Purchase 2 whole chickens weighing 3-1/2 to 4 pounds each. Remove the neck and giblets from the body cavity, rinse inside and out, and pat dry. Trim any excess fat from around the body cavity opening. Fold the wing tips back under the chicken to keep them from burning during cooking.

Wash 2 12-ounce beer cans with soapy water and rinse well. Open the cans and drink half the beer in each. Use a church key-style can opener to make two additional holes in the lid.

Now prepare a batch of "Wild Willy's Number One-derful Rub".

Sprinkle the rub liberally inside the body cavity and the neck cavity, then all over the outside of the chicken. If you want, sprinkle some rub under the skin over the breasts and work it around with your fingers.

Place the chicken over the beer can, making sure it's firmly seated inside the cavity as far as possible. Position the legs to form sort of a tripod to keep the chicken upright and balanced.

Let the chickens sit at room temperature as you fire-up your Weber Bullet.

Use 3 chunks of apple smoke wood. Each chunk should be small, for example 3" x 2" x 2" or similar. Cherry, oak, or another mild fruit wood can be used if apple is not available.

There is no need to soak the wood or remove the bark before use.

I used 3 chunks of apple as shown in this photo.

Fire-up the cooker using the Minion Method. Fill the charcoal chamber 1/2 full with unlit Kingsford charcoal briquettes, then place 20-40 lit coals on top of the unlit ones.

Put the water pan in the cooker and fill it with cold tap water to help with temperature control.

Assemble the cooker and put the chickens back-to-back on the top cooking grate, as shown in Picture 1.

Set the 3 bottom vents to 100% open. Open the top vent fully and leave it that way throughout the entire cook.

When the cooker reaches about 225°F, set the 3 bottom vents to 25% open so the cooker settles in at 225-250°F measured at the lid. Adjust the 3 bottom vents as necessary to maintain this temperature range throughout the cooking session.

Cook for 2 hours, then baste the chickens with apple juice using a spray bottle. If you notice that the chickens are cooking unevenly, rotate them by turning the grate 180°, as shown in Picture 2.

Cook for another hour, then baste again with apple juice.

Cook for another 30 minutes to 1 hour, then check the internal meat temperature using an instant-read thermometer. The chicken is done when the breast meat registers about 160°F and the thigh registers about 170°F.

There should be no need to add water to the pan during the cooking session.

Here's how the cooker temperatures and vent settings went during my cook:

Note that the vent percentages represent the way I set the vents at the time indicated.

Using heat-resistant neoprene or rubber gloves, remove the chickens carefully from the cooker and let cool for 5 minutes before serving.

Since the remaining beer in the can will be very hot, make sure to support the can as you lift the chicken off the grate. You can do this with your gloved hand, or you can grasp the can with tongs to support the chicken from below while using your other gloved hand to steady the chicken.

To remove the can, hold the chicken at a slight angle in the palm of one gloved hand, grasp the can with your other gloved hand, twist the can back and forth to loosen it, and pull it out carefully. Do this over the sink or a rimmed baking sheet to catch any spills.

There are many ways you can customize or adapt the beer can chicken method:

• Vary the type of beer: Lager, pilsner, ale, wheat, stout, etc. If the beer comes in a bottle, funnel it into a clean beer can.
   
• Use soda instead of beer: Coke, Dr. Pepper, root beer, etc. I have a friend that makes Fresca chicken all the time.
   
• Make flavorful additions to the can: Rub, chopped onions, garlic cloves, vinegar, etc.
   
• Vary the type of rub: Any rub can be used, whether it's store bought or your favorite homemade recipe.
   
• Rub earlier: For more intense flavor, apply the rub 2 hours, 4 hours, or the night before cooking.
   
• Baste with beer: For more beer goodness, baste with beer using a spray bottle starting halfway through the cooking process. Use the beer you removed from the can before placing the chicken on top...assuming you didn't already drink it.
   
• Inject or mop the chicken: Some recipes like "Chicken On A Throne" from Smoke & Spice call for injecting the bird with a flavorful mixture the night before cooking, and mopping with a flavorful liquid during cooking. You'll find plenty of injection and mop recipes on the Internet. This is an opportunity to add more beer flavor to the chicken, if desired.
   
• Cook at a higher temperature: Roast at 325-350°F instead of "low and slow" 225-250°F.
   
• Use a vertical chicken rack instead of a can: If you don't like the thought of a beer can stuffed inside your bird, a variety of vertical poultry racks can be purchased at barbecue and kitchen specialty stores, or online from Amazon.com. The Weber Poultry Roaster is one example.
   
• Use different sized cans for different sized birds: Use a small juice can for a game hen, a 16-ounce "tall boy" beer can for a roasting chicken, or a 32-ounce Foster's lager beer can for a turkey.