Today's cook: jerk chicken

[reformedvegan]

today I'll be making three whole chickens on the Pit Boss pellet cooker. They were spatchcocked and slathered with marinade last night. Skin was slit on a few places so I could get marinade under the skin.

The jerk marinade consists of

Green onions (scallions)
Shallots
Fresh garlic
Fresh ginger
Habenero chilies
Freeze-dried thyme
Allspice
Cinnamon
Nutmeg
Black pepper
Salt
Brown sugar
Soy sauce
Apple cider vinegar
Lime juice

 

[5GRILLZNTN]

That's going to be awesome. Don't forget the finished pics!

 

[CFLJOHN512]

Nice jerk recipe. Those are gonna be good!!

 

[reformedvegan]

Hopper and A-maze-N tube filled with a 50/50 blend of Cabela's Cherry and Peach/Pecan pellets. Tube also had some allspice berries and bay leaves added to it. Cooked at 250⁰ for about an hour and a half, then increased to 350⁰ when temp hit 120⁰ in the breast. Removed and rested when temp hit 160⁰.

 

[QueBeard]

Oh man that is money!!

 

[reformedvegan]

Recipe:

Jerk marinade (for two whole chickens)

(All ingredients coarsely chopped, spices ground from whole spices in your spice mill, if you have one)
1 bunch (about) green onion/scalions including green bits.
1 medium shallot
6 cloves garlic
2 fat inches of fresh ginger root, peeled
2-6 Habenero chiles with seeds and pith carefully removed
1 heaping Tbsp. Lighthouse brand freeze-dried thyme leaves. If you are unfamiliar with Lighthouse freeze dried herbs, check them out - the stuff is awesome!
2 Tbsp allspice berries, ground
1 Tbsp black peppercorns, ground
1 medium whole nutmeg, ground (about 1 tsp)
2 tsp salt
2 Tbsp soy sauce
1 Tbsp apple cider vinegar
Juice of 2-3 limes
1/4 cup firmly packed brown sugar
1/3 cup vegetable oil


Puree everything in a food processor until nice and smooth.
Spatchcock your chickens and dry them well.
Cut a small slit in the loose skin where each thigh meets the leg and loosten skin over breasts in order to pack marinade under the skin.
Slather with the rest of the mainade.
I didn't do this, but in retrospect I would - make 2 to 3 deep cuts in each breast muscle and pack with marinade.
Let marinade do it's work for at least 12 hours.
Grill or smoke as you see fit.
Baste with leftover marinade at least twice during the cook.
You can add allspice and bay leaves to the smoking wood for more authentic flavor if you can't get pimento wood for smoking.
I would recommend finishing the cook in a very hot oven to crisp up the skin. I wasn't able to do this because I had a cake in the oven (didn't time things well to have the oven available).

 

[reformedvegan]

Update upon eating leftovers:

I only used one Habenero per whole 5.5 lb chicken. This amount provided a nice, well-balanced heat, but flavor didn't penetrate the breast well. Still, bites of the breast meat can be mopped against the skin or plate to pick up the marinade and get plenty of flavor.

I am going to smoke a bit lower and longer next time, and finish in a 450-500⁰F oven. Next time, I am also going to try to get as much marinade under the skin as possible and perhaps spray with a salty apple juice instead of mopping it with jerk marinade as it cooks, to hopefully help the skin dry out and crisp up.