Jerk Chicken over Charcoal with Authentic Pimento Wood: Recipe
Jerk Chicken as a Foundation of Live-Fire Cooking
Jerk Chicken is one of the world’s most iconic live-fire dishes, originating in Jamaica where Indigenous Taíno cooking methods and African fire knowledge combined to form a technique built on smoke, spice, and patience. I am big fan of rich-flavours and spicy dishes, and Jerk Chicken checks a lot of those boxes.
Authentic Pimento wood chips for Jerk Chicken cooking.
Traditionally cooked over pimento wood (which is the same tree that produces allspice berries), jerk is defined as much by fuel choice as it is by seasoning.
Cooking Jerk Chicken over hardwood charcoal and adding authentic pimento woodchips creates a flavour that you can’t get with gas, pellets, or bottled sauces. The smoke is aromatic and subtly sweet, and designed to complement the bold jerk marinade (because you don’t want the marinade to totally dominate the dish).
This dish is all about mastering the balance between fire, smoke, and spice, which is central to real jerk cooking. It’s also why hardwood lump charcoal paired with pimento wood is essential for an authentic flavour profile.
Chicken breasts in Jerk marinade.
Jerk Chicken in the the Northern Barbecue™ Method
Within the Northern Barbecue™ Method, Jerk Chicken is one of the first foundational dishes on the curriculum because it teaches core live-fire skills: controlled heat management, indirect cooking, and an understanding of how wood smoke interacts with complex spice blends. It is a global barbecue technique—rooted in Jamaican tradition, applied with intention, and adaptable to serious backyard cooking anywhere in the world. Plus, it’s not overly difficult, making it a perfect entry (along with Tandoori Chicken) into the world of global cuisines over live fire.
This recipe respects the cultural origins of jerk while translating it for cooks who value authenticity, real fire, and proper technique—using hardwood lump charcoal and genuine pimento wood, exactly as intended.
Jerk Chicken fresh on the grill.
Jerk Chicken Recipe Ingredients
6 to 8 bone-in skin-on chicken breasts
1/2 cup olive oil
Juice from 1 lime
1/2 cup soy sauce (low sodium works as well)
2 tablespoons brown sugar
1 cup orange juice
1 cup white vinegar
2 tablespoons minced fresh ginger
1 medium onion, chopped
4 green onions, chopped
2 tablespoons fresh thyme
6 cloves garlic, minced
6 sliced scotch bonnet peppers (reduce to 2 for less heat, or 1 if you must)
2 teaspoons black pepper
2 tablespoons Jamaican allspice
1 tablespoon ground sea salt
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1 teaspoon nutmeg
one handful of pimento or oak wood chips (I moisten them)
Jerk Chicken halfway through the cook.
Prepare for the Jerk Marinade
Prepare all the ingredients above and blend them together (in a blender) to form the marinade.
Rinse the chicken breasts in cold water and marinate in a plastic zip bag for at least 6 hours (overnight is even better). I marinate for around 10 hours and the chicken is incredibly tasty and moist.
Save some sauce (1/2 to 1 cup) to use for basting while cooking (do not put this sauce into the bag with raw chicken).
The Cook
Jerk Chicken will be a direct cook over the coals and pimento woodchips (which you can add to the coals when the chicken goes on the grill). Maintaining a steady temperature with lid closed will ensure proper fire control (and avoid burning).
Remove the chicken from the refrigerator (and from the marinade bag) 15 to max 30 minutes before the cook. Let them rest uncovered on a platter.
Get your smoker/grill to 350°F. Set the grill approximately eight inches above the coals.
Add one handful of pimento chips (if you cannot find pimento woodchips, you can substitute oak).
Jerk Chicken is done and ready to serve after a brief rest.
Place the chicken on the grill — breast side down — then close the lid and cook for approximately 8 minutes. Open the lid and flip the chicken. Be careful not to let them burn. If you saved that extra marinade, baste the chicken on both sides each time you flip. Cook for another 8 minutes or so and then do a temperature check to see your progress.
Continue cooking and flipping the breasts approximately every five minutes until you reach an internal temperature of 165°F in the meaty part of the breast (do not touch the bone with the probe).
For the cook pictured here it took approximately 35 minutes for all of the breasts to be done. (Cook to 175°F - 180°F if you are doing legs or thighs—which are dark meat.)
Why is it Called Jerk Chicken?
Culinary curiosity is a big part of my journey that led to the Northern Barbecue™ Method curriculum. So if you’re wondering why this dish is called Jerk Chicken, the story goes like this.
Jerk comes from the Spanish word “charqui,” which means dried or preserved meat. In Jamaica, this evolved into a method that was defined by their trademark aggressive seasoning. This got combined with controlled smoke and slow cooking over fire, which has served many cultures with double duty to preserve food and build flavour at the same time. Over time, charqui became jerk and the name stuck.
Understanding jerk as a technique, not just a flavour profile, is central to the Northern Barbecue™ Method. Dishes are often named for what they teach, not just for how they taste.
By Chef Mike Belobradic
Interesting in expanding your barbecue skills with global dishes? Read more about my Northern Barbecue™ Method.