Red Neck Beer Can Turkey

Red Neck Beer Can Turkey

Redneck beer can turkey. What the devil is that you might ask. It’s a version of beer can chicken without the BBQ sauce and grill. Though this can be made on the grill if that’s how you want to do it.

Beer can turkey had been successfully made by many top chefs and there is even recipes on Pillsbury.com! So yes this is not a new idea I am making up this is really something you can do to fulfill that redneck in side of your!

You can use beer in two ways one is to brine the turkey the other is to roast the turkey.

First I will give you the brine recipe for soaking the bird before roasting that the instructions of how to set the bird of for roasting.

Beer Brine Ingredient:

4     twenty oz cans of beer

4 Quarts Ice or Water

2 Cup      Kosher or Sea Salt

1 Cup     Brown  Sugar

4 Each    Bay leaves (available at the dollar store)

3 Bunch Thyme, fresh (if not affordable buy the dried version)

3 Each    Onion, peeled and chopped

3 Stcks Celery, sliced

3 Each    Carrots, peeled and sliced

2 Each    Lemon, quartered

4 Each    Garlic Cloves, peeled and sliced

Once all the ingredients are in the pot boil and then let cool to at least room temperature. Soak the turkey for  6 to 8 hours before you are ready to roast the turkey.

Instructions:

Make sure when you’re ready to roast the turkey that you remember that you need to cut the top off the can of beer.

If you choose to use this method of roasting the turkey make sure you do the turkey rub or any seasonings before you put the bird on the can of beer. Next question besides being an ideal redneck way of roasting the turkey is there a good reason to use beer? Yes there is because beer has malt and yeast and beer will react well with the turkey and of course it adds moisture to the bird. OK are excuses for using beer established let’s get started.

Now dealing with the logistics of getting the turkey and can  beer together and having the turkey stand up straight is our goal and if we do it right it will not be that difficult to accomplish here is how it’s done.

First make sure you have a 20oz can of beer. Don’t worry the clerk at the store won’t think you’re a drunk if you buy it at a grocery store? I cannot say as much if it’s purchased at a convenience store.  You know the rumors about buying 20 oz cans. Don’t worry about it just buy it and let the clerk think what they think you will go home with the right size can and that’s what counts right? Of course if you are a true redneck you will buy a 12 pack of 20ozs. After all you will need the extra beers when you watch the Thanksgiving Day games on TV right? So it’s just plain practical!

Now back to getting the bird ready.  You have to removed the top of the beer and  remove ½ to 1/3 of the beer from the can and recycled the beer. After all we are responsible and we don’t want to waste the beer removed do we?

How you recycle it that’s up to you. Hick oh excuse me I was just thinking of how I would recycle it!

Now we are ready to set up the bird.

Make sure that the weight of the turkey is toward you when you put it on the can of beer. That should work well.

As the liquid steams the can will weigh less and the turkey can topple over so make sure you have a big enough pan to catch the turkey if this happens because you don’t want a big mess on your hands. But let’s not let that happen. One suggestion I found was to cut three inches off the cavity end of the turkey. That will set the turkey lower and give it a more stable base.

It’s important that you allow two inches of space between the top of the can and the top of the inside of the bird to allow room for the steaming. It would be good to do a dry fit before you get all this started. Once again you will have to recycle the beer.Ahh Sacrifices, sacrifices I know but by the time the bird is baking you will be feeling very good. I mean, ah you will be feeling good because you accomplished all this and did the right thing and recycle the beer you had to take out of the cans. That’s my story and I am sticking to it! I suggest you do the same.

The bottom line of the redneck beer can turkey is you will get a great moist turkey!

Happy Redneck Thanksgiving!