Chicken and a can of beer roasted in the BBQ.... Who knew???

I have seen this method of cooking a whole chicken on television and dismissed it as being a fairly grotesque way of roasting a bird. Actually I was very disdainful about the whole thing (who me-disdainful?). However, in Carnarvon Gorge with a roast chicken on board and limited ways in which to cook it, Fiela who has a tendency to like lots of bogan (or zeff) kinds of things, took over. The result came a close second to the best roast chicken I have ever had: the best was cooked by our best friend Peppa Brown and involved red seedless grapes- it was magic.

We did this on a Baby Q (Weber). Anyway, here’s the recipe for Zeff Chicken…

Ingredients

1 whole chicken (around 1.2kg)

1x 330ml can XXXX Gold (see note)

Salt and Pepper

Mixed herbs

Potatoes

Onions (whole- don’t peel them)

Carrots

Zucchini

Method

Preheat your BBQ to 400 degrees Celsius.

Rub the chicken all over with lots of salt, pepper and mixed herbs. Repeat with the body cavity.

Take a couple of big sips out of the can, then poke the beer can all the way into the body cavity.

Using the potatoes and onions, balance the chicken on a foil tray so that the can is in as vertical a position as possible (so you don’t lose the beer out of the top) in your BBQ, close the lid and cook for 15 minutes.

Turn the BBQ down and cook at 300 degrees for 1 ½  hours.

Cut your carrots and zucchini into chunks, toss with salt and olive oil and put on a foil tray in the BBQ next to the chicken with 45 minutes to go.

Test the chicken with a fork or knife just to make sure it’s done. Rest for 10 minutes.

Serve!

Notes:

1. Use any beer you like, as long as it’s in a can. I think even a not-so-sweet can of cider would work
2. We use Maldon salt much to Fiela’s disgust as “It’s all just sodium chloride!!” However, part of the reason he thinks my food takes great is because I don't just use SAXA table salt. It does make a difference so use a good salt, especially with roast chicken.
3. When the can eventually came out, so did a lot of chickeny beery stocky kinds of goodness. We had no way of storing it so it was with great sadness that we threw it away- don’t be so stupid! Have a container ready which you can pour the stock into and either make gravy with it or freeze for something later.
4. I have no photos of this because a) it’s disturbing to see a chicken with a can of beer up its arse. And b) we hoovered this up so quickly there just wasn’t time.