Jerk Chicken

[_Ed_]

In between bouts of rain and sunshine, and with a bunch of decent sport on the tv, today was jerk chicken day. Marinaded overnight in Kenji's jerk chicken marinade recipe, then cooked high in the dome on a bed of bay leaves and allspice berries at 200C until more or less done, then charred on the main grate to get the skin crisp. Handful of bay leaves and allspice berries thrown on the fire every 15 mins to get the right smoke profile for jerk. Served with rice & peas and corn on the cob.

2 photos: most of the way through smoke to show the bed of leaves, and the finished tray of chicken.

[CeramicChef]

@_Ed_ - I'd eat that any day.  Very nice cook.  Kudos!

[MacKenzie]

Ed, your jerk chicken looks delicious.    

[tony b]

After watching Raichlen doing jerk with the pimento leaves, berries, and wood, I went and ordered some. Have the leaves, but the wood takes a while to ship. Can't wait to do it more traditional. I've been doing jerk chicken, pork, and seafood for a very long time, since my first trip to Jamaica back in the late 80s, where I first tasted jerk chicken at a roadside stand. I had just assumed we didn't import the wood into this country. Silly me! 

[_Ed_]

yeah, pimento wood is really difficult to get hold of in the UK, hence the hack to use the bay leaf / allspice berry combo. Comes extremely close to the profile of pimento wood. Turned out extremely well. Decent marination period, decent level of salting, and a little marinade under the skin, finish with some char... looking forward to the cold leftovers!

[tinyfish]

Chicken looks really tasty.

[ckreef]

Great looking jerk chicken. Interesting technique cooking on leaves.

Reef's Bistro

[PVPAUL]

Bringing back an old thread. I’ve never really made Jerk Chicken and after a trip to Jamaica last month it inspired me to work on making Jerk. In reading through some of the threads here I decided to start with an approach / recipe by @tony b. I’ve picked up some Walkerswood paste and plan to add water and dark rum. I’ve also ordered some pimento wood, leaves and berries (aka allspice) and plan to put into the smoker pot. I’m planning to target 350F indirect until mostly cooked thru and then finishing over direct coal to add char / crust. 

I’m also thinking of another approach / version in which I would add marinade & SV cook & then freeze so that I can easily finish on a direct grill for a remote Canada fishing trip. I’m looking for some input and suggestions for both of these planned cooks.

Also, planning to cook bone in skin on chicken thighs.

Ya Mon!

 

[tekobo]

🤤🤤🤤

[tony b]

Can't wait to see how the jerk chicken comes out for you?

[PVPAUL]

So I did the jerk chicken cook yesterday. The smoke pot filled with Pimento wood, Pimento leaves and allspice berries worked great! I did the marinade as mentioned and I think I need to kick up the seasoning and flavor a bit. Otherwise the texture and cook went very well in spite of the very crappy weather here yesterday!!! I look forward to continuing to work on the marinade and seasoning. 

Cheers,

 

[MacKenzie]

 

Posting error. 

Edited April 9, 2024 by MacKenzie

[tekobo]

That looks good @PVPAUL.  Keen to know what recipe and cooking instructions you end up with after your fine tuning.  So far, so very delicious looking!

[tony b]

The hardest part, at least here, is sourcing the pimento wood. There were some regulation changes a few years ago that made it cost-prohibitive for folks to import it here from Jamaica. I have a stash, but am judicious about using it. The leaves and allspice berries are very easy to get. 

[PVPAUL]

Hey Tony, I was able to source the Pimento wood right from Amazon. It’s pretty pricey but for my smoking pot I don’t use a lot so I pretty much have a 10 years supply…..unless I end up opening up a Jerk Shack!!!

Cheers

[jonj]

@PVPAUL, good to know! I've been hoarding my remaining stash as carefully as my coco char. 

[tony b]

@PVPAUL - thanks for the tip! I'd prefer chunks over chips, but beggars can't be choosy! 

[C6Bill]

That chicken looks fantastic !!!!