Beer Can Chicken Experiment - Fail

[MacEggs]

I have done BCC on a 22 with two sides of banked charcoal. Works great.
It's almost too much charcoal.

I wanted to try it on my 18.

I also wanted to use a homemade charcoal basket. It holds about 25-30 briquettes.




I went with 15 un-lit briqs in the basket, to that I added 15 lit briquettes. Some apple wood for smoke.
Decent sized birds ... 3.75 lbs per. Very hot water was in the beer cans.








I went with the intakes at half open for the first 45 minutes, then fully open after that.

This pic was taken after 1 hour 15 minutes.




It started to lose heat. I added more charcoal.
I checked the IT of the birds with a thermapen and was averaging 155° - not quite there.
But ... we got impatient ..... and finished them in the oven. 

The ambient temperature was a degree or two below freezing. Some wind, with the odd gust, but nothing extreme.
I don't believe these were factors.

Questions:
Did I not use enough charcoal in the beginning?

Maybe go with 30 lit from the start?

Was this a lot of meat .... or maybe go with 1 chicken?

[1buckie]

  Mark, only thing that stands out for me is MAYBE not use the foil 'flue' system on a cook that you want a bit higher heat.......just let the intake air flood in fully?


I could easily be all wet on this,. but 18's are just a little harder to keep up to temp sometimes & I think it's just the smaller overall space that you're working with.......

[One Touch Platinum]

There is a danger to using beer cans for this type of cook. Beer cans have a plastic liner/coating in them and can be toxic if burned. You already have the chicken seats for the birds....you would be better off using them with a water pan in the grill . I recently saw a picture online somewhere were a guy was using the lid from his galvanized garbage can to hold coals resting on his weber for Dutch oven cooking....if I'm not mistaken, that also is a hazard since galvanized metal gives off fumes that can be harmful when exposed to high heat.

[MacEggs]

Thanks, Ken and OTP! Thanks for the heads-up regarding the beer cans. 

I cook on the 18 a lot. I usually go with this set-up. More charcoal ... more heat.
I think next time I will go with this, and cook 1 chicken.

[SlickedBack]

Buy very cheap beer. Inexpensive brewers don't line the cheap cans, or even better, save a can from the next time you use canned vegetables and use that filled with water or beer or whatever. And yes galvanized is dangerous. In the knife makers world it's a big no-no to make a forge with galvanized pipe or parts.


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[saxart]

This is a great thread.  I've never tried cooking a bird down on the charcoal grate like that and may give it a whirl on a 22OTS.

Quick question:
Is there a reason you have the birds turned breast side out?   (I would have faced them toward the coals, but perhaps that's doin it wrong)

Thanks for posting this!

[MacEggs]

may give it a whirl on a 22OTS.

Like this ...

Quick question:
Is there a reason you have the birds turned breast side out?   (I would have faced them toward the coals, but perhaps that's doin it wrong)

Good eye! And, I purposely did that with the thinking that the breasts would be done too quick.
Who knows, maybe I was doing it wrong. Back to the drawing board.