Better than "Beer Butt Chook"

[Lowenslow]

Smokey Lemon Roasted Chook
I can’t claim complete ownership of this recipe as it is a combination of 2 recipes. Old McGregor’s smoked lemon chook from the “Complete Australian Barbecue Kettle Cookbook” and Jamie Oliver’s roast chicken. This is now a family favourite and any leftovers are great cold the next day but I have to cook 2 chooks to have any.

Ingredients

1 whole free range chook size 16-18
1 medium/large lemon
Fresh mixed herbs, sage leaves, rosemary ,flat leaf parsley and oregano.
Olive oil
Fresh cracked pepper and salt
Butchers twine

Barbeque – Webber kettle or similar – hot indirect fire
Fuel – Lump charcoal

Optional but recommended
2-4 chunks of Hickory smoking wood. (Dry not soaked in water as there is no point).

Method

First off light your barbeque as you would for a hot indirect fire. I use a full charcoal chimney stuffed with newspaper in the base. While waiting for the charcoal to ash over, prepare the chook as follows.

Remove the neck and any loose excess fatty skin and discard. Wash inside and out and pat dry.

Wash and cut the lemon into quarters and stuff the cavity with 3 or 4 quarters depending on what will fit.

With the chook breast side up and the neck towards you split the skin away from the breast by forcing one or two fingers in between, either side of the centre membrane as far as you can. Now you have 2 pockets to stuff with the fresh herbs. I like to rip and bruise the herbs before pushing them in having removed any woody bits that can tear the skin.

Tuck the wings in close to the body of the chook and tie up the chook with the twine, crossing the legs over to close the cavity. This keeps the legs and wings close to the body and will cook evenly all over. Rub all over with olive oil and season to taste.

By now the barbeque should be ready, place a foil tray in between the charcoal rails, fit the cooking rack and lid, allowing about 5-10 minutes for the kettle to pre-heat. I find that once hot I can clean any char off the cooking rack with a wire brush and meat doesn’t stick as much when it is placed on a well seasoned, hot cooking rack.

Position the chook in the middle of the barbeque breast side up and place a Hickory chunk each side on the coals. Fit the lid making sure it sits properly and no smoke is escaping from the sides, all vents should be fully opened. Soon your neighbours will be drooling over the fence. The chook will be cooked depending on size in about 1¼ to 1½ hours or when juices run clear. Use a meat thermometer if unsure placing it in the thickest part of the chook.

Serve hot with a good green salad and a potato salad or chips. This would have to be the juiciest chook you will ever eat. The skin is crisp with the gently taste of the Hickory smoke while the herbs and lemon permeate the meat. It is also good eaten when cold if you have any leftovers.

Bon appétit

PS. As the cook and carver I get to have the best bits. Sometimes called chicken oysters, the meat in the shoulder blades on the underside of the chook is the best.

[Smokey]

Nice work (But no pic
You can do Buffalo chicken this way , Shove butter and hot sauce under the skin like that and away you go.

[ant]

That looks really nice. But in defence of the beer can chicken (did my first one for Xmas lunch), it's moist and EASY. All you have to do is place desired liquids into beer can, place chook on the can, place the lot in the BBQ and leave it do its thing.

I might see about stealing some of the seasonings in your recipe and using them in my next can, however!!!

[Lowenslow]

Nice work (But no pic
You can do Buffalo chicken this way , Shove butter and hot sauce under the skin like that and away you go.

The origonal JO recipe has butter under the breast which I found not to my liking. I only know buffalo chicken as "buffalo wings". Deep fried wings or coated in oil and oven roasted. After cookong they are then dipped in a mixture of butter and "Franks origonal red hot sauce". (If you can find this it's fantastic, not as hot as you might think by the name and a lip smacking taste) Glad you like the recipe.

Cheers

[ant]

USA Foods in Melbourne (http://www.usafoods.com.au/) stocks some of the Frank's range. They're currently out of the hot wings sauce (but they can notify you when more comes in) and they have heaps of Franks Red Hot at the moment. Great website, most of my favourites including the amazing Valentina mexican hot sauce.

[Lowenslow]

I get my liquid smoke there for making my BBQ sauce as well as the Reese's Peanut Butter icecream topping. Picked up some Crystal hot sauce there last time and it has a bit more of a kick to the Frank's but the all over flavour is not as good in my opinion.

[Lowenslow]

That looks really nice. But in defence of the beer can chicken (did my first one for Xmas lunch), it's moist and EASY. All you have to do is place desired liquids into beer can, place chook on the can, place the lot in the BBQ and leave it do its thing.

I might see about stealing some of the seasonings in your recipe and using them in my next can, however!!!

My problem with beer but chicken is the inability to truss the bird and I have found that the wings tend to over cook. If you like your wings that way then that's fine but for me being able to tie the legs and wings means the whole bird cooks at the same rate. The wole of the wing, including the tips are some of the best meat.

Cheers

[ant]

Good point, but if you're a wing man, just wrap the wings in foil. Maybe the leg-ends, too.

[Lowenslow]

Nice work (But no pic
You can do Buffalo chicken this way , Shove butter and hot sauce under the skin like that and away you go.

Here's a pic for ya Mick. I don't need much of an excuse to cook this one at anytime.

[kingsthorpedavid]

This method might help:

KD

[Buccaneer]

Trivia time.
No such thing as Buffalo Chicken...and Buffalo Wings have nothing to do with buffaloes...they were so named because the creator of the recipe did so in Buffalo NY.
They are never coated but cooked till golden then sauced, and served with a blue cheese dip and fresh celery

Best ones I ever had were at The Hard Rock Cafe in Japan. Price was INSANE but sooo good.
Best frozen Lime margherita ever too.
Dammit, I wanna go back.