Jerk - Pimento Wood

THEBuckeye

Instead of the stand-by Spatchcock with a Dizzy Dust product I'm looking into Jerk Chicken. My wife has made a jerk sauce in the past that we used for Chicken on the Webber but I'm looking to turn it up a notch with the Egg. 

Research finds that actually cooking Jerk on Pimento wood sticks and chips for smoking is one of if not THE the keys. I've read that if there's no Pimento it's not Jerk. 

I've only found one site on-line to buy Pimento products wwwpimentowood.com. It's not cheap and I wonder if it's worth it and how many cooks one could use the Pimento sticks for. 

Any experience out there?

Eggcelsior

You can smoke allspice berries by putting them in a foil pouch. It gets close to using the actual wood. There is a Jamaican dude that makes jerk turkey burgers at a Farmer's market by my work. He uses these packets with rosemary twigs. 

NDG

I second what Eggcelsior said !!  I followed cook illustrated recipe for jerk chicken and had excellent results -  soaked wood chips in a mixture of herbs attempting to capture the pimento wood flavor.  The Wood Chips (I used peach) soaked in a wet mixture of of allspice berries, thyme, rosemary, and water.

Here is a link to my post:  http://eggheadforum.com/discussion/1164505/jerk-chicken-is-the-winner-lots-of-pics

Carolina Q

No experience yet, but here are a couple of articles you may find helpful. Both reference Cook's Country and the smoke packet idea.

https://myyearwithchris.wordpress.com/2012/06/06/jamaincan-jerk-chicken/

http://greatlakesbetterfood.blogspot.com/2012/07/the-jerk-store-called-for-more-jamaican.html?m=1

Carolina Q

Forgot this one from Kenji at Serious Eats.

http://www.seriouseats.com/2013/08/the-food-lab-how-to-make-jerk-chicken-at-home.html

THEBuckeye

@CarolinaQ

Thanks - I came across serious eats as well. 

I emailed pimentowood.com to see how many cooks the "sticks" are good for. Sticks, leaves and shipping is $67. 

If I can get at least two cooks out of them I might splurge. I'l let you know their response. 

THEBuckeye

Just took a phone call from pimentowood.com. Nice guy. 

In sum, he recommends the chips over the sticks. He also recommends the pimento leaves in a water pan with water for a steam effect. 

The sticks, I'm told, can be used for multiple cooks. He does recommend "scrubbing" the sticks before and after that cook to get rid of any past chicken grease drippings. 

The sticks add a more subtle flavor as the chips provide a stronger flavor. He uses both at the same time but recommends chips over sticks. 

For the chips, he said to foil and poke holes to release smoke.  One does not want to have the pimento catch on fire. It can leave a sooty mess. 

These were all suggestions based on the fact I am using  the Egg and he is an Egger. 

THEBuckeye

Here he is:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZMKmv2PKN8g

Carolina Q

That's definitely on my list of things to try. A little nervous about Scotch Bonnets though.

Whatever you decide to cook, be sure to post pics.

THEBuckeye

Ahhhhhh

TWO FORKS! 

I bit the bullet and ordered chips, sticks and leaves. He's going to throw in a couple goodies too.

I'm bummed it will not be  here until next week otherwise I know what I'd be cooking for Super Bowl Sunday. 

You can tone down the scotch bonnets and use half or quarter what the recipe calls for. I prefer a subtle, not an in your face heat. 

I'll post pics,

NO FORKS! 

GATraveller

Maybe he'll throw in a couple sacks of Jamaica's finest.

THEBuckeye

Ya Mon! 

Tinyfish

Is that allowed...two forks in one picture.

THEBuckeye

Blasphomy

theyolksonyou

@Tinyfish of course it's allowed.

stv8r

Yes the Pimento wood is a given...Try the Walkerswood jerk seasoning for an authentic taste!

I have many customers from Jamaica and all say this is the real deal

Botch

I'd found the OP's link to pimento too, a couple years ago.  Too much for my wallet, but am interested in trying the allspice berries mentioned above.  

THEBuckeye

@tinyfish

It's not so much a clean silverware drawer, it's a slimy fork with food and your drool on it. 

dstearn

I spoke with Gary at Pimentowood, I ordered a 2LB bag of chips but he said he would throw in some samples of the chunks, leaves and the Tree Top marinade which he said was better than the Walkerswood that I have been using. I am going to compare using the chips and the chunks to see which works out best.

THEBuckeye

Cool Cool

I'm excited for the shipment. Will likely prepare the marinade Thursday or Friday and cook Saturday. My wife has a great Rum Punch recipe and we'll add a Sweet Potatoe puree.

THEBuckeye

And a Caribbean Corn Bread recipe from Blanchard's in Anguilla.