Wood for jerk chicken?


 
S

S. Fink

TVWBB Fan
Grilling some jerk chicken for the 1st time on the new OTG this weekend. Is there a wood that would complement the Jamaican flavors or am I better off not using any additional smoke?
 
Wood is good. I like (in order of preference) pimento (allspice) wood, whole allspice in foil packets (like using chips or pellets), citrus wood, or apple wood.
 
I would also go with mesquite, just be careful chicken absorbs smoke like a sponge absorbs water.
 
I use a combination of mesquite and apple for jerk chicken. Only a little bit though as previously mentioned. I've over smoked chicken a few times, it can be too much for me.
 
Apple has been a good choice for that, but I'm sure you can use just about any other kind. That being said, when I want some good smoke flavor, I've always cooked my chicken via "smoke-roasting" (high heat indirect) because it's been my experience that smoke imparts way too much on the meat and then can be quite bitter (if it's cooked at a lower temp, and on the grill longer).

Good luck!

Barret
 
I use apple and I also do the chicken in foil, alternating between having the foil open and closed to try to limit the amount of smoke the bird is exposed to.
 
After a bunch of delays, I finally got a chance to make the chicken yesterday. Thanks to the advice here, I used some apple chips, cooked indirect and then finished direct to crisp up the skin. To my great surprise, the family devoured the bird.

If you like jerk flavors but are worried about too much heat, I highly recommend Penzey's jerk seasoning. My kids even enjoyed it. Personally, I like a little more heat, but it was perfect for the rest of my family's tastes.
 
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