so any beer\/soda can will do the job.\u00a0 I found a chicken stand on sale at my local hardware store for a few dollars and I find that it is much more stable than giving the chicken a rectal exam with a Leinenkugel’s, but work with what you have.<\/p>\n

\"Stand\"<\/a><\/p>\n

So, stand up your chicken by inserting the can\/stand into the main cavity, plug the neck with the reserved half lemon, and go check your grill.\u00a0 If the water is boiling, it’s time to put the bird on.\u00a0 Stand the chicken up right in the middle of the pan of water, turn the burners down to medium and close the lid.<\/p>\n

\"Chicken<\/a><\/p>\n

Now this is going to take a while, so find something else to do, maybe some yard work, or go in and make some side dishes.\u00a0 Whatever it is, you have about 35 minutes or so.\u00a0 When this time period has elapsed, fetch a large glass of water and head out to the grill.\u00a0 Spin the chicken halfway around to account for any uneven heating in the grill, add water to the pan to make up for evaporation losses, and close the grill.\u00a0 We are shooting for an internal temperature of 190 F in the thigh.\u00a0 It should take another 40 minutes to get there but as always, your grill set up, external temperature and size of chicken will have a major impact on the actual cooking time<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

Once your bird reaches the critical temperature you can turn off the grill and close the lid.\u00a0 The chicken will have a perfectly crisp golden brown skin thanks to the olive oil.\u00a0 Let it rest for 10 or so minutes while you finish up any final arrangements.<\/p>\n

\"Chicken<\/a><\/p>\n

When you are ready, bring in the finished chicken, still upright on a plate.\u00a0 I love serving it this way because I really dislike having half the chicken swimming in its own grease.\u00a0 Dividing a chicken up among the O6 is a very dynamic process.\u00a0 Right now, Kiwi prefers wings, as does Kola Nut.\u00a0 Kumquat can be placated with a drumstick.\u00a0 I am a sucker for a leg\/thigh combo, and I always save a breast for Shaina.\u00a0 The rest is divvied up for seconds.<\/p>\n

\"Golden<\/a><\/p>\n

If you are patient, this simple combination of smoke and steam will produce the tastiest, crispiest, juiciest and most tender chicken that you’ve ever made.\u00a0 I can’t wait to use the leftovers for chicken salad.<\/p>\n

\"Chicken<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Recently a coworker asked me what I thought was the best way to grill a whole chicken.\u00a0 I had to think for a few moments because it’s not something I’ve done for quite a while.\u00a0 After I described my technique, I went home and checked the freezer.\u00a0 As I expected, I found the roasting chicken […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_genesis_hide_title":false,"_genesis_hide_breadcrumbs":false,"_genesis_hide_singular_image":false,"_genesis_hide_footer_widgets":false,"_genesis_custom_body_class":"","_genesis_custom_post_class":"","_genesis_layout":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[23,12,30,10],"tags":[66,39,36,65,63,64],"class_list":{"0":"post-751","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","6":"category-featured","7":"category-from-the-patio","8":"category-main-course","9":"category-recipes","10":"tag-beer","11":"tag-chicken","12":"tag-grill","13":"tag-lemon","14":"tag-smoke","15":"tag-thyme","16":"entry","17":"has-post-thumbnail"},"mv":{"thumbnail_id":null,"thumbnail_uri":null},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/crankymouse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/751","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/crankymouse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/crankymouse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/crankymouse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/crankymouse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=751"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/crankymouse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/751\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":762,"href":"https:\/\/crankymouse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/751\/revisions\/762"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/crankymouse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=751"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/crankymouse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=751"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/crankymouse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=751"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}