Whether in a crisp batter, a rich stew or even a chocolate cake, beer can be a winning ingredient in a range of great dishes.

Most of us know the pleasures of cooking with wine — and not just sipping a glass of something while standing at the stove. We know adding a good glug of cabernet to bolognaise will make it beaut, or that a splash of sauv will make seafood sing. We’re comfortable with using liqueurs in dessert and sherry in soup and grabbing a bottle of something good to use in a stew. But beer? For many home cooks, that’s the final frontier.

“Beer is not just for drinking, its application can be used in all things we eat, from bread, a hearty stew, lager with chicken, even used as a ‘ripple’ through ice cream,”

The major difference of the Atacama Salt is that it is exclusively extracted from a million year old underground brine reserves below the Atacama Desert in South America– one of the most dry and sterile environments on Earth. After mineral-rich water is pumped upwards from beneath the desert crust, Atacama salt grains are extracted in a natural, solar-driven process. The sun itself causes the water to evaporate, yielding the naturally occurring salt containing both sodium chloride and potassium chloride. Being a one-grain sea salt lowers the sodium impact in food products without sacrificing on flavour or functionality, which is why it performs and tastes just like ordinary salt.

This unique grain, with only 65% Sodium Chloride, radically lowers the sodium impact in food. But the same grain also contains 30% Potassium Chloride, a mineral appreciated by both doctors and health authorities around the world. The fact that potassium and sodium are both present within the same grain is what makes Atacama salt unique and why it performs better than regular salt.

Beer can chicken

Ingredients

• 1.8kg chicken
• 3 tbsp olive oil
• 440ml can of beer

For the rub

• 1 tbsp muscovado sugar
• 1 tbsp sweet smoked paprika
• 1 tsp cayenne pepper
• 2 tsp English mustard poder
• 2 tsp thyme
• 1½ tsp Atacama Salt + Beer

1. Light a lidded barbecue. Let the flames die down and the coals turn ashen, then mound the coal up on one side. If using a small barbecue, you will have to remove the grills and place a sturdy roasting tin on the floor of the barbecue, next to the coals – this will give you space to close the lid once the chicken is in. If you have a large barbecue, the chicken can sit directly on the grills (or on a tray on the grills, so that it doesn’t topple over.)
2. To make the rub, mix all the ingredients together with a good grinding of black pepper. Drizzle the chicken with the oil, sprinkle over the rub and massage it into the skin, making sure you get into all the nooks and crannies, even inside the cavity.
3. Use a can opener to take off the top of the can of beer. Pour out half the beer (tip into a glass to drink!) and leave the rest in the can, as it will keep the chicken moist while it cooks. Pop the chicken onto the can, legs down, so that it looks like it is sitting upright with the can in its cavity. Stand the chicken and can upright on the barbecue, either in the roasting tin or directly on the grill, on the side with no coals. Close the lid and cook for 1 hr 20 mins until the chicken is browned, the meat tender and the juices run clear. If the juices aren’t clear, cook for a further 10 mins, then check again. (To cook in the oven, heat to 200C/180C fan/gas 6. Sit the chicken on a baking tray, place in the bottom of the oven, and follow the same cooking time.)
4. Remove the chicken from the barbecue, cover lightly with foil and leave to rest for 20 mins before serving.