Beer Can Chicken With Rosemary Garlic Orange Butter Sauce

This beer can chicken is basted with rosemary garlic orange butter sauce and it is amazing!

David and I love citrus with poultry and since we hadn’t had Beer Can Chicken in a while, we decided to baste our bird in a rosemary garlic orange butter sauce, while he sat on the grill getting all yummy.

Here’s how we made the Beer Can Chicken:

Light one chimney full of charcoal. When all the charcoal is lit and covered with gray ash, pour out and spread the coals evenly over half of the coal grate. (If using a gas grill, light half the burners of a gas grill to high heat).

Set cooking grate in place, cover gill and allow to preheat for 5 minutes. Clean and oil the grilling grate.

Meanwhile, remove neck and giblets from chicken and discard. Rinse chicken inside and out, and pat dry with paper towels. Rub chicken lightly with salt, pepper, to taste; set aside.

Melt butter (either on the stove top over low heat or in the microwave, for 5-second intervals). Combine garlic, rosemary, orange zest, and orange juice to the butter. Mix well.

Using a brush, paint on the rosemary orange butter sauce generously all over the bird. Reserve what is left for basting while the bird is cooking. If the wings do not want to stay in place, you may want to tie them up so that they will not cook too fast.

Open beer can. Swig it down until it is half full.

Note: If you overindulge and your swigging gets out of control, you will have to start over with a new beer… DARN IT.

Place the beer can on a solid surface place the bird cavity over the beer can. Transfer the bird-on-a-can to your grill and place in the center of the grate, balancing the bird on its 2 legs and the can like a tripod.

Cook the beer can chicken over medium-high, indirect heat. Cover and cook, basting every 20 to 30 minutes until the thigh juice runs clear when stabbed with a fork, approximately 1 hour 15 minutes.

If the sauce starts to solidify, warm over the heat of the grill while basting, but do not leave it because it could burn.

Remove from grill and let rest for 10 minutes before carving.

To go along with the beer can chicken we grilled some squash and zucchini that were brushed in some extra virgin olive oil, a bit of garlic powder, salt, and pepper.

I also sautéed some snaps with shiitake mushrooms to go along with this chicken.

GET GRILLING!

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Beer Can Chicken With Rosemary Garlic Orange Butter Sauce

Beer Can Chicken is flavored with rosemary garlic orange butter sauce with garlic, slow cooked on the grill until tender, moist and falling-off-the-bone.

Prep Time 30 minutes minutes

Cook Time 1 hour hour 30 minutes minutes

Total Time 2 hours hours

Servings 4

Calories 640kcal

Author David & Debbie Spivey

Ingredients

• ▢ 4 pounds whole chicken
• ▢ Kosher salt and freshly cracked black pepper to taste
• ▢ 4 tablespoons unsalted butter melted
• ▢ 3 cloves garlic minced
• ▢ 1 tablespoons rosemary minced plus one stalk for the beer
• ▢ 2 oranges juiced and zested (reserve one of the remaining orange halves to plug the hole of the neck of the bird)
• ▢ 12 ounce canned beer

Instructions

• Light one chimney full of charcoal. When all the charcoal is lit and covered with gray ash, pour out and spread the coals evenly over half of the coal grate. (If using a gas grill, light half the burners of a gas grill to high heat).

  Set cooking grate in place, cover gill and allow to preheat for 5 minutes. Clean and oil the grilling grate.
• Remove neck and giblets from chicken and discard. Rinse chicken inside and out, and pat dry with paper towels. Rub chicken lightly with salt, pepper. Set aside.
• Melt butter (either on the stove top over low heat or in the microwave, for 5-second intervals). Combine garlic, rosemary, orange zest, and orange juice to the butter. Mix well.
• Using a brush, paint on the rosemary orange butter sauce generously all over the bird. Reserve what is left for basting while the bird is cooking. If the wings do not want to stay in place, you may want to tie them up so that they will not cook too fast.
• Place the beer can on a solid surface place the bird cavity over the beer can. Transfer the bird-on-a-can to your grill and place in the center of the grate, balancing the bird on its 2 legs and the can like a tripod.
• Cook the chicken over medium-high, indirect heat. Cover and cook, basting every 20 to 30 minutes until the thigh juice runs clear when stabbed with a fork, approximately 1 hour 30 minutes. 
• Remove from grill and let rest for 10 minutes before carving.

Notes

If the sauce starts to solidify, warm over the heat of the grill while basting, but do not leave it because it could burn.

Nutrition

Calories: 640kcal | Carbohydrates: 11g | Protein: 41g | Fat: 44g | Saturated Fat: 16g | Cholesterol: 193mg | Sodium: 157mg | Potassium: 562mg | Fiber: 1g | Sugar: 6g | Vitamin A: 820IU | Vitamin C: 39.4mg | Calcium: 67mg | Iron: 2.2mg

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