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Jamaican Jerk Chicken with Hellfire Hot Sauce
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Mar 31, 2025
Jamaican jerk occupies an honored place on Planet Barbecue—grilled chicken marinated with fiery scotch bonnet chilies, pungent garlic, and fragrant allspice. The kicker? You grill it over pimiento (allspice wood), just as Jamaicans have for centuries. Additional fireworks come from the simple vinegar, onion, Scotch bonnet sauce. Ya, mon!
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Many countries have vast grilling repertoires
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Jamaica's claim to barbecue fame lies in a single dish, jerk. Perfected by runaway slaves in the 18th century
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jerk consists of a fiery paste of scotch bonnet chilies and allspice
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You're probably familiar with jerk pork. Here's a lesser-known jerk chicken from the town of Yalus
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And it begins with the jerk seasoning. Start with one bunch of scallions cut into one-inch pieces
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then a couple of shallots, finely chopped garlic, and as much fiery scotch bonnet chili as you can bear
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Next, fresh thyme, salt, freshly ground black pepper, allspice
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and puree these ingredients together in a food processor. Once pureed, add a little vegetable oil
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and enough water to obtain a thick but pourable seasoning. People say that the Scotch Bonnet is the world's hottest chili
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Well, many of you have written to let me know that there are hotter chilies in India
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but I will tell you, this is one of the hottest. 200,000 Scovilles, that's a measure of heat
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Regular jalapeno has about 5,000 Scovilles. So, we're talking hot. I using chicken legs Most grill masters prefer chicken legs the dark meat It fatter it richer it less expensive than the breast
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Yes, the jerk seasoning has scotch bonnets, but it's really as much about the sweetness of the allspice
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and the fragrance of the thyme. That's really the essence of jerk seasoning
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Okay, and what you can do just to finish up here is a little fresh thyme
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and allspice berries on top. Refrigerate for at least four hours or as long as overnight
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The longer, the richer the flavor. Next, the fuel. Now, in Yalas, they would use natural lump charcoal
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You can see by the jagged shape that this actually really came from a tree
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You light the charcoal in a chimney starter like this one. You can use either crumpled newspaper
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or a paraffin starter to light the charcoal. Beauty of a chimney, it conducts the heat upward
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so you don't need lighter fluid. In Jamaica, they cook the chicken
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in a 55-gallon steel drum. I'm using a Kamado cooker. This is a ceramic cooker
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Among its features, thick ceramic walls, which are great for holding the heat
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A very well-designed venting system that enables you to go from very low heat
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to a very high heat in a matter of minutes. We have a bed of charcoal on the bottom
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And in order to smoke the jerk chicken, we going to add a handful of hardwood chips And in Jamaica they would use allspice wood It called pimiento so we can add a handful of allspice berries to replicate the effect Next place the grate on the grill take the chicken
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you can see I've had it over ice for safety, and simply arrange the chicken pieces on the grate
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So where does the word jerk come from? One theory is that it is a Jamaican patois word, juke, meaning to stab or poke
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Because traditionally people would poke holes in the chicken to help the marinade penetrate more quickly
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Another theory is that it comes from a South American Indian word called sharky or sharky, as in our jerky
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a process of smoke-drying and curing the meat. It's a good idea to have the skin side up
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that way the melting fat will baste the jerk chicken. Close the lid of the cooker
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You want to adjust the vent holes to obtain a temperature of about 300 degrees Fahrenheit
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cooking time 40 to 60 minutes. Next, let me show you how to make the hellish relish
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It starts with distilled white vinegar and salt, and you simply want to whisk the mixture
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until the salt dissolves. Then add thinly sliced scotch bonnet chilies and thinly sliced onion
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And the chilies of course are what make the relish hellish Let this mixture marinate for at least 30 minutes
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It's sort of a pickle. It will actually keep for several days
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All right, let's check the chicken. Swap out. Let's put the new guys out
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It looks great, but always with poultry, you want to use an instant read meat thermometer
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to check for doneness. If you're looking for between 165 and 170 degrees, bingo
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Take the jerk chicken to a platter, which I've lined with a banana leaf
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in keeping with the island theme. Here's your jerk chicken
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Just spoon a little of the hellish relish over it. And let's see how we did
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Mmm, really nice, man. Good heat, smoky meat. Makes you hungry for the Caribbean
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Harry, there you go, sir
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