fatbastardeats.com

Bah. Back in civilization after an extended time in the wild. Including all the typical pleasures of the open world like no Internet access, limited shelter and illnesses not seen in modern times.

But while out there I was able to try that “Beer-can-up-the-butt” chicken recipe I linked to last week from Serious Eats. Besides the inherent joy of violating a chicken this recipe has the added bonus of being really, really good. I’m definitely going to use it again in the future, but I’d like to list a few observations below:

• My bird cooked way faster than the time in the recipe. It wasn’t a problem for me since I use a leave in thermometer but if you were cooking it based purely off time I don’t think it would turn out right.
• This bird was beyond moist. It was porn star wet. I cut into it and juices overran the cutting board. I let it rest for at least 10 minutes so I don’t think that was the problem, I wonder if in the future I should skip the brining step? It didn’t hurt the taste just a bit messy.
• At then end of cooking you have a delicious chicken, sitting on a grill and filled with a fucking molten core of hot beer! Plan for pulling that beer can out ahead of time, it’s hard to eat when your hands have blistered beyond recognition.
• While this was good chicken, at the end I was reminded that it was just chicken. It seems there’s not a whole lot you can do to dress up chicken. There’s a plainness to it you can’t seem to cover up even with a good rub(that is a good poultry rub).
• Relatedly, don’t expect any kudos from friends and family who don’t eat the skin. That’s where all the flavor is on this bird. Don’t be angry though, their punishment is going through life avoiding taste in the vain hopes that they’ll be healthier, when really if the worst thing you ate in a day was the skin of a roasted chicken you’re eating pretty healthy.
• You could do this chicken in the oven. I think the reason it’s a grill recipes because a lot of juices, fat and beer drip out but if you put a drop pan in your oven it should be OK.

So that’s the report. Overall a great chicken, still just a chicken. But I’m always looking for new ways to cook a whole bird since that’s the cheapest, freshest meat you can find and this is a good one.