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Two Day Beer Butt Chicken & Baked Potatoes
Jerk Chicken and/or Pork
Pork Shoulder (skin on)
Easy Best Summer BBQ'd Chicken

Day One
Morning

Shopping List

The Beer
4 tall cans of beer (I recommend Guinness, your taste may vary)
2 regular cans of basic beer (a good ale)

The Brine
1 cup sea salt
1 cup brown sugar
2 tablespoons cinnamon
4 bay leaves
1 gallon of water
Tall beer #1

The Rub
1.5 cups of dark brown sugar
3 tablespoons of paprika
2 tablespoons of garlic powder
1 tablespoon of chili powder

The Baste
1 cup apple cider vinegar
1/4 cup of cooking sherry
2 tablespoons of Worcestershire sauce
1 tablespoon of sesame oil

The Meat
2-4 Large whole chickens
Think about how much room you have on the grill. I did four chickens on my Char-Griller. I could have put one more on, but it would have been very crowded. Give them some room to allow the smoke to circulate. You might want to start with one or two. The beer can holders shown to the right are very handy for creating a stable base.

Misc. Supplies
5 gallon plastic bucket
1 large plastic spray bottle
Clear garbage sacks
Meat thermometer with probe
Wood chips (fruit wood is good)
1-2 bags of lump charcoal or briquettes
1 onion
2-4 baking potatoes

Evening

Making the Brine
Combine all the brine ingredients in a large stainless (not aluminum) pot. Set tall beer can aside. Bring to a boil and let simmer for about 10 minutes. Remove from heat and let cool to room temperature.

Open tall beer #3 - enjoy and save the can

While waiting for the brine to cool, clean a five gallon bucket and line it with a clean clear plastic bag.
Remove giblets and necks from 2-4 whole large chickens.
Rinse chickens in cold water. Slide fingers under skin and loosen from both sides and as far into the legs, thighs and wings as possible. Don't rip the skin.
Pour brine into bucket when cool and add 3 more gallons of cold water.
Add chickens.
Secure the top of the bag so little or no air remains.
Put the bucket into the refrigerator for 6-12 hours.

Open tall beer #4 - enjoy and save the can

Making The Rub
1.5 cups of dark brown sugar
3 tablespoons of paprika
2 tablespoons of garlic powder
1 tablespoon of chili powder

Mix all ingredients in a small bowl and use your fingers to blend them together. Cover and set aside.

Day Two
Morning

Put your wood chips in a bucket or bowl of water to soak. They'll need at least an hour to absorb water.

Remove the chicken from the brine. Rinse thoroughly inside and out to remove as much of the brine as possible. Set the chicken out to drain. When the chicken is fairly dry, pat with paper towels to soak up any extra moisture.
Apply rub under the skin and work it into all areas and as far up the legs and wings as you can reach. Do this with all the chickens.
Rub the entire chicken inside and out with vegetable oil until well coated. Use more rub on the inside and outside of the chicken until well coated.

Using a punch can opener, open the top of each beer can so you can remove the plastic ball (when using Guinness cans) and allow more open area on the can top. Push the sharp edges down into the can.
Quarter an onion, putting a quarter into each can.
Open the two small cans of beer and fill each large can about halfway.
Add two tablespoons of Worcestershire sauce to each can.
Add a splash of cooking sherry to each can.
Add two tablespoons of apple cider vinegar to each can.

Tuck the chicken wings behind the chicken.
Carefully insert each can into the chickens so that the legs and can bottom form a tripod, or use one of the beer can chicken devices shown to the right.

If you're using a remote thermometer (highly recommended and shown to the right), insert the probe into the thigh of the chicken avoiding the bone.

Fill your chimney starter with charcoal and light up. No lighter fluid!!

Line the inside of your grill with aluminum foil to protect and catch drippings. You can put an aluminum drip pan in, but they may not catch all the fallout if you're doing several chickens.

The Baste
Mix up your baste and pour it into the large spray bottle. Shake before using.
1 cup apple cider vinegar
1/4 cup of cooking sherry
2 tablespoons of Worcestershire sauce
1 tablespoon of sesame oil

Add coals when ready to firebox. Monitor main grill temperature until it reaches about 225 degrees.

Open lid to main grill and place the chickens on the grill surface so that they don't touch each other or the lid of the grill. Make sure they are sitting in a stable position and won't fall over. Gently close the lid. Turn on remote thermometer and set for 180 degrees or for Chicken.

Add some of the wood chips, a small handful with the water squeezed out is about right. Continue to add chips every half hour for a couple hours an then hourly. I don't how much more smoke takes effect after the first few hours, but it smells good and looks impressive.

At this point most of the work is over. Add charcoal either already started in the chimney starter or add 10-12 chunks to the firebox. I have better luck adding already ignited charcoal. Be careful when pouring new charcoal in to not kick up to much ash. Monitor the temperature to keep the main grill area at about 225. As a rough rule of thumb, I spray the chicken lightly with the baste mixture when I add more charcoal or about every 45 minutes to an hour.

The Potatoes
These are pretty easy. Clean them well and poke a few holes about 1/4-1/2" deep. Then rub them with vegetable oil. Then rub a bit of sea salt and pepper on them. Put them on the grill near the firebox opening with about an hour left before the chicken is done. Turn them occasionally when you spray the chicken so they cook evenly. They'll cook faster if you put them closer to the coals.

Finishing Up
Take the chickens off the grill when done. Be careful of the hot liquid. Let them rest for about 15 minutes before pulling them off the can. They should cut up easily and the meat will be moist and falling off the bone. Serve with your favorite sauce on the side, you may not need it because the rub flavor will have penetrated the meat.

Jerk Chicken and/or Pork
Picture coming with the next batch

Dry Ingredients
2 tablespoon ground allspice
2 tablespoon dried thyme
3 teaspoons cayenne pepper
3 teaspoons freshly ground black pepper
3 teaspoons ground sage
2 teaspoons cumin
2 teaspoons coriander
1.5 teaspoons ground cinnamon
2 tablespoons sea salt
2 tablespoons garlic powder
1 tablespoons dark brown sugar

Wet Ingredients
1/4 cup olive oil
1/4 cup soy sauce
3/4 cup red wine vinegar
1/2 cup fresh squeezed orange juice
Juice of one fresh squeezed lime
1 scotch bonnet pepper, seeded and chopped. (the weak of heart and tongue may substitute jalapeno or other peppers, the really brave will leave in the seeds)
1 cup chopped white onion
3 chopped green onions
2 cloves of freshly minced garlic

4-6 skinless pounded or well perforated (allows more marinade to penetrate) chicken breasts or pork loins or both.

1. combine all dry ingredients in large bowl. With wire whisk slowly add the olive oil, soy sauce, vinegar, orange juice, and lime juice.
2. Add the pepper, onion and green onions and mix well.
3. Add the meat, cover and marinate for 6 hours minimum, overnight is best. I've let it sit for 3-5 days, and it just gets better.

Slow cooking with smoke
Remove meat from marinade, put on grill and add some wood chips to the coals. While cooking, baste with marinade. Slow cook until at the proper temperature for chicken or pork. Use a grilling thermometer with a probe.
Heat (to boiling) leftover marinade and serve with bread for dipping.

Grilling
Remove meat from marinade, grill on outdoor grill, 6-8 minutes each side.
While grilling, baste with marinade.
Heat (to boiling) leftover marinade and serve with bread for dipping.

Tips

• The longer it marinates the better it tastes and the more tender it gets.

• This is industrial strength, you might want to cut the dry spices and pepper in half the first time around.

• Above all, DON'T RUB YOUR EYES (or other sensitive body parts) if there is any marinade on your hands. This stuff is bloody hot!

• Leftovers make great sandwiches when sliced thin.

Pork Shoulder (skin on)
I forgot to take pictures, maybe next time, but they looked wonderful.

The Beer
I'd estimate about a six-pack of Tecate. Three for the smoker and three for me. It wouldn't hurt to have some extra for a hot day.
Make sure you have some lime or lemon chunks or juice, otherwise this is pretty tasteless stuff.

The Rub
1.5 cups of dark brown sugar
3 tablespoons of paprika
2 tablespoons of garlic powder
1 tablespoon of chili powder
2 teaspoons of cayenne pepper

The Baste
1 cup apple cider vinegar
1/2 cup of beer
1/4 cup of cooking sherry
2 tablespoons of Worcestershire sauce
1 tablespoon of sesame oil

I laid these directly on the cast iron grill skin side up, with a drip pan beneath. I put about 6 bricks in the bottom that provided a flat surface for drip pan as well as controlling the heat flow. I put a can of beer at the entrance to the firebox and refilled it once or twice to provide additional moisture. I used the dual probe thermometer shown to the right.
I put one probe in each shoulder and it monitors the internal temperature of both on one device. Very nice!

The rest of the time was spent in putting in more charcoal and adding hickory chips about every hour. I kept the internal temperature at around 225-250f. About four hours into the process I swapped the location of the two shoulders on the grill and refilled the can.

At about 6-7 hours they were reading at 185-190F and were pretty much ready to come off the pit.

I pulled them off and let them sit for about half an hour. I pulled off the skin (more like leather at this point) and the fat underneath and then began to pull the pork apart with a fork and my fingers. This results in a fairly large bowl of shredded pork.

To make sure that it came out well, I had an onion bun and some apple cider vinegar and hot pepper sauce ready. I piled the pork on the bun and drizzled the sauce over it. It had a good smoky flavor that increased as we ate it over the next few days.

Easy Best Summer BBQ'd Chicken
Once again, no pictures (yet)