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Fall is my absolute favorite time of the year. There’s a fresh crispness to the air, the leaves are changing, and guys in masks are out slaughtering horny teenagers (big horror movie nerd here!). Food also seems to taste better in the fall too. Just something about sitting by a cozy fire eating warm fresh food gives me the feels. One of my favorite things to cook this time of year is roasted chicken infused with cider beer. It tastes amazing and makes the house smell incredible while it’s cooking.
I cook the chicken in a roaster that I got at The Old Mill Pottery in Pigeon Forge, TN. I love this thing! You can also get them at most cooking stores or even Amazon.com.It’s the same concept as beer can chicken. Just put any liquid you want into the infuser, I’ve used beer, wine, even Dr. Pepper, and sit the chicken over the infuser. The liquid adds tons of flavor to the chicken and makes it extremely moist. I like to use Angry Orchard Crip Apple. I fill the infuser about three fourths full with the beer and the rest is for the cook!
Cooking the chicken in a vertical position also gets all sides of the chicken crisp instead of just one side if you were cooking with it laying down. I’ve made all kinds of dry rubs for chicken, but I’ve found that sometimes less is more. Just using salt, pepper, fresh rosemary, and some lemon zest packs in huge flavor along with the beer. For a finishing touch, I brush the chicken with olive oil which gets the skin golden and crispy.
The great thing about this roasting dish is you can add vegetables around the chicken to cook at the same time as the chicken making it an easy one dish meal. You can really add any kind you want, but with this I like to use more earthy autumn type vegetables like carrots, butternut squash, and onions.
After the chicken is finished cooking, I wrap it in foil and let it sit for about 15-20 minutes so the juices can reabsorb back into the meat. After that just remove the chicken from the roaster and carve. You’ll have to Google how to carve a roasted chicken because mine looks like something off of The Texas Chainsaw Massacre!
This recipe is great any time, but it just seems right for this time of year. Hope you enjoy!
Cider Beer Roast Chicken
Ingredients
- 1 whole chicken 5-6lbs
- 1 bottle cider beer I like to use Angry Orchard
- 1 tablespoons kosher salt
- 1 tablespoons freshly ground pepper
- 1 tablespoons fresh rosemary chopped
- Zest from 1 lemon
- Olive oil
- 1 ½ – 2 cups vegetables carrots, butternut squash, onions
Instructions
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Preheat oven to 425F. Pour beer into the infuser/cylinder of the roasting dish.
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To prep the chicken: Remove the innards and wash the chicken inside and out. Pat the chicken dry with a paper towel. In a small bowl, add the salt, pepper, rosemary, lemon zest and stir to combine. Add extra salt and pepper to the cavity. Rub the spice mix over whole chicken and under the skin being careful not to break the skin. Sit the chicken down onto the infuser. Brush the chicken with olive oil. Add the vegetables to the bottom of the dish. Bake for 1 ½ hours or until the juices run clear when you run a knife between the leg and the thigh. The internal temperature should read between 170-180F.
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Remove the chicken from the oven, wrap with tin foil, and let rest for 15-20 minutes. Remove the chicken from the infuser, transfer to a cutting board, and carve.
Steven
I don’t have one of them fancy pots but I do have a beer can chicken holder—By placing the beer can holder in a dish ( have a ceramic pie plate) to catch the drippings and hold the vegetables would this work ?
Yep, that’ll work just fine