Recipe: Art's Dancing Chicken (beer can chicken with wine variation, repost)

One of the most requested recipes on the TKL (The Kitchen Link/The Recipe Link) Cooking Club Message Board in 1997 was Art's Dancing Chicken! Art was kind enough to send us a picture and share his now world-famous recipe with us. Enjoy!

Art Tanner of Lake Wales FL and Stockton, CA loves to cook, especially outdoors. Shown here cooking the dancers for twenty folks.

ART'S DANCING CHICKEN

Dancing Chickens are normally associated with outdoor charcoal cooking, however, I'm sure could be done just as well in an oven.

HERE WE GO:
1 (3 pound) whole frying chicken
1 can of beer
Seasoning to taste

Wash bird and remove giblet sack from inside bird. Season skin to taste. Open beer can and place in cavity of bird, open side up of course.

On a charcoal grill with one layer of BLAZING hot coals, place bird on rack balancing on the beer can to where bird appears to be standing up.

Close top of grill, (I use a large Weber which you can do three birds on by placing them dancing in the center). Set vents on top to 20% open. Forget these dudes for an hour and a half and open lid. Birds should be well browned or it may take another 15 minutes.

Wearing gloves, remove the birds from grill and take the beer can out. Place the birds on a serving dish. It won't take much carving because the meat will literally fall off the bone. Some of the beer cans will be empty, some will have some brew in them. It doesn't seem to make any difference on the outcome of the bird. I wouldn't drink the leftover beer.

Although I've never tried it, I'm sure you could do the same thing in the oven at about 350 degrees F for about the same amount of time.

VARIATION:
Take empty beer or soda can, wash clean inside and use red or white wine or anything you chose instead of beer. - Art