Chicken Grilling Recipes That Really Work: But First - - -

My oldest daughter told me about a way to grill chicken the other day. It involved beer - or soda pop - but she figured it might work with fruit juice, too.

I haven't tried this. If you have, I'd appreciate a comment on how well it worked. Or didn't.

You take a whole chicken (plucked and prepped - like you get at a butcher's) and a can of beer. Or soda pop. Or, maybe, fruit juice.

Open the can, and sit it (open side up, of course!) on the grill. Then, you fit the chicken, tail end down, over the can. How you're supposed to balance the thing is your problem - my daughter didn't mention how that's supposed to work.

Light the grill - or, if you're really macho, set the thing up over a grill that's already hot - and wait for the bird to get grilled all the way through.

You've read all the FDA warnings about salmonella and food poisoning. I assume you're neither a fool nor an idiot, so we'll move along.

If everything went right, you've got a grilled chicken that's absorbed some of the beer - or soda pop - or fruit juice - flavor. Sounds delicious.

My daughter thinks cranberry juice might eliminate the need for cranberry sauce. Which gave her an interesting thought: "I wonder if it would work with turkey?"

You'd need either a huge grill or a really small chicken - or turkey - to close the top, using this method. Which would let most of the smoke escape. I grill with the top down, except when I have to move the food, to make the most of the smoke's flavoring potential.

As I said, I've never tried this: but it sounds good.

One more thing: I'm not at all sure what will happen as fat from the grilling bird drips into the grill.

There's a description of one of my early experiences with grilling chicken in "Fireball Fryers, on Easy Griller's Safety page.

And Now, Chicken Grilling Recipes that Really Work

Or, as Rocky the Flying Squirrel said, "and now, for something you'll really like!"

• "Grilled Chicken Recipes"
  Better Recipes.com

There's 199 of them, starting with Chicken with Feta Cheese and Blackberry Vinaigrette, Grilled Chicken Breasts, Greek Chicken, Pepper Jack Chicken, Lip Smacking Chicken Drumsticks, and (I'm not making this up) Thyme for Chicken.

They look good, sound fancy, and seem to be more trouble than they're worth: but some people like to put effort into food preparation.