Jim's Beer Butt Chicken! YUUUUM!

 

The Go Green Fishing Machine in Hampton is out of winter dry storage and in the water ready for a great spring and summer of fishing and boating. If springtime travel is on your mind like me, early Rockfish season and monster Croaker and Flounder come to mind. Based here on the Hampton River, we can easily access some of the best fishing grounds in the Chesapeake Bay within minutes of our Hampton Harbor. Last year, I don’t think we spent over $50 bucks in gas on the Go Green Fishing Machine. We loaded up the coolers with fish on many trips and had more fish fries than one can count. The new Suzuki 90hp four stroke and the JVX Carolina Skiff is about as fuel-efficient as one can get on the water. One fantastic combination. Where ever you may be traveling across the state, you don’t want to miss out on the excellent Springtime fishing here out of Hampton Virginia. My cast iron skillet is ready!

A great way to celebrate spring in a delicious Go Green way is to serve your family and friends up some tasty beer butt Chicken. This is a fantastic and easy recipe that makes great stock and wonderful leftovers. The main dish can be cooked on the grill outside, or even in an energy efficient large toaster oven. Here is what you do.

If you don’t already have a stand for the beer can then go to your favorite home improvement store and pick a couple up. They are very cheap, I think I paid maybe three dollars for each stand, and you only need one for each Chicken. They also last a long time, so you can reuse them over and over again.
Once in the kitchen, simply rub your Chickens down with olive oil and a good Cajun seasoning. Sometimes I will also inject the birds with a homemade Creole sauce. Next carefully cut the top off a beer can with some scissors. Fill the can half with beer, a whole clove of Garlic and fill the remaining portion with your favorite red-hot sauce and apple cider vinegar. Place the beer can in the holder, and insert into the bottom of the Chicken. The Chicken will cook standing up. If you like a smoke flavor, then cook the chicken on the grill with a smoker box as shown in the picture. I have also cooked the bird in our toaster convection oven. This is a great way to save on electricity and does an awesome job of cooking the Chicken.

The trick with beer butt Chicken is that it is incredibly moist and just packed with flavor. This is one fantastic and efficient way to prepare chicken and the stock you make from the carcass will be about the best you will ever have. What kind of beer to use is really a matter of preference. Better the beer, the better the flavor of the chicken will be. I like to use a nice brown ale for a rich smooth taste-Chicken that is!

What we do is prepare and cook the chicken usually on a Friday afternoon, make the stock after dinner as well as fresh home made Chicken salad for the next day. Nothing beats a beer butt Chicken salad sandwich while bottom bouncing for Flounder in the Chesapeake Bay. For your springtime travel, your family will love traveling around the state with a picnic basket full of fresh Chicken salad sandwiches. Also, one very economical way to feed your family. We buy Chickens on sale for only about $3 dollars and freeze them, considering the soup made from the stock and the leftovers for salads, etc, you're only looking at pennies per serving saving you more money-To Travel!!

Beer butt chicken is really very simple to do and does not take up much room on the grill while cooking. Usually we will smoke other things on the grill while the beer butt Chickens are cooking. It is simply more economical to cook a lot of food at once using the same heat, then vacuum seal the leftovers and freeze for easy already prepared meals. You will find that the small and savory steps you will take to Go Green, will also save green in your wallet.

Jim Baugh
JBO TV