Jerk Pork

[Dewesq55]

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

[Dewesq55]

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

[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]

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

[fuzzydaddy]

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

[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