My wife calls the BCC one the “Elvis effect” and the second “ah sht! eatin’ crow again.”
OK, the latest test…
Same 375F air temp. Same 150 ml of water. Difference is pristine opened beer can (not cut in half) Water loss over 90 minutes: 30 ml.
Liquid temp hit 180F from ambient in 20 minutes. It hit 206F within 50 minutes.
Bird was pulled at 1:30, slightly overdone.
It’s steaming. Photos tomorrow.
Next test: identifiable aromatics in the can.
I’ll be interested in those results.
Your family sick if eating chicken yet?
Not really. But I have taken to making a lot of stock and dog food after one meal.
I think I still have 3 whole bird in the freezer.
Well, for the Doubting Thomases, I offer this video for consideration: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YGGYYNJQUAw
At around the 4:00 mark, when the chicken is removed from the appliance (in this case a Weber), steam is obviously rising out the bird’s neck opening and then–massively–from the “can”.
At about 5:50, the tasters observe that rosemary flavor made it into the meat.
1 Like
Ooo. Counterintuitive to what I would have thought.
I was considering using the removable cone piece from an old angel cake pan, or even the whole pan itself. Any thoughts?
Automatic drip catcher if you use the pan entire. I’d give it a whirl. No room for beer can, though, right? Just a propping tool.
What’s counterintuitive to me are the claims that no steaming occurs. But I suppose that starting with cold beer, lower temperatures and drippings entering the can, there’s at least a basis. With those stars misaligned, there certainly would be less of a steaming effect.
I’ve researched this enough to conclude very few claimants have actually measured the liquid temp in situ. Or realized that beer boils at a lower temp than water and hence the liquid only hitting 187F isn’t necessarily a disproof (Thermoworks, I’m looking at you).
It’s interesting Weber makes a second model of a deluxe BCC appliance that comes with a little cap. Users are instructed to use the cap at the neck of the bird so to prevent steam escaping. Maybe this is like including a mouthguard with every set of golf clubs?
Last night brought the BCC test to answer the question of whether steam infusion of aromatics is fact or fiction.
This is really two questions: (1) Does steaming of the bird’s cavity really happen?; and (2) Do aromatics in the liquid infuse the meat from the inside?
At least with the Napoleon Pro Infusion setup, and a 375F indirect roast in my L Big Green Egg, both are fact.
There is actually a LOT of steam making it into the bird. In retrospect, this isn’t surprising, considering the liquid covers the whole bottom of a 16" round pan, which channels any vapor almost exclusively into the suppository/cavity. Contrast with a real beer can, with its relatively tiny floor area (which nevertheless still steams). For kicks, I tried blocking the neck opening with a lemon chunk, but steam poured around and out anyway.
What DID surprise me was that the aromatic flavoring effect (in this case rosemary) was as subtle as it was. I used 3 medium sprigs from my rosemary bush in the suppository dome, not immersed in the liquid. So maybe that explains the subtlety. Next time, it’ll go into the pool with the beer. I could not ID any beer flavor at all, except for the cans I drank while running the test!
I shot a short video of the steam geyser out the neck, but the file size is apparently too large to post here.
1 Like
Sure, good idea. Good whether or not you bring liquid into the equation.
The idea behind the Napoleon and one Weber version is that the steam is channelled INTO the bird, not around it. I think if you merely stood the cone in a water pan, you’d have a hard time getting crispy skin. Try it with just the beer can or a ramekin standing inside the cone…
Looks damn good. Did the flavor kick arse?
The flavor was great. But with just a hint of rosemary. Next time the aromatics will be in the liquid, not above it.
1 Like
Rosemary is my favorite herb for meats, light and dark. A little more of that love might mean a lot to the final product. Getting it in the pool will hopefully result in the gold you seek.
Yeah, I like rosemary a lot, too, on many things. Thyme, also. But this time I wanted the strong, single pungent note of rosemary because the rub had no rosemary. I figured it would be easier to pick out that herb’s flavor in the meat.
I’m glad I did it this way–otherwise I might have missed tasting it at all, and may have reached the wrong conclusion.
