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Jerk chicken with thermometer and side of rice

Spicy Jerk Chicken Recipe, Jamaican style

Martin
Jerk chicken, adapted from Master of the Grill, America's Test Kitchen and Jamaican Jerk Marinade, by Vaughn Stafford Gray
 
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Prep Time 15 minutes
Cook Time 30 minutes
marination 2 hours
Total Time 2 hours 45 minutes
Course dinner, Main Course
Cuisine Caribbean, Jamaican

Equipment

Ingredients
  

Jerk marinade paste

  • 1-1/2 Tbsp coriander seeds
  • 4 tsp allspice berries
  • 1 Tbsp black peppercorns
  • 1 –4 Scotch bonnet or habanero chilies (depending on how much spice you can handle!) stemmed
  • 8 scallions rough-chopped
  • 6 garlic cloves peeled
  • 3 Tbsp vegetable oil
  • 2 Tbsp lime or other citrus zest (3 limes) plus lime wedges for serving
  • 2 Tbsp lime juice
  • 2 Tbsp white vinegar
  • 1 1/2 Tbsp fresh thyme
  • 1 Tbsp ground ginger or 2 Tbsp chopped fresh ginger
  • 1 Tbsp packed brown sugar
  • 3 1/2 tsp kosher salt
  • 1/2 tsp fresh rosemary
  • 1/2 tsp ground nutmeg
  • 1/2 tsp ground mace

To cook the chicken

  • 6 –8 chicken leg quarters
  • 2 Tbsp allspice berries
  • 2 sprigs fresh thyme
  • 2 sprigs fresh rosemary
  • 1 cinnamon stick crushed
  • 2 bay leaves
  • 1 C wood chips

Instructions
 

Make the marinade and marinate the chicken

  • Place all ingredients into a blender jar and blend until smooth (1–3 minutes). Scrape down sides if necessary to blend all ingredients well. 
    Ingredients in the blender jar
  • Place chicken quarters in a bowl, pan, or gallon-size zipper-lock bag. Pour jerk marinade over the chicken and coat completely. 
    Marinating the chicken
  • Cover chicken with plastic wrap (or remove air from the zipper-lock bag and zip shut) and let the chicken marinate for several hours or overnight.

Cook the chicken

  • Make the spicy smoke packet by soaking wood chips, allspice berries, and fresh herbs in water for 15 minutes, then wrapping them in a packet of foil. Cut a few slits in the top of the packet. Set aside.
    making the spice packet
  • Preheat your smoker to <strong>300</strong> °F (149 °C) using your Billows BBQ control fan and Smoke X4
    Preheating the smoker
  • Put the spice/wood packet directly on the hot coals right before you put the chicken on to cook. 
    Putting the packet on the coals
  • Place the chicken quarters on the grill, skin side up. Insert a probe into the largest thigh and set the high-temp alarm on the meat channel of your Smoke X2 to 190°F (88°C).
  • Close the lid and cook.
  • When the high-temp alarm sounds, spot-check the chicken quarters with your Thermapen ONE. If you don't see any lower temperatures, you're there! Remove the chicken from heat. 
    Temping the chicken
  • Cover and rest for 5-10 minutes. Carve as desired and serve with lime wedges, rice and peas, fried plantains, or any other sides you like. 
    jerk chicken
Keyword grilled, spicy