The star of Greg Mrvich’s latest cook video is his grilled Jamaican jerk chicken recipe. See what goes into his jerk chicken rub and jerk sauce, below, and watch as the Ballistic BBQ host reveals the tips and techniques used. It’s a mouthwatering tropical treat!
Jerk Chicken Prep Tools
Besides the ingredients, you’ll need a tool to butterfly your chicken. Rather than buying expensive poultry shears, Greg recommends picking up a pair of cutters at your local home improvement store. They do a fantastic job of clipping through the chicken, including the skin, so you can get through the process of butterflying your bird that much quicker.
Grilled Jerk Chicken Base
Once butterflied (also known as spatchcocked) to provide a flatter surface for his jerk chicken rub to be applied, Greg begins preparing his rub base. To do so, he uses a food processor to more easily crush the ingredients into a paste he’ll then apply. Because Greg’s Jamaican jerk chicken will need to marinate at least two hours, he suggests setting a time for both preparing the ingredients and spatchcocking the chicken.
Grilling Jamaican Jerk Chicken
Greg’s using a kettle grill with lump charcoal, and recommends indirect cooking at 300 degrees. He only lights part of the grill, and opens his top and bottom dampers to regulate the lower temperature.
Do as the Jamaicans do
To prepare this dish like the natives do, you’ll have to grill it over pimento—commonly called “allspice”—wood. While you can order pimento wood online, it’s more readily available in the United States as whole dried pimento berries. You can buy it in glass jars for around $7.00, or for around $.99 in pouch form in the international foods aisle at your local grocery.
Greg sprinkles a handful of these whole dried pimento berries in between his grill grates, and onto the hot charcoals, below.
Another pro tip Greg offers when charcoal grilling is to ensure the upper vent is directly over the meat. With indirect grilling, it’s not a bad idea to use a remote temperature monitor. Because the charcoal grill lid thermometer is located on the hotter part of the grill, you’ll get a more accurate idea of the chicken’s internal temperature by using the remote thermometer.
Greg’s target temperatures are 175 degrees in the thigh and 165 in the breast.
Greg cooks the bird for about an hour, after which he turns it 180 degrees to get a little more color on the side not facing the heat. When it’s done, he takes it off the grill and lets it rest a few minutes, then cuts it up and plates it!
Greg Mrvich’s Grilled Jamaican Jerk Chicken Recipe
4
servings1
hour30
minutesGreg Mrvich shares his tasty, grilled Jamaican jerk chicken recipe. He begins this step-by-step video with an authentic jerk rub, and ends with an authentic jerk sauce.
JERK RUB Ingredients
3 1/2 – 4 lb. chicken
1/2 cup packed brown sugar
1 tbsp. ground thyme
1-2 bunches green onion
1 or 2 habanero peppers
2 tsp. ground allspice
1 tsp. ground cinnamon
1/2 tsp. ground nutmeg
2 tbsp. soy sauce
1/2 tsp. minced ginger
6 -8 cloves garlic
1 tsp. kosher (or sea) salt
fresh-ground pepper to taste
- JERK SAUCE INGREDIENTS
2 tbsp. jerk base
2/3 cup pineapple juice
3/4 cup ketchup
6 ozs. beer (lager)
JERK RUB COOKING Directions
- Combine the above-listed ingredients in a blender or food processor and mix until smooth.
- Use to marinate chicken for at least 2 hours—but, preferably overnight—before cooking on the grill.
- Set-up grill for indirect cooking at 300ºF.
- Cook chicken until the internal temperature reaches 165ºF in the breasts and 175ºF in the thighs.
- JERK SAUCE COOKING DIRECTIONS
- Combine all ingredients listed for the Jerk sauce in a pan over low heat and allow to simmer for 30 minutes to an hour, stirring often. Add more juice or beer to thin the sauce.
- Pour sauce over cooked jerk chicken at serving time.
