What's The Point Of Cooking Chicken On A Beer Can?

Some grill masters would argue that while odd looking, a whole chicken sitting on a beer can will yield delicious poultry for those who know how to pull off the method. The idea is that as the chicken cooks with a half full can of beer at its center, the beer is also heated and releases steam inside the chicken. That steam then cooks into the meat, adding flavor and making the bird extra juicy from the inside out.

The result is meant to be a moist and flavorful bird infused with just a little bit of beer taste. Although the idea sounds like a fun grill experiment, in practice it doesn't do as much for the actual taste of the chicken as it's meant to do. Those who swear by this method attest that their bird comes out tender and more evenly cooked.

The method was perceived to be so popular at one point that Arby's, known for its meats, released two "Beer can chicken sandwiches" made with Miller High Life. However, even Arby's must've known the method had its flaws because the brand chose to marinate its chicken sandwiches in the beer rather than actually roasting the chicken using a can of Miller High Life. 

You can bread it, you can fry it, you can boil it, and of course you can grill it, but the beer can method for roasting chicken just isn't all it's cooked up to be. Here's why there's no point to beer can chicken.

In theory, beer can chicken sounds like a fun backyard cooking method. However, in execution, its only main benefit is the even cook on the chicken. When roasting a chicken on a spit or on the grill, you have to turn the bird a number of times as it cooks to ensure all parts are cooked through.

Unfortunately, the idea that any of the beer itself ends up inside the meat or adds to the flavor is scientifically unlikely. Meathead Goldwyn, food writer and grilling extraordinaire, told Epicurious back in 2016 that the steam from the beer cannot penetrate the can in order to even get to the chicken. "That metal can goes way up into the body of the chicken, so most of the chicken is protected from the beer by the can," says Goldwyn. "If the water could evaporate, if the beer could evaporate, it might come into contact with the chicken's shoulders, and that's all."

ThermoWorks, a blog focused on temperature-based recipes, also conducted an experiment to test the validity of beer can chicken, and found that it made a roasted chicken no better than any traditional method. Goldwyn added that you run the risk of overcooking your poultry and ending up with a dry plate of chicken. This could happen because the beer can will block the inside cavity of the chicken from being cooked at the same temperature as the outside.

Although we now know that a beer can inserted into a chicken orifice won't make for a better roast, it doesn't mean there aren't other ways to achieve a better chicken. For example, Goldwyn suggests breaking a chicken down to get a better cook on each part, i.e. butterflying or spatchcocking the chicken.

Another method could be to invest in a vertical roaster. A vertical roaster places the chicken in a similar position to the beer can method, allowing all parts of the outside to be cooked at the same temperature at once, resulting in the brown, crispy skin you're craving.

If you're truly dead set on putting the entire chicken on top of an open container of something, you don't even have to use beer to do it. You could just as easily use a can of soda and achieve the same results. At the end of the day, even if you choose to continue shoving a beer can up your chicken's butt, it will still taste the same. Your bird will just have a fancier throne than most.