We challenged chefs of three different skill levels–amateur Jon, home cook Widza, and professional chef Darian Bryan–to make us their take on jerk chicken. We then asked expert food scientist Rose to explain each chef's choices along the way. Which jerk chicken dish do you want to tuck into first?
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00:00Hi, I'm John, and I'm a level one chef.
00:06My name is Wiz, and I am a level two chef.
00:09What's up, my guys? I'm Chef Darien.
00:11I've been a chef for 13 years.
00:13I came here from Jamaica 13 years ago.
00:17The perfect charred chicken is charred all around,
00:20very, very crispy.
00:22I'm thinking of Jamaica, bold flavors.
00:25Scotch-bonnet pepper, the thyme, the garlic,
00:27the onion, the pimento.
00:29All those flavors of the island,
00:31that's what make jerk jerk.
00:38I've never tried to make my own jerk marinade.
00:41An essential part of jerk chicken is the marinade.
00:44I'm going to show you guys the process.
00:46My mom showed me how to make the jerk marinade back in Jamaica.
00:49If you don't have the important key pieces,
00:52you're not going to have a good marinade.
00:54I mean, if you can list off the spices here,
00:56it's just way too many,
00:58I don't have all that.
00:59So I'm going to start with my onion,
01:01chopping it and throwing it inside of my blender.
01:04Adding some ginger or two.
01:06So first, I'm going to grind my cinnamon sticks,
01:09all spiced berry.
01:11Got some black peppercorn.
01:13So you want to grind this up so you don't get any big chunks
01:15in the marinade, because as you can see,
01:17a cinnamon stick is tough.
01:18You don't want to bite into that.
01:19That's not fun.
01:21First, I'm going to cut the garlic, nothing fancy.
01:24Everything I do is rough cuts.
01:26Now, the jerk marinade, hot and spicy,
01:30and it is delicious in small quantities.
01:32I've learned to not use the whole bottle of jerk marinade
01:36for your jerk chicken.
01:38I want to feel a punch, like literally punching me in my face.
01:40And in the Caribbean, we do scotch bonnet peppers,
01:43giving you that extra kick.
01:45I'm going to go ahead and throw in my allspice.
01:48It's a pimento berry.
01:49And I think that allspice is actually the number one component
01:52when it comes to putting in your jerk chicken.
01:54So I'm going to add this to my blender right now.
01:57Perfect.
01:58I'm adding my scallions.
02:00Scallions.
02:01Onions right here.
02:03I got a couple spices here.
02:04Nothing crazy fancy here.
02:06I just smoked paprika and some ground ginger.
02:09I love fresh ginger.
02:11Got some garlic right here.
02:12Don't even have to chop it.
02:13Just throw it right in there.
02:14I'm going to add also my thyme in here.
02:16And now I eyeball.
02:17And when you're in the Caribbean, we don't have spoon measures.
02:20We literally talk to our ancestors,
02:22and then we just drop it in.
02:23She said that's okay.
02:25Some soy sauce.
02:26My secret ingredient right here, rum.
02:28Dark rum.
02:29You just add that depth of flavor.
02:31I love it.
02:32So rum is not traditionally in jerk marinades.
02:34I grew up next to the rum factory back in Jamaica, right?
02:36So my mom is like,
02:37how about we put some rum in our jerk marinade
02:39to make it different and extra special?
02:42Now I am going to add, please don't kill me, liquid smoke.
02:47It's less than 20 degrees in New York City.
02:49I'm not going outside.
02:50I'm not going on a grill.
02:52When you ask me what is in here, I'll say pimento wood chips.
02:55Scotch bonnet.
02:57This is what brings the heat to jerk.
02:58A little go a long way, but I like mine nice and spicy.
03:01Fresh thyme.
03:03I've got some oil.
03:04I've got the nutmeg.
03:05And I'm also going to add some browning inside of here too,
03:08which makes it nice and caramelized inside of the oven.
03:12It's literally just sugar, water, and a little bit of like chemicals and stuff.
03:17And lastly, the honey cuts through the saltiness and spiciness.
03:22Add in a pinch of salt.
03:23And I just got to mix it up before I add the chicken.
03:26Take it away.
03:29Oh yeah.
03:30It smells really good already.
03:31It smells magical.
03:33Remind me of back home.
03:35That's the color that you want to see.
03:37Taste this bad boy.
03:40Wow.
03:41Yeah, that is jerk.
03:42I'm going to add a little salt.
03:44And I'm going to go ahead and do my dry seasoning.
03:47So I like to use all purpose seasoning along with some salt and black pepper.
03:51Three things and that's it.
03:53And this is my hot honey marinade.
03:56All right, time to get to the chicken.
03:57So for my jerk chicken, I chose chicken thighs, bone in, skin on.
04:01Don't let anybody tell you different.
04:03I am a leg quarter girl through and through.
04:06This is what I grew up seeing.
04:07Thigh and the leg.
04:09In Jamaica, you say entire bird, right?
04:11You can't have jerk chicken without a chicken.
04:12Got this beautiful bird right here.
04:14So first, cut it in half, right down the chest.
04:17Some people like to take the backbone out.
04:19It's like wasting food to me.
04:21So I'm going to leave it in.
04:23The first thing that I want to do is wash my chicken.
04:26I'm mixing acid with some water.
04:29It's pretty much just a brine.
04:30So I'm poking some holes inside of here.
04:32Just so when I do my brine, I'm getting all of that acid inside of there.
04:36So I'm going to squeeze some lime.
04:39And I'm not just squeezing it on there.
04:40I'm massaging it.
04:41I'm getting in the bone.
04:43I'm getting in the meat.
04:44Helping out with making it super juicy, super tender.
04:48Giving the chicken what it needs.
04:50I'm going to pour this beautiful marinade over it to get all of that flavor.
04:55Mmm, smells so good.
04:57I throw in white distilled vinegar.
04:59And then I'm going to add in my water.
05:02It's going to chill out for about 15 minutes.
05:05So I went ahead and washed away all of the brine that I had inside of my bowl.
05:12To make it neat and keep it cute, I'm going to throw it in the Ziploc bag.
05:17Use tongs.
05:18I'm going to throw my seasonings in there.
05:21Make sure it gets into all of the crevices.
05:24Then I'm going to dump my marinade in the bag with the chicken.
05:28The jerk seasoning is going to balance out the saltiness from my dry marinade.
05:33And then, I don't know, get it all over everywhere.
05:37I'm going to try to get it under the skin as much as possible, too.
05:40I think that's a big factor here.
05:42If you can't pick up all of the skin right here,
05:44you're just going to stuff some of that marinade in there.
05:48There's a lot of massaging going on in here.
05:50It's getting a whole lot of love, you hear me?
05:53This looks good to me.
05:54I'm going to cover this up for at least 24 hours.
05:57All right, this is going to go in the fridge for 30 minutes.
06:00Let it marinate for two hours, preferably overnight.
06:03And while that's sitting in there, I'm going to make my dipping sauce.
06:06All of these combined will make a cilantro lime dipping sauce.
06:10So this is my red strep barbecue sauce.
06:13You can use any type of beer you come across.
06:15So let's start with scallions.
06:18Three more cloves I'm going to get from this garlic.
06:21Love a garlicky flavor.
06:23So essentially, I want to mix my ketchup along with my jerk seasoning.
06:29Brown sugar.
06:30Love me some brown sugar.
06:32Stir it up, little darling.
06:35Stir it up.
06:36I've got the jerk spice going in.
06:38You're literally using the same ingredients for everything.
06:41What do next?
06:42Maybe avocado.
06:43I'm going to use half.
06:44And the other half could make for a nice avocado toast tomorrow morning.
06:48Let's do the lime.
06:49Lime, just to add a bit of flavor.
06:51Olive oil.
06:52I love 0% fat yogurt.
06:53It's got that tartness to it.
06:54That whole milk yogurt just doesn't have.
06:56I think it will cut the spiciness nicely.
06:59And lastly, I have cilantro.
07:01Going to put them all in.
07:02So you can use any beer.
07:04But, you know, we're in Jamaica.
07:06So red strap beer is the beer of the island because it's made in Jamaica.
07:11What we got?
07:12I need to taste this.
07:13See if it's good.
07:14Come on, man.
07:15Yeah, that's money.
07:16I want to cry right now.
07:17Remind me of home, man.
07:19This is so amazing.
07:24Mmm.
07:25Oh, that's nice.
07:26Citrusy, creamy.
07:27Can really taste the cilantro because of the stems.
07:29And I think just a tad bit more salt and I'll be all done with this.
07:32And there you have it.
07:34It is my jerk seasoning dipping sauce.
07:37Ready for some jerk chicken to be dipped in.
07:39There you have my red stripe barbecue dipping sauce, man.
07:43Look at that.
07:44Simple and delicious.
07:47Can't wait to give it a try.
07:49Got the grill pan.
07:50I'm going to heat this up.
07:51We're going to go pretty high on it.
07:52We're in a New York City apartment.
07:54There is no grill outside being used.
07:56So that's why I have a half sheet lined with a cooling rack.
08:02Because I want it to mimic a grill.
08:05I like to set my oven at 375.
08:08I want to make sure that that high heat is going to make sure
08:11to cook this chicken right.
08:13And then I'm going to turn it over.
08:14These are going to go on both sides.
08:16So it doesn't really matter what side I start on.
08:18So we've got them all on the grill.
08:20Sizzling.
08:21Oh, God.
08:22It's getting smoky over here.
08:24Traditionally, back in Jamaica,
08:26they use, like, pimento wood to cook the chicken on
08:29to get that flavor.
08:30We're not in Jamaica right now,
08:32so I'm just going to smoke this with the pimento wood chips.
08:34I'm going to light it up.
08:35So I'm using this smoke gun right now
08:38to get that wood chip onto the chicken.
08:41The chicken is smoking.
08:43We're looking good.
08:44We're getting that, mmm,
08:45that pimento wood chip, man.
08:47It brings me back every time.
08:48Mmm, smells so good.
08:50And listen, you're not going to be able to tell the difference.
08:53I don't think I have any nose hair anymore,
08:55but it's smelling pretty good.
08:57It's pretty spicy.
08:58I'm just going to leave it for 10,
09:00and then I'll give it a flip.
09:01Oh, ho, ho.
09:03Oh, yeah.
09:04That is satisfying.
09:06Char achieved.
09:07Now I'm just going to let the other side cook
09:09for a good 10 minutes.
09:11Got a nice grill pan heating up right now.
09:13Skin side down first.
09:15Got to crisp that skin up.
09:17Ooh, I love that scissor.
09:19Love that scissor, baby.
09:22Looking for, like, caramelization all over.
09:25Crispy skin.
09:26Nice golden brown.
09:28This is going to take at least four to five minutes.
09:32Take some temperature.
09:33We're looking for 165.
09:35166.
09:38As close to burnt as possible without actually being burnt.
09:42I'd say this is pretty close to being absolutely burnt.
09:46So here's my chicken.
09:47All I got to do, plate it up, put some sauce next to it,
09:50and I get to eat.
09:52All right.
09:53Now this looks good.
09:54It looks burnt, but it's not burnt.
09:56Essentially, it's just been jerked.
09:58The high concentration levels of the sugar
10:00that was inside of the browning,
10:02the scotch bonnets, the spices,
10:04all of those things added to the color of my jerk chicken.
10:08Ooh, looks like jerk chicken, baby.
10:11That's what we're going to do.
10:12We're just going to continue turning it, flipping it,
10:14until we get the result we're looking for.
10:16So I'm happy with this color.
10:18We're going to put it in the oven to finish it cooking, right?
10:21I'll see you guys in a few.
10:23It's good.
10:24I'm at the end.
10:26I got the chicken.
10:27I got the sauce.
10:28I got the cilantro.
10:29Now it's time to plate.
10:30All right.
10:31The moment we've all been waiting for.
10:34It's not burnt.
10:35Still juicy.
10:36Perfect golden brown.
10:38Exactly what we're looking for.
10:40Let's pile these up.
10:41And then I have the sauce creamy textures with a little bit of citrus.
10:46Side of dipping sauce right here.
10:49Now, in Brooklyn, I am used to having it chopped down with a cleaver.
10:54If you go in Jamaica, you're going to see a big cleaver.
10:57You're going to see an angry guy chopping that chicken up.
11:01Get through that bone.
11:04Just getting my pieces in.
11:06Ooh, that's beautiful.
11:08Okay.
11:09So I got the wing down.
11:11We got the drumsticks.
11:13And we're just going to start building.
11:15Serve it with my jerk sauce.
11:17Sauce.
11:18I'm going to pour that in.
11:19Look at this.
11:20Feel like you're on vacation yet?
11:22Sprinkle some pepper curls.
11:23The colors of the island.
11:25I want some color.
11:26I want to make sure that I am incorporating lime wherever I can.
11:32And cilantro on top.
11:34And there you have it.
11:35My hot honey chicken with a side of cilantro lime dipping sauce.
11:40And there you have it.
11:41My rendition of jerk chicken.
11:45Here's my jerk chicken with my red stripe barbecue sauce.
11:49Let me tell you, my mom would be proud, man.
11:52I can't wait to try it.
11:59Ooh, yeah.
12:00Crispy.
12:01Let's just talk about the perfection.
12:04Look how juicy this chicken is.
12:07The caramelization and the skin is just perfect.
12:11It's time for us to taste.
12:13Mmm.
12:14Mmm.
12:15Mmm, mmm, mmm.
12:17It's real spicy.
12:18The spice for me is everything.
12:20And so let's try it with some sauce.
12:22I think it'll cut the spiciness nicely.
12:24Mmm, hold on.
12:25We can't eat jerk without dipping it in the sauce.
12:27Dip, dip, dip action.
12:29Mmm-hmm.
12:31Fantastic.
12:32Perfection.
12:33It balances out the heat.
12:34It gives you some sweetness.
12:36And, oh, my gosh.
12:37Just one more.
12:38Remember me of childhood.
12:39When I was a little kid, I asked my mom in the cook shop,
12:41and she gave me my first bite of jerk chicken.
12:44It's taking me back right now.
12:45It looks great.
12:46Tastes great.
12:47Very happy with it.
12:48We did our thing.
12:49I love it.
12:50Enough of the talking.
12:51I'm just going to eat this entire thing in the back right now.
12:52See you later.
12:53Let's see how each of our three chefs made their spicy, smoky, and sweet jerk chicken.
13:03Wiz used dry rub applied directly to her dried chicken quarters after a quick marinade in acidic lime and vinegar.
13:10The acidic components break down some protein with a tenderizing effect.
13:14Giving the chicken what it needs.
13:16To balance flavors, she added liquid smoke made from concentrated compounds like carbonyls, acids,
13:22and phenolics found in real smoke in a solution.
13:25It imparts the flavor you would get from naturally smoking meat,
13:28but without all of the time the traditional method requires.
13:31When you ask me what is in here, I'll say pimento wood chips.
13:34Darian made a marinade.
13:36It had warming spices that grow in Jamaica, where Jerk's style of cooking is famous.
13:41He included scotch bonnet peppers, a staple in Jamaican cuisine, which are between 100,000 and 350,000 Scoville units.
13:52John used the legs, which are dark meat because of the presence of myoglobin, a pigment that makes meat a little bit darker.
14:00Wiz used the quarter, which can be a little bit tough because it's used for locomotion with the chicken.
14:05So it really benefited from her marinade as well as her dry rub, which had a tenderizing effect.
14:11Darian used the traditional Jamaican way of using the whole chicken, which gave you a lot of options and variations in flavor as well as meat.
14:20John made an uncooked cilantro lime dipping sauce.
14:26Capsaicin from Chili's is fat soluble, so it interacts with the fats in the avocado and yogurt in his sauce to mitigate some of the heat.
14:33Wiz added ketchup to her reserved marinade.
14:36This adds more sweetness and acidity and viscosity due to the presence of pectin and polysaccharides in the ketchup.
14:42Darian made a simple but perfectly balanced and cooked Jamaican beer barbecue sauce.
14:47His base was sweet and tangy ketchup with Jamaican pale lager, which has subtle bitterness and a butterscotch color.
14:54He also added brown sugar.
14:56Love me some brown sugar.
14:57And some of his marinade.
14:59He covered all of our tastes in this sauce.
15:02Salty, sweet, sour, bitter, umami, and he even added in spiciness, a trigeminal sensation from the spicy scotch bonnets in his marinade.
15:12John grilled his chicken on a pan.
15:17This is a form of conductive heat.
15:19Wiz baked her jerk chicken.
15:21Baking is a combination of radiant and conductive heat transfer.
15:24Radiant heat transfers energy from a source like coils or gas in the oven through the air.
15:30When it contacts food, it heats the outside first and then heat is transferred from molecule to molecule through conduction.
15:37Darian covered his chicken and used a smoking gun, which burns real wood chips and sends the smoke through a tube to make contact with the chicken.
15:44It expedites the process and imparts a seriously smoky flavor.
15:48Jerk chicken is delicious no matter how you add your spice and bake it.
15:52Next time you're in the mood for a hot and spicy chicken dinner, we hope you'll take tips from our three fabulous chefs.
15:58Next time you're in the mood for an hora with chevs.
16:10Next time you'll find Jadi1
16:14cheese fake cheese vezes