Beer, roast chicken, garlic, herbs. This beer brined garlic chicken is designed to win hearts! Its simple flavours create something very special indeed. Prep this for a barbecue, swap it for your Sunday roast, serve it in wraps with caramelised onions…
It really is the ultimate savoury, succulent chicken. If you have leftovers- which I doubt you will- they’d make the ultimate roast chicken sandwich or the most amazing addition to soup or ramen.
This recipe is built around 4 key ingredients. It’s a celebration of Reinheitsgebot.
Reinheitsgebot? You aren’t familiar? It’s only the oldest food and drink law in the world. Maybe you know it as the German Brewing Laws. Either way, the law dates back to 1516 and states that only 4 elements could be used in the production of beer- hops, barley, yeast and water. It was designed to maintain the purity and really showcase the flavour of these simple ingredients.
With that in mind, I’ve created this recipe in partnership with Krombacher, the largest family owned brewery in Europe. They’ve followed the Reinheitsgebot since 1803 and the proof is in the drinking really- 60 glasses per second in Germany. It’s good!
So, for this Reinheitsgebot celebration, which we’re calling Beer Brined Garlic Chicken, you will need to buy 4 things:
-Chicken
-Beer
-Garlic
-Herbs
We’ll start off by brining the chicken. Seeing as this is A Life of Geekery, I think we need to talk about why.
Brine is salty and because of that, it allows the chicken to absorb the liquid through osmosis. So we pack this liquid full of the amazing flavours of Krombacher beer, garlic and herbs and like magic, the chicken takes it all on. Think of the best rotisserie, garlic chicken that you’ve ever eaten, make it 10 times better, that’s what we’re creating.
Once we’ve soaked this chicken in brine, the muscle fibres that would normally contract and make it dry relax permanently. The result is perfectly plump chicken that is seasoned throughout, not just at skin level. You win at chicken.
So let’s look at the brine. If you’ve bought the beer, garlic and herbs, it’s all store cupboard ingredients. You just need to add sugar and salt.
You’ll need a fairly large pan, bowl or bag to brine the chicken in. I used our slow cooker, then left it in the fridge overnight.
The next day you’ll have beer brined chicken and we’ll rub it in garlic and herbs. I’ve chosen to use lemon thyme in this recipe but you could go with rosemary, parsley, thyme, basil, pretty much anything you like.
Put it in a pestle and mortar if you have one, or a blender will do the trick. Let it down with a little of the Krombacher if it looks dry.
Make sure you dry the chicken off before you rub the herb and garlic mix over it. You’ll also need to cut the backbone out to spatchcock it – this lets a large whole chicken cook in 40 mins. The flavour is already in the meat its self but the extra rub takes it to another level. Don’t skip this!
That’s the bird ready for the oven. Check the recipe below for times, temperatures and tips. Please do let me know if you try this. It’s a crowd pleaser and something a bit different.
I’ll leave you with that shot of that golden, beer brined chicken, with crispy skin.Krombacher is available via Majestic www.majestic.co.uk, www.beersofeurope.co.uk, and www.noblegreenwines.co.uk
- 1 Spatchcocked Chicken - look for a free range or higher welfare bird with plenty of leg meat
- 2 Garlic Cloves
- A fistful of herbs - I chose lemon thyme
- Brine
- Krombacher- you need enough to cover your chicken, 2 or 3 bottles should do it
- Salt= for each 500ml bottle you use, you'll need 30 grams of salt
- Sugar = use equal amounts of sugar and salt
- 3 Garlic cloves, crushed
- ½ of your chosen herbs
- Place the whole chicken in a large container. Add the brine, mixing thoroughly to ensure the salt and sugar have dissolved. Ensure you've made enough brine to cover the chicken, seal the container and leave in the fridge over night.
- Preheat the oven to 200 degrees Celsius.
- Remove the chicken from the brine and pat dry.
- Pound the garlic and herbs in a pestle and mortar or blender. Let down with a little Krombacher if dry.
- Rub the garlic and herb mix all over the chicken, place in a roasting tin and roast for 30-40 mins.
- The chicken should be golden, the internal temperature should have reached 74 degrees Celsius, and the meat should be opaque white throughout.
Let me know what you think