Beer Can Chicken Blog

Once you’ve mastered the basic Beer Can Chicken technique, the world’s your oyster.

In fact you could grill oysters WITH your Beer Can Chicken, but that I’m gonna save for another post. Today — right here and now — I’m going to get down to the nitty gritty, low-down and messy world of Dry Rubs for Beer Can Chicken.

If you’ve been living in a cave all of your life, you might be wondering, well, what is dry rub? We wrote an earlier post that covers dry rub basics and a simple dry rub, as well as some tips on how to get the most out of your very own dry rub genius. If that isn’t enough for you however, and you are ready to take your game to the major-league beer can chicken level, we have a few more dry rub options to try listed below. The first is a variation on the basic beer can chicken dry rub, and all of these are good on the grill or in the oven — you cannot go wrong.

If you are not so handy in the kitchen or just don’t have the time, we can even point you to some online dry rub resources, for   pre-packaged, ready to go dry rubs from some of the big names in the celebrity cooking world.

The recipes below are all fairly quick and easy to make ahead of time; and since they are all made from powdered spices it’s easy to mix them up ahead of time and store them. (But don’t keep them in the cupboard for 200 years — spice is nice when it’s fresh.) You might have to hunt around for some of these ingredients, but most of it you probably already have on hand.

And speaking of yer hands…remember to always wash up good and proper with hot water and soap after handling raw chicken, and be careful to avoid cross-contaminating any uncooked meat with your cutting board, knives or other food surfaces. Better safe than sorry.

Now, without further ado or fanfare I lay on you the mysterious and arcane secrets of…

Killer Dry Rub for Beer Can Chicken

All of these rubs call for ground spices. All you need to do is find the right stuff, combine in a small container with a lid and shake it up. A few hours before you mount the bird on the beer can or beer can rack, apply a light coating of cooking oil or butter, then slather, rub and massage the powdered goodness on and let chicken little sit in the fridge a few hours until go-time. That’s about it. Easy as pie, only a lot more greasy.

Simple BBQ Dry Rub:

Combine these dry ingredients in a small container with a lid and shake or stir it up completely.

• 1 Teaspoon Kosher Salt
• 1/2 Teaspoon Garlic Salt
• 1 Teaspoon Paprika
• 1 Teaspoon Brown Sugar
• 1 Teaspoon Dry Mustard (We use Coleman’s)
• 1 Teaspoon Ground Black Pepper
• 1/2 Teaspoon Coriander
• 1/2 Teaspoon Cumin

Kinda Cajun Rub

Combine these dry ingredients in a small container with a lid and shake up. Pour 1 Teaspoon of the Old Bay Seasoning in the Beer can. Use the other teaspoon in the rub.

• 1 Teaspoon Old Bay Seasoning (for the beer can, after you open it, drain about 1/3 of the beer out, drop some Old Bay directly into the can)
• 1 Teaspoon Old Bay Seasoning (for the Rub)
• 2-3 Teaspoon Cayenne Pepper
• White Pepper
• 1 Teaspoon Ground White Pepper
• 1 Teaspoon Black Pepper
• 2 Teaspoons Oregano
• 2 Teaspoons Thyme
• 1 Tablespoon Paprika
• Thyme
• Black Pepper

Mustard Rub

Combine ingredients in a container with a lid and shake it all up.

• 1 Teaspoon Mustard Seeds
• 1 Teaspoon Celery Seed
• 1 Teaspoon Coleman’s dry mustard
• 1 Teaspoon Thyme
• 1/2 Teaspoon kosher salt
• 1/2 Teaspoon black pepper
• 1 Teaspoon Paprika

For another rub variation check out this post for a nice Jamaican Jerk Rub you can do in the food processor. This is technically a wet rub, more like a paste than a powder, but no matter what you call it, it makes for some fine eating.  Have fun with the rub, make up your own and tell us what you come up with; and until our next post, don’t rub anyone the wrong way.