Saturday, knowing they were calling for a Winter storm to dump another 10" of snow on us, I was thinking some Jamaican Jerk Pork was sounding pretty dang good!
We stopped by the butcher, but by time we got there the entire meat case was looking pretty empty. There was a mad rush earlier and they were almost completely sold out of pork. It was slim pickin's!
However, in the meat case sat a single lonely Picnic Shoulder, and boy was it a beauty. A 10 1/2 lb hunk of pure porky goodness with my name on it!
Sunday morning, with church cancelled due to road conditions, I got the pork shoulder trimmed up, and the kids helped me whip up a batch of Jerk marinade (this is an authentic Jamaican style Jerk recipe):
Jerk Marinade(for pork or chicken)
1 - 5 Scotch Bonnet (Habanero) Peppers - depending on how hot you like it, with seeds & membranes removed.
3 - 4 Scallions, or 1 medium Onion roughly chopped.
1 Cup Orange Juice
1 Cup Vinegar
1/2 cup oil
The juice of 1 lime, or 2 TBS. Lime juice
1/4 cup Brown Sugar packed
2 TBS Allspice - ground
2 TBS dried Thyme
1 tsp. Salt
1 tsp. Fresh Cracked Black Pepper
1/4 tsp. Granulated Garlic (or 2 cloves fresh)
1 tsp freshly grated Ginger or 1/2 tsp ground ginger (optional)
Combine all ingredients in a blender, or food processor and blend.
I always reserve a couple cups of the fresh marinade to make a Jerk sauce later.
Score the pork in a deep criss-cross pattern on both sides, put in a container and pour the Jerk marinade over top.
Marinade for at least 4 hours to overnight.
My son went out and shoveled a fresh path to the shed so we could get to the MAK.
When you remove the roast to put it on the grill, DON'T throw that marinade away.
Cover and put it back in the fridge to keep it cold! It will be used as a braising liquid when you foil.
We put the roast on and mixed up a batch of pellets. To simulate Pimento wood I like to use equal parts Hickory & Cherry.
I also like to mix in some Pimento (Allspice) berries with the first 5 lbs or so of pellets in the bottom of the hopper,
then fill in with the rest of the pellet mix. Your back yard is going to smell good!
After about three hours at 275° the roast was looking and smelling really good. Time to foil!
Carefully move the roast to a double layer of heavy foil, adding the marinade that the pork was in as a braising liquid. Don't worry, it will get plenty hot enough to kill any bacteria. Wrap & seal the foil so steam cannot escape. Raise your pit temp to around 325° and let it braise for 2 1/2 - 3 hours. When you check it, it should be tender enough to practically fall apart (like you want for pulled pork).
Pull the bones out, pour the braising liquid over top, and use some tongs to mix the pork letting the pork fall apart into chunks. Cover with foil to keep warm until ready to eat.
Remember that 2 cups of the fresh marinade that was reserved? I like to heat it up in a small pan, adding about 1/2 cup water, a couple TBS of brown sugar, and a couple tsp of corn starch to make a Jerk BBQ sauce.
Serve on buns or not (your choice), with some of the jerk sauce if anyone wants a little extra kick.
Normally I like to make conch fritters to go with this, but we kept it simple with tater tots and some slaw.
We did however break out the fancy paper plate holders!
This really hit the spot!
