Jerk Chicken Over Charcoal and Pimento Wood

Method

1. Blitz the jerk paste

   Blend everything except the chicken and the wood into a thick dark paste. It should be aggressive: fiercely hot, heavily allspiced, sharp with lime. Wear gloves handling scotch bonnets and keep your hands away from your face.

2. Marinate overnight

   Score the chicken pieces to the bone a few times each, then work the paste in thoroughly. Twelve hours minimum, twenty four is better. The scoring is what gets the marinade past the surface.

3. Source the smoke

   Pimento wood is the traditional fuel and it is what makes jerk taste like jerk. If you cannot get it, wrap a large handful of whole allspice berries in a foil pouch, pierce it, and sit it on the coals. It is a genuine substitute, not a token gesture.

4. 150°C (300°F) indirect for an hour

   Two-zone fire with the wood or foil pouch on the coals. Chicken on the cool side, lid on, vent over the meat. Around an hour, turning once at the halfway point. You want the smoke doing the work here.

5. Char over the coals to finish

   Move the pieces directly over the bank for the last five to eight minutes, turning frequently, until the skin is properly blackened in patches. Jerk should look burnt at the edges; that char is part of the flavour, not a mistake.

6. Take dark meat to 80°C (175°F)

   Thighs and drumsticks want 80°C (175°F) or a little more. If you included breast pieces, pull those earlier at 75°C (165°F).

7. Chop and serve

   Traditionally chopped through the bone with a cleaver into rough pieces and served with festival, rice and peas, or hard dough bread.

Notes worth knowing

• Reserve a few spoonfuls of paste before the chicken touches it, thin it with lime juice, and serve it as a raw sauce alongside.
• Scotch bonnets are essential. Habanero is the closest substitute; jalapeno is not remotely the same thing.
• If the outside is charring before the inside is done, your indirect side is too hot or the pieces are too close to the coals.

Common questions

What is pimento wood?

Pimento is the allspice tree. Its wood, leaves and berries all carry the same warm spice aroma, and burning it is what gives authentic Jamaican jerk its distinctive smoke. Chunks are available online, and allspice berries on the coals get you a large part of the way there.

Is jerk supposed to be this hot?

Yes. Traditional jerk is genuinely hot, balanced by the sweetness of allspice and the acidity of lime. You can halve the scotch bonnets and still have a recognisable dish, but do not reduce the allspice.