A taste of the Caribbean is closer than you think with this easy to make Jamaican Jerk Chicken recipe. Lovers of spicy food and bold flavor: this chicken is for you!
History of Jamaican Jerk: Seasoning and Technique
The term Jerk not only refers to the spices and seasonings of a wet Jamaican jerk marinade or dry jerk seasoning rub, it is also the name of a cooking technique that originates from the mountains of Jamaica.
In the 1600’s, when the island of Jamaica was under colonial rule of the Spanish and British, a group of African slaves escaped to the Blue Mountains in the interior of the island where they encountered the natives of the island, the Arawak Indians. These Indians originated from South America, and had brought with them the traditional meat preservation method of smoke drying. It is believed that the group of escaped slaves, today called Maroons, perfected the Arawak Indian’s method of smoke drying, adding a spicy marinade of ingredients they found on the island, like pimento berries (allspice) and Scotch Bonnet peppers.
The Maroons cooked their meat in charcoal-filled holes dug in the ground that were lined with pimento (allspice) wood. After the meat was placed on the wood, the holes were covered so that the smoke from the cooking would not draw the attention of the colonists.
The word jerk itself comes from the Spanish word charqui, meaning dried strips of meat. If you say charqui out loud (CHAR-quee) does is sound like a familiar English word? Jerky! (Things are starting to make sense now!)
Making Jamaican Jerk
Traditionally, jerk cooking was used for pork and then chicken, but today you will fin it used for fish, shrimp, sausage, beef, and even vegetables.
The result of this slow cooking and bold marinade is fall-off-the-bone tender meat that is infused to the core with a good amount of spicy heat, a robust smoky flavor, and just the right amount of caramelized sweetness.
How to Spatchcock A Chicken For Even Cooking
To get our chicken to cook evenly, we use a technique called spatchcocking. (We’ll give you a second to say that word a couple times. Isn’t if fun?)
Spatchcock literally means ‘to split open for grilling.’ And that is exactly what we’re doing. By removing the backbone of the bird, we can press it nearly flat, creating a piece of meat with a relatively even thickness and density, allowing the meat to cook more evenly.
The technique couldn’t be more simple. Start with your chicken (or any other bird) breast side down on your cutting board. Take a sharp pair of kitchen shears and, starting at either the neck or tail, cut along one side of the backbone. Turn the chicken 180 degrees and cut along the other side of the backbone. (Save that backbone for making chicken stock later!)
Congratulations, you have now spatchcocked your chicken!
When you flip the bird breast side up, you can press on the breast bone to flatten the chicken even more. Then it’s time to marinade. While it may not look like there is a lot of marinade on our chicken below. There actually is. If you haven’t read about why we always put our marinades under the skin of chicken or turkey, you can find out why and learn how in our Turkey Roasting Basics article under “Prepare The Bird To Be Seasoned.”
So, under the skin with our flavor-packed Homemade Jamaican Jerk Marinade, and then this bad boy goes into the refrigerator to marinate at least overnight, if not for 24 hours. That’s where we really pack in the flavor!
Cooking Jamaican Jerk
True Jamaican jerk is grilled over green pimento wood, which imparts even more of that unique jerk flavor through the smoke.
Since, most of us don’t have logs of pimento wood laying around, we have to content ourselves with the smoke of a grill to do the job, a charcoal grill filled with lump hardwood charcoal is the route we think does it best.
But, if you just have charcoal briquettes or a gas grill, go for it anyway. You will still have some delicious Jamaican jerk.
The resulting, fall-apart tender, smoke-infused chicken is well worth the long marinating and hour of grill time. As you bite into that spicy and intensely flavorful chicken, you’ll know why.
Jamaican Jerk Chicken
Ingredients
- 1 whole chicken 3-4lbs
- ¾ c Jamaican jerk marinade
Instructions
- Remove the giblet bag from your chicken. Rinse it and pat it dry. Spatchcock the chicken (remove the backbone) by placing it breast-side-down on a cutting board. Take a sharp pair of kitchen shears and, starting at either the neck or tail, cut along one side of the backbone. Turn the chicken 180 degrees and cut along the other side of the backbone. Remove the backbone and flip the chicken over, breast-side-up. Press firmly on the breastbone to further flatten the chicken. (See pictures above.)
- Gently separate the skin from the breast and thigh meat. Rub ½ cup of marinade under the skin, spreading it as evenly as possible. (Alternately, you can simply rub ½ c of marinade over the skin.) Place the chicken in a 9x13 baking dish and let marinate for 12-24 hours in the refrigerator.
- When you are ready to cook your chicken, remove it from the refrigerator. Preheat your grill to a low heat, 300F. (You should be able to hold your hand directly over the cooking grate for 8-10 seconds.)
- Once the grill is hot, place the chicken, breast-side-up, on the hot grill grates. Cover the grill and check it every 15-20 minutes to be sure the temperature is staying steady. After 45 minutes, spread the remaining ¼ cup of marinade over the chicken. Cook for an additional 15 minutes.
- Remove the chicken from the grill and chop into pieces for serving.
- Serve the Jerk Chicken with a salad and rice or hearty bread.
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Sarah is one of Curious Cuisiniere’s founding duo. Her love for cultural cuisines was instilled early by her French Canadian Grandmother. Her experience in the kitchen and in recipe development comes from years working in professional kitchens. She has traveled extensively and enjoys bringing the flavors of her travels back to create easy-to-make recipes.