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The Best Beer Can Smoked Chicken

March 2, 2019 by casey 7 Comments

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What is up y’all?? IT IS TIME!!!! I have spent a long time now grilling and smoking meat. Now I want to share it with the world. Today I’ll share one of my favorite recipes for the Best Beer Can Smoked Chicken and man it is delicious. All you need for this is a whole chicken, your smoker, a great rub recipe (provided below), your beer of choice and passion for smoking. The best part of smoking or grilling meat is the satisfaction you get from the smiles on the faces of the folks you’re feeding. This smoked chicken seems to get devoured within minutes…so be sure to smoke a few chickens at a time so you can feed your crowd. Let’s get started….

smoked chicken rub

Easy Beer Can Chicken Rub

For this recipe, we start with a whole chicken, a blend of spices to create the perfect smoked chicken rub. If you want, you can even consider a smoked chicken brine the night before to add extra flavor to the chicken, but this does require extra planning in advance of smoking. For this post we just stuck with the traditional smoked chicken rub and olive oil.

smoked whole chicken recipe-2

smoked chicken rub brown sugar

After seasoning the chicken, you can start to prepare your smoker. I used the Minion Method for smoking since it’s cold here in Ohio!!

smoked chicken recipe

master built smoked chicken

How to Make Beer Can Chicken

Once your smoker is ready to go, simply place your beer can in the center of the smoker and then lower your chicken on top of it so that it’s standing upright. The chicken will smoke like this for4+ hours or until the internal temperature reaches 165 degrees (in the thickest part of the bird).

Beer Can Chicken Rub

Keep your smoking temperature around 225 degrees for the duration of the smoking period. Check your chicken around the 2 1/2 hour mark to see how it’s doing.

the best beer can chicken recipe

Once your bird is cooked (haha), pull it off the smoker and let rest for about 10 minutes. Then slice it up and enjoy!! Hopefully we’ve shown you the easy way on how to make a smoked chicken and you fall in love with our favorite smoked chicken rub using brown sugar. This is an easy first recipe for those new to smoking! We highly recommend slicing up your smoked chicken and storing the extras in the freezer for other dinner recipe ideas. More to come soon!

What’s a good beer can chicken liquid substitute?

If you’re not a beer fan or you’re wary of serving  your kids a chicken smoked on a beer can (seems a little hillbilly at first doesn’t it), have no fear. You can try smoking it on a Coke can, a Rootbeer can, or a Dr. Pepper can even. Dark sodas make for great beer can substitutes and each give the chicken it’s own unique flavor. Also know though that the liquid just helps keep the chicken moist, your chicken will NOT taste like beer (or Coke or Dr. Pepper) if you use them. It’ll just pick up some of the flavors, but overall keep the chicken moist and tender.

  • Here’s a post on How to Make Dr. Pepper Smoked Chicken

Smoked Beer Can Chicken vs. Smoked Chicken: what’s the difference?

Beer can chicken and smoked chicken aren’t much different to be honest, they are just two different ways to smoke your chicken on a smoker. Beer can chicken helps prop the bird up on the can which gets the smoke both inside and outside of the chicken and the can being up the inside of the chicken really lets the inside of the chicken be steamed with all those juices from the can. We feel like smoking with a beer can inside makes the bird more tender when it comes off the smoker, but it’s all personal preference.

Can you smoke a whole chicken on a charcoal grill?

YES! It takes a little more work and effort, but you can absolutely smoke on a charcoal grill. Look up the “snake method” of smoking on a charcoal grill and it should give you some good options for smoking meat if you don’t truly have a smoker.

smoked chicken rub

Beer Can Smoked Chicken Rub

Print Recipe Pin Recipe
Course Main Course
Cuisine American

Ingredients
  

  • 1/4 cup brown sugar
  • 1 tbsp course salt
  • 2 tsp black pepper
  • 2 tsp garlic powder
  • 2 tsp onion powder
  • 1 tsp ground mustard
  • 1/2 tsp cayenne pepper

Instructions
 

  • Mix together all seasonings.
  • Rub whole chicken generously with olive oil, then apply dry rub being sure to get in all crevices of the bird. 
Keyword beer, chicken, grill, grilled, rub, smoked

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  1. How to Smoke a Brisket - I Turn Grills On says:
    March 17, 2019 at 3:18 pm

    […] If you liked this, you’ll love my Smoked Beer Can Chicken recipe! […]

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  2. 20 Best Grilled Chicken Recipes - I Turn Grills On says:
    March 17, 2019 at 5:22 pm

    […] Check out my own personal creation using a smoker…Beer Can Smoked Chicken recipe. […]

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  3. Easy Smoked Pulled BBQ Chicken Sandwiches - I Turn Grills On says:
    March 17, 2019 at 10:02 pm

    […] sure to check out my recipe for Smoked Beer Can Chicken if you like what you see […]

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  4. Learn how to make an easy Beer Can Smoked Chicken with rub recipe and perfect se... - Cook Recipe says:
    October 18, 2019 at 4:15 am

    […] Source by iturngrillson.com […]

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  5. Smoked Buffalo Chicken Dip - I Turn Grills On says:
    December 8, 2019 at 2:43 pm

    […] Beer Can Smoked Chicken Recipe […]

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  6. Smoked Dr. Pepper Chicken - I Turn Grills On says:
    January 5, 2020 at 5:18 pm

    […] our first smoker was how to make a Smoked Dr. Pepper Chicken. This is similar to how to smoke a Beer Can Chicken where you place the can directly up into the chicken to prop it up on the smoker and allow maximum […]

    Reply
  7. Smoked Mississippi Pot Roast - I Turn Grills On says:
    April 26, 2020 at 7:02 pm

    […] Beer Can Smoked Chicken […]

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Just a Texas-born guy, living his best Ohio life grilling, smoking, and dad-ing. Find out more about me →

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