“…yes, the name can be a little crass: beer-up-the-butt chicken, beer-butt chicken, butt chicken… Call it “vertically roasted chicken,” so as not to offend anyone’s delicate sensibilities. Swap the beer with another beverage: ginger beer, iced tea, cola, cider or even some of that Champagne in a can that fancy people can surely, ahem, get behind. The effect still stands, so long as the bird is perched upright over a cylinder of liquid.” *
“Spice” up your grilled chicken by adding a taste of Mid-Eastern / North African flavors to the basic Beer Can Chicken recipe.
Za’atar Beer Can Chicken
Ingredients
- Za’atar Spice Rub
- 2 tablespoons smoked paprika
- 2 tablespoons light brown sugar
- 1 tablespoon kosher salt
- 1 tablespoon Chef Cherie’s Za’atar Spice Blend**
- 1 teaspoon ground cumin
- 1 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
- 1 teaspoon cayenne pepper
- For the Chicken:
- One 3½- to 4-pound chicken, patted dry
- 1 can light beer, half empty