Jerk Pork

[Dewesq55]

I am prepping for my first semi-authentic jerk pork. (Real authentic involves 2 things I don't have at the moment: 1) Pimento wood, and 2) Direct heat at a long distance like 12-24 inches below the food. Something like a Hasty-Bake would likely be perfect). I have previously made jerk pork in the crock-pot and also in the oven at higher temp, but this is the first time I'm doing it low and slow with real smoke.

I got about 4 lbs of sliced picnic shoulder from my local ShopRite supermarket and am using 2 slices (about 2+ lbs) with the skin and bone:


I took of the skin and some of the fat below and removed the bones. I then made "accordian" cuts, an authentic Jamaican technique where you put 1/2" deep slits across the width of the meat about 2" apart. You do this on both sides with the slits on the second side being laid out to fall in between the slits from the first side:


I then wet rubbed them with this commercial hot jerk seasoning. I have made my own jerk seasoning before, and will again, but for this cook I decided to go OTS. As an aside, I bought this (Grace brand) at ShopRite. The next day I found Walkerswood (the OTS one most preferred by Jamaicans) at Giant. I decided to stick with the Grace for this cook:

The jar


The stuf:


The meat rubbed up:



I then bagged them and put them in the fridge to brine/marinate for about 24 hours. I plan to smoke at 225° over a 50/50 mix of apple and allspice berries (the fruit of the pimento tree/bush). I might only put on smoke one time since I don't think it should be too heavily smoked. I hope to bring it to an IT of about 195.

DEW

[fuzzydaddy]

Hope it turns out well and looking forward to hearing how it went (and some photos of course)!

[Dewesq55]

Thanks. Nice sig, BTW, from one David to another. In fact, I liked yours so much, I made some additions to mine.

[Strat50]

I've made jerk a few times, and apple wood is definitely the ticket here, as the smoke is mellow and "neutral." I have also used mesquite in VERY small amounts which was fab too. You're on the right track, from what I can see, and your jerk will be epic. I did this in my cheesy 7-in-1 at 225-250ish. For the smoke level, less is more; but having said that, I've had jerk that was pretty smokey and was just sublime. Just cook, and you'll be fine mon...lol

[Dewesq55]

Thank you, mon, for giving your thoughts to I.

[Dewesq55]

I will also be making a traditional Jamaican side, Rice and Peas. I will post my recipe in the sides channel later.

[Zman23]

Love me some jerk! I actually did a jerk pork loin on the rotissrrie today, will try to post pics later. I made my own rub with a fitali pepper and a ghost pepper grown by a friend. I saw your peas and rice recipe too and love that as well. I may have been a jamaican in a prvious life!

[Dewesq55]

I make a mean curry goat (which is our fave Jamaican dish). Also curry chicken and Brown Stew Chicken. Rice and Peas with all of them.

[jhoskins]

Dewesq55 I know this thread is SUPER old, but can you share details on your curry goat and curry chicken recipes?? I love Jamaican food and am starting to pursue making more authentic jerk chicken (followed shortly by pork).

[Dewesq55]

jhoskins - Yes, I will. Maybe a little later today.

[Huskee]

I want to try this! Thanks for the idea. I will look for Walkerswood or Grace...

[Spinaker]

This is a great idea. I love Caribbean Jerk. I never even thought of making it though.
I had some phenomenal Jerk Cabrito (goat) down on Dominica about two months ago that was heavenly. We ate it all, I mean all they had. They ran out of goats that were kept in the back!!!
Do the Picnic shoulders usually come sliced in two or is that something you had to do yourself? I will be interested to see how tasty it looks after the smoke hits'em. Thanks for the post brother. Keep us posted!!

[Dewesq55]

In our local ShopRite they always have lots of picnic shoulder. They always have them whole and usually cubed up and sometimes sliced. This one was 4 slices of which I am using only 2 for this cook. I often but the cubed which I put in the slow cooker with onions, serranos, cilantro and hot green salsa to make a green pork chili which I use for tacos, chili and enchiladas.

[Dewesq55]

Jerk goat sounds great, by the way. I'll have to try that one of these days when I find another halal butcher (the last one near me closed.) All I can get now is frozen chunks of New Zealand goat, which I use for Jamaican curry and Indian/Pakistani bhuna.

[Dewesq55]

So they went on the smoker at about 4:35. Having a little trouble keeping the temp up on the electric today for some reason. I think I will tell it I want it at 250 and see if I can get it to stay in the 225-230 range.


DEW

[Dewesq55]

So, The Pros:
1) Grace Jerk seasoning was awesome good spice and flavor
2) The flavor and amount of smoke was spot on. The allspice berries did their job in giving an authentic flavor to the exterior.
3) The thicker, fattier pieces were delicious with good mouth feel.
4) There was a smoke ring! Might have been the allspice berries



The Cons:
1) I overcooked it (Oh demon alchohol). I was having terrible fluctuations in cooker temp which slowed everything down. Eventually, at about 175° or so, I wrapped them and brought them inside and put into a 350° oven. Problem is my better half came home just then wanting a cocktail so I made martinis (a Friday night tradition) and sort of forgot about the pork in the oven. By the time she said something, they were above 210°
2) The pork slices were uneven, resulting in the thinner areas being pretty dry.

There really were no other cons. There were no leftovers, so they must have been edible.

Pix:

[Strat50]

Your jerk looks just fine. Mine looks like that too, and it is great! We're cooking food, not saving lives here, after all. Try looking at it this way: had you gone into a little hole in the wall eatery and were served what you made, for the price you paid, would you have sent it back? No? I thought so...lol

Dewesq55, your food, like any good food, has soul. Your soul. Embrace it as those around you are enjoying your passion.

[_Keith]

Actually, jerk in Jamaica doesn't use direct heat; they use sticks of pimento wood to create a heat shield. Here's a couple pits, one outside of Montego Bay, the other in Boston Bay:




You can see how close the coals are in the second picture in particular. A number of street vendors use oil drum cookers, and a foot away with the coals would be impossible.

As for a source for pimento, if you're in the US, try these guys:

http://www.pimentowood.com/Pimento_Wood/Pimento_Wood.html

[Dewesq55]

I ordered pimento wood from them before the holidays but they were closed the week or 2 before New Year. I got a notice today that it had shipped.

DEW

[_Keith]

I can't "like" comments or I totally would. My wife got me jerk slather for Christmas. I think it's a present for her as much as for me :-)

[_Keith]

Oh, and don't sweat authenticity too much. My wife and I went on something of a jerk tour of Jamaica, and one thing we discovered was the wide variety of things that were called "jerk". I always thought the rub and sauce were essential to it, but we ate at one place that didn't use either! Just chicken on wood over charcoal. We were the only white people there, so I know it wasn't toned down for the tourists.