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It's Jerk Time

Jamaica is one of my happy places and jerk chicken is one of my happy foods. Nothing tastes better than a jerk chicken quarter with some hard dough bread and a cold Ting...preferably on the beach with a nice buzz!

When you can't get to Jamaica, we've got the next best thing here with our selection of jerk seasonings and marinades...and a few tips to help make your next cook extra special. We'll include our smoking instructions below as well. 

We typically use a traditional jerk seasoning like Walkerswood but marinades work great as well - the prep instructions are a little different so take note in the recipe below which you're using. 

Jerk is traditionally smoked over pimento wood and the importance of this depends on who you're talking to. At least half the jerk stands I've visited used different wood with no effect. Pimento wood is available in sticks and chunks online but it is insanely expensive. Oak will work just fine but if you happen to own a pellet smoker like I do, there's an awesome hack in the recipe that really does a great job approximating the flavor of pimento. 

Lastly - here's a link to a Spotify playlist with a few of my favorite reggae jams to check out the next time you're smoking chicken....or whatever else you smoke. ;)

Jerk Chicken

Matt

Servings

4

Prep Time

15 minutes

Cook Time

2 hours

Cuisine

Caribbean

Category

Main Course

Ingredients

  • 4 Chicken Quarters
  • Jerk Seasoning/Marinade**
  • Olive oil (optional)

Directions

  1. If using marinade, combine chicken and marinade in bowl, coat and cover. Refrigerate overnight.

  2. If using traditional seasoning, combine seasoning (1 oz per pound of chicken) with olive oil (1 tsp per pound of chicken). Apply to chicken and refrigerate over night.

  3. Smoke chicken at 225 degrees until internal temperature reach 145 degrees - about 1-2 hours.

  4. Remove from grill and chop into bite size pieces with a cleaver. Serve with bread.

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