Place all substances right into a blender jar and mix till clean (1–3 minutes). Scrape down sides if essential to mix all substances nicely.
Place hen quarters in a bowl, pan, or gallon-size zipper-lock bag. Pour jerk marinade over the hen and coat fully.
Cowl hen with plastic wrap (or take away air from the zipper-lock bag and zip shut) and let the hen marinate for a number of hours or in a single day.
Prepare dinner the hen
Make the spicy smoke packet by soaking wooden chips, allspice berries, and contemporary herbs in water for quarter-hour, then wrapping them in a packet of foil. Reduce a number of slits within the prime of the packet. Put aside.
Put the spice/wooden packet instantly on the new coals proper earlier than you place the hen on to prepare dinner.
Place the hen quarters on the grill, pores and skin aspect up. Insert a probe into the most important thigh and set the high-temp alarm on the meat channel of your Smoke X2 to 190°F (88°C).
Shut the lid and prepare dinner.
When the high-temp alarm sounds, spot-check the hen quarters together with your Thermapen ONE. In case you don’t see any decrease temperatures, you’re there! Take away the hen from warmth.
Cowl and relaxation for 5-10 minutes. Carve as desired and serve with lime wedges, rice and peas, fried plantains, or every other sides you want.
Place all substances right into a blender jar and mix till clean (1–3 minutes). Scrape down sides if essential to mix all substances nicely.
Place hen quarters in a bowl, pan, or gallon-size zipper-lock bag. Pour jerk marinade over the hen and coat fully.
Cowl hen with plastic wrap (or take away air from the zipper-lock bag and zip shut) and let the hen marinate for a number of hours or in a single day.
Prepare dinner the hen
Make the spicy smoke packet by soaking wooden chips, allspice berries, and contemporary herbs in water for quarter-hour, then wrapping them in a packet of foil. Reduce a number of slits within the prime of the packet. Put aside.
Put the spice/wooden packet instantly on the new coals proper earlier than you place the hen on to prepare dinner.
Place the hen quarters on the grill, pores and skin aspect up. Insert a probe into the most important thigh and set the high-temp alarm on the meat channel of your Smoke X2 to 190°F (88°C).
Shut the lid and prepare dinner.
When the high-temp alarm sounds, spot-check the hen quarters together with your Thermapen ONE. In case you don’t see any decrease temperatures, you’re there! Take away the hen from warmth.
Cowl and relaxation for 5-10 minutes. Carve as desired and serve with lime wedges, rice and peas, fried plantains, or every other sides you want.
Each tradition has a dish or two which can be mainstays of their kitchen. India has curry and dal. Mexico has mole and tamales. Germany has a pantheon of sausages. And Jamaica has Jerk: jerk hen, jerk goat, jerk pork. If there’s a dish extra iconically Jamaican, it’s arduous to consider. The tactic and the flavour have deep roots in Jamaican historical past and tradition, and other people from the island have introduced that custom with them wherever they’ve settled on the planet.
Now, nobody on our employees is of Jamaican descent, however we’re devoted admirers of all of the world’s nice dishes. So right here, we carry you our rendition of scrumptious jerk hen, filled with the scrumptious spice and taste of the unique, if considerably inauthentic for causes we’ll talk about under. However it is a nice approximation of the particular Caribbean deal with you can make at house, and one which, with our temperature recommendation, you possibly can prepare dinner excellent the primary time. Let’s have a look!
What’s “jerk?”
Historical past and cultural significance
“Jerk” started as a way of pit cooking whereby meat can be cooked in a pit over sizzling coals. It developed from the wants of indigenous individuals and escaped slaves who the place hiding within the mountainous inside of the tropical island. This ember-cooked meals turned a mainstay of celebratory and, ultimately, on a regular basis delicacies. However in response to Jamaican chef Gariel Ferguson, “Jerk is [still] freedom manifested in meals.”
There are about 740,000 individuals of Jamaican origin—immigrants themselves or the descendants of immigrants—residing in america. For individuals residing in Jamaica and overseas, jerk is a vital a part of Jamaican tradition. It’s eaten not solely as an essential a part of vacation celebrations, however is an on a regular basis image of their tradition, a reminder of each oppression and freedom, of ingenuity and endurance. And for thousands and thousands of individuals around the globe with Jamaican heritage, it’s a style of a house left behind.
(For a wonderful take a look at the historical past and significance of Jerk cooking to Jamaican tradition, see this Transient Historical past of Jamaican Jerk.)
What jerk means as we speak
Jerk ultimately moved out of in-ground pits. In case you’ve ever visited Jamaica, you’ve in all probability seen the jerk pan males with their transformed oil drum people who smoke on the corners, serving sizzling, aromatic meat to passers-by. However shifting to extra transportable and trendy cooking strategies hasn’t meant a change in lots of elements of jerk cooking. The spice palate stays: a number of allspice (referred to as pimiento in Jamaica), contemporary thyme, nutmeg and/or mace, and as a lot Scotch bonnet chili pepper 2 as you possibly can stand. The meat continues to be cooked over smoldering embers, and, in Jamaica, these embers are nonetheless made as typically as attainable from pimiento wooden.
The truth is, purists insist you can’t name one thing “jerk” if it isn’t smoked over the wooden of the allspice tree—the distinctive smoke taste is likely one of the essential substances within the dish. And in that regard, we definitely can’t declare that what we current right here is genuine jerk. You’ll be able to, in fact, purchase pimiento wooden on the web to be shipped to you in your jerk. When you’ve got the means, you may wish to give it a attempt someday.
Jerk Seasoning
Jerk seasoning is usually a dry rub or a moist paste. Right here, we go for the moist paste model, and we predict you need to make it your self. Home made jerk paste is nicely well worth the little time it takes to arrange, and the flavour is unimaginable. It’s contemporary, pungent, daring, and could be made simply the way in which you prefer it.
It’s simple sufficient to make! Principally, you roughly chop your substances and put them in a blender. Be certain there’s sufficient liquid to let the blender function, and whiz it up. You’ll want about 2–3 Tbsp of paste per pound of meat, and the recipe we offer right here makes about 1.5–2 cups, so it’s lots for even loads of meat!
Cooking jerk hen
As we famous above, “jerk” is each a taste and a way, and the tactic quantities, in essence, to BBQ. It’s a slower prepare dinner over smoldering coals, in any case! We didn’t purchase any pimiento wooden, however we nonetheless wished a few of that taste, so we adopted the recommendation of America’s Check Kitchen and made a foil packet containing woodchips, allspice berries, bay leaves, and cinnamon. This approximates the spicy smoke of the pimiento wooden. We heated our smoker to 300°F (149°C) utilizing our Billows BBQ management fan and our Smoke X2™ then put our well-marinated hen on to prepare dinner. We used the opposite channel on our Smoke X2 to watch the hen temperature, pulling it after we’d reached 190°F (88°C). (Why 190°F? Examine hen inner temperatures to be taught why that wasn’t overcooked.)
Utilizing Billows allowed us to deal with different issues whereas the hen cooked, and Smoke X2 allowed us to watch two channels from a distance, even far inside our constructing, with out having to hassle with any setup. We used the time to prepare dinner up some rice and peas in addition to fried plantains to have with our hen feast. As quickly because the alarm on our receiver sounded, we verified the temperature with our Thermapen® ONE, took the hen off the smoker, and had been delighted to get to eat such scrumptious meals with out having to fly to Jamaica—and even Queens.
Make this dish! The flavour is unbelievable, and it’s extremely enjoyable to make. The smells when you assemble the marinade and once you put the spice packet on the coals are outrageously good, and the ensuing hen is smoky, savory, tender, and juicy. And our temperature instruments and recommendation will assist you realize that this jewel of the culinary world is cooked completely each time. Blissful cooking!
Print
Spicy Jerk Hen Recipe, Jamaican fashion
Jerk marinade paste
1–1/2 Tbsp coriander seeds
4 tsp allspice berries
1 Tbsp black peppercorns
1–4 Scotch bonnet (or habanero) chilies (relying on how a lot spice you possibly can deal with!), stemmed
8 scallions, rough-chopped
6 garlic cloves, peeled
3 Tbsp vegetable oil
2 Tbsp lime (or different citrus) zest (3 limes), plus lime wedges for serving
2 Tbsp lime juice
2 Tbsp white vinegar
1 1/2 Tbsp contemporary thyme
1 Tbsp floor ginger or 2 Tbsp chopped contemporary ginger
1 Tbsp packed brown sugar
3 1/2 tsp kosher salt
1/2 tsp contemporary rosemary
1/2 tsp floor nutmeg
1/2 tsp floor mace
To prepare dinner the hen
6–8 hen leg quarters
2 Tbsp allspice berries
2 sprigs contemporary thyme
2 sprigs contemporary rosemary
1 cinnamon stick, crushed
2 bay leaves
1 C wooden chips
Directions
Make the marinade and marinate the hen
Place all substances right into a blender jar and mix till clean (1–3 minutes). Scrape down sides if essential to mix all substances nicely.
Place hen quarters in a bowl, pan, or gallon-size zipper-lock bag. Pour jerk marinade over the hen and coat fully.
Cowl hen with plastic wrap (or take away air from the zipper-lock bag and zip shut) and let the hen marinate for a number of hours or in a single day.
Prepare dinner the hen
Make the spicy smoke packet by soaking wooden chips, allspice berries, and contemporary herbs in water for quarter-hour, then wrapping them in a packet of foil. Reduce a number of slits within the prime of the packet. Put aside.
Put the spice/wooden packet instantly on the new coals proper earlier than you place the hen on to prepare dinner.
Place the hen quarters on the grill, pores and skin aspect up. Insert a probe into the most important thigh and set the high-temp alarm on the meat channel of your Smoke X2 to 190°F (88°C).
Shut the lid and prepare dinner.
When the high-temp alarm sounds, spot-check the hen quarters together with your Thermapen ONE. In case you don’t see any decrease temperatures, you’re there! Take away the hen from warmth.
Cowl and relaxation for 5-10 minutes. Carve as desired and serve with lime wedges, rice and peas, fried plantains, or every other sides you want.
