What temp do you cook beer-can chicken?

T

TheFied

2,500+ Posts
I have made beer-can chicken many times but this will be the first time on my smoker.

The fire-box part is not tall enough for me to put the chicken standing up in the beer can thing. I am going to have to take the grate off the smoker section and put it in there. I am going to use my internal thermometer to make sure it is fully-cooked. But what temp should I have the smoker at and how long? We had a grill before and I would put it on the edge (coolest part) and usually took about an hour to get to ~160F internal.
 
I'm not sure what the firebox has to do with standing up the chicken?

I smoke my chicken in the 225-250 range, but you really don't have to be as concerned with maintaining a constant temp while smoking chicken. I know some people "smoke" their chicken in the 300 range. I gotta be honest, it's been a while since I've done one, and I can't remember about how long it usually takes me, but I'm thinking around 3 hours.
 
not sure about internal temp of the chicken, but when i smoked a beer can set up at 225, the skin did not crisp up like i wanted it too.

Have not tried it again, but would guess that 250-275 would work much better.

Just cooked some marinated chicken breasts last night for 2.5-3 hours at 285-300. You can keep them moist by filling your drip pan with beer (or whatever).
 
In my firebox, I have a grate; that is where I normally grill when I'm not smoking. If I were to put the beer can chicken inside that part, I cannot close firebox lid b/c the chicken standing up is too tall.
 
I started at 6pm (3hr in). It's still going. This is the 1st time I am doing something on my smoker other than grilling on the firebox side. I am using B&B lump coal and having a hard time getting the smoker side up beyond 225F. I have the inlet open all the way to get as much as air in. I have already put in more B&B lump coal once to keep the fire going.

I am going to get some wood next week -- does wood keep it going hotter (if I want) than charcoal?

I have a meat thermometer in the chicken and it is at 120F so I have probably another hour.
 
Well I'm going to head to Doughterys' (sp?) at the Y in Oak Hill next week. I need some wood b/c the charcoals aren't doing it. Almost 4 hours in and I'm still struggling to get hotter than 225F.
 
What are you using to get your temp reading? Most offset smokers do not get an accurate reading from the gauge at the top of the smoking chamber. Mine usually reads at least 50 below the temp I get from my probe. But I have no idea what kind of smoker you have, yours may be perfectly accurate. I have a pdf of some modifications you can make to most offset horizontal smokers. PM me your e-mail if your interested.
 
I have basically a New Braunfels Honda offset smoker. I have baffles on it but not the smoke pipe as far down as the modifications (seen them) recommends. I might add that. My temperature guage is on top which is probably not very accurate.

This was the 1st time for me to use the smoker part of it and it was a huge failure with regards to timing. But then again, I did this for really a test run. For the life of me, I couldn't get the temp in the smoker up above 225F, I wanted to get to 250F but couldn't do it. I was using B&B coals.

I think I didn't use enough charcoal and next time I'll add wood too. I re-read that pdf on the modifications and they recommend if you want 4hr of 220F, then put 10 pounds of coals in your firebox and then light up 5lbs of coals separately in your chimney firestarter. And then add maybe a small log to get it hotter.

I'm going to do another test run this week, probably another chicken just b/c it's cheap. I want to eventually do a turkey as well but chickens are cheap and I'm not getting the fire right yet.

Another thing, after taking ~6hr to smoke this chicken (6pm-12:30am), I sucked it up and bought that wireless thermometer from Maverick with a gauge for the smoker and meat probe -- not only do you lose temp opening the smoker to see what temp your meat is at but the smoker temp should be more accurate than what I have. Last night was a huge pain in the butt. I'm going to do the test-run after I get this new probe.
 
I cook the chicken at ~350. You can cook it around the usual 225, but I don't think you'll get the crunchy skin. I've never tried this in an offset smoker though. Only a vertical one. I can't remember how long it takes. Around 1.5 hours, depending on size.

I also brine the chicken first. It's a pain in the ***, but the results are amazing.
 
At 275 mine are usually done in a shade less than 2 hours. If you want crispy skin make sure you don't put any water down in that barrel, and even then it seems touch or go if you get crispy skin.
 
Well, I went to Doughtery's Firewood out by Oak Hill after work. I bought a bag of mesquite (logs and big chunks) for $20. Probably 3 foot tall x 1.5-2 foot in diameter. Put it in the shed here. I just couldn't get the fire hot enough before.

They only had mesquite and oak at Doughterys. I asked when they would get Hickory and they said it sells out too fast.
 
the albertsons (at least in Dallas) had bags of mesquite, hickory and oak logs for sale out in front of the store.

At least a week or so ago when i checked.
 
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