Jerk Grilled Pork Steaks
By Matthew FairmanPublished on April 28, 2025
Time
1½ hours, plus 1 hour marinating
Yield
Serves 4
Ingredients
Before You Begin
You can substitute habaneros for the Scotch bonnet chiles. Use one or two chiles (and/or remove the seeds) depending on your desired level of spiciness. Use whole thyme sprigs (leaves and stems) in step 1. Look for a boneless pork butt roast cut from the center of the shoulder for the best results. Pork butt roast is often labeled Boston butt in the supermarket. Do not use a picnic roast, which often comes tied in netting or string and unravels into several smaller pieces. Pimento, maple, cherry, and applewood are great choices for wood chips here.
Instructions
- Process scallions, oil, soy sauce, sugar, vinegar, Scotch bonnets, thyme sprigs, garlic, ginger, allspice, salt, pepper, cinnamon, and nutmeg in blender until smooth, about 1 minute, scraping down sides of blender jar as needed. Reserve ¼ cup marinade in small bowl; transfer remaining marinade to large bowl.
- Slice pork against grain into approximate 1-inch-thick steaks. Add steaks to large bowl with marinade and toss to coat. Cover and refrigerate for at least 1 hour or up to 24 hours.
- Using large piece of heavy-duty aluminum foil, wrap wood chips in 8 by 4-inch foil packet. (Make sure chips do not poke holes in sides or bottom of packet.) Cut 2 evenly spaced 2-inch slits in top of packet.
- FOR A CHARCOAL GRILL: Open bottom vent completely. Light large chimney starter filled with charcoal briquettes (6 quarts). When top coals are partially covered with ash, place wood chip packet on 1 side of grill and pour coals evenly over half of grill, covering wood chip packet. Set cooking grate in place, cover, and open lid vent completely. Heat grill until hot and wood chips are smoking, about 5 minutes. FOR A GAS GRILL:Remove cooking grate and place wood chip packet directly on primary burner. Set grate in place; turn all burners to high; cover; and heat grill until hot and wood chips are smoking, about 15 minutes. Leave primary burner on high and turn off other burner(s). (Adjust primary burner [or, if using 3-burner grill, primary burner and second burner] as needed to maintain grill temperature between 350 and 400 degrees.)
- Clean and oil cooking grate. Place pork steaks on cooler side of grill. Cover grill (position lid vent over steaks if using charcoal) and cook until pork registers 145 degrees, 20 to 30 minutes, flipping and rotating steaks halfway through cooking.
- Brush tops of steaks with 2 tablespoons reserved marinade. Flip steaks brushed side down onto hotter side of grill. (Turn all burners to high if using gas.) Brush tops with remaining 2 tablespoons reserved marinade and cook until steaks are well charred, 3 to 7 minutes per side. (Check browning often and reposition steaks as needed to avoid flare-ups.)
- Transfer steaks to cutting board, tent with foil, and let rest for 10 minutes. Slice steaks on bias ¼ inch thick and serve with lime wedges.
Time
1½ hours, plus 1 hour marinatingYield
Serves 4Ingredients
Test Kitchen Techniques
Ingredients
Test Kitchen Techniques
Ingredients
Test Kitchen Techniques
Why This Recipe Works
Though jerk chicken is more popular in the United States, pork was the first meat to get the jerk treatment in Jamaica. Our recipe is inspired by the jerk pork we sampled from 14 Parishes Jamaican Restaurant at an outdoor music festival in New Orleans. For festivals, chef Charles Blake slices pork shoulder into large steaks; marinates them in a traditional jerk paste; and cooks them to tender, charred perfection over a wood fire. For our version, we followed along closely, slicing boneless pork butt into 1-inch-thick steaks before marinating them in a homemade jerk paste. For the paste, a blender made quick work of pureeing the classic mixture of scallions, ginger, garlic, whole thyme sprigs, Scotch bonnet chiles (or habaneros), allspice, sugar, and warm spices. While the cooks at 14 Parishes start their jerk pork hot and fast to get color and then finish it low and slow to cook through until tender, we found that starting the pork steaks over the cooler side of the grill for a relatively short amount of time and then finishing them over the coals to get flavorful char was the most reliable way to keep them consistently juicy.
Before You Begin
You can substitute habaneros for the Scotch bonnet chiles. Use one or two chiles (and/or remove the seeds) depending on your desired level of spiciness. Use whole thyme sprigs (leaves and stems) in step 1. Look for a boneless pork butt roast cut from the center of the shoulder for the best results. Pork butt roast is often labeled Boston butt in the supermarket. Do not use a picnic roast, which often comes tied in netting or string and unravels into several smaller pieces. Pimento, maple, cherry, and applewood are great choices for wood chips here.
Instructions
- Process scallions, oil, soy sauce, sugar, vinegar, Scotch bonnets, thyme sprigs, garlic, ginger, allspice, salt, pepper, cinnamon, and nutmeg in blender until smooth, about 1 minute, scraping down sides of blender jar as needed. Reserve ¼ cup marinade in small bowl; transfer remaining marinade to large bowl.
- Slice pork against grain into approximate 1-inch-thick steaks. Add steaks to large bowl with marinade and toss to coat. Cover and refrigerate for at least 1 hour or up to 24 hours.
- Using large piece of heavy-duty aluminum foil, wrap wood chips in 8 by 4-inch foil packet. (Make sure chips do not poke holes in sides or bottom of packet.) Cut 2 evenly spaced 2-inch slits in top of packet.
- FOR A CHARCOAL GRILL: Open bottom vent completely. Light large chimney starter filled with charcoal briquettes (6 quarts). When top coals are partially covered with ash, place wood chip packet on 1 side of grill and pour coals evenly over half of grill, covering wood chip packet. Set cooking grate in place, cover, and open lid vent completely. Heat grill until hot and wood chips are smoking, about 5 minutes. FOR A GAS GRILL:Remove cooking grate and place wood chip packet directly on primary burner. Set grate in place; turn all burners to high; cover; and heat grill until hot and wood chips are smoking, about 15 minutes. Leave primary burner on high and turn off other burner(s). (Adjust primary burner [or, if using 3-burner grill, primary burner and second burner] as needed to maintain grill temperature between 350 and 400 degrees.)
- Clean and oil cooking grate. Place pork steaks on cooler side of grill. Cover grill (position lid vent over steaks if using charcoal) and cook until pork registers 145 degrees, 20 to 30 minutes, flipping and rotating steaks halfway through cooking.
- Brush tops of steaks with 2 tablespoons reserved marinade. Flip steaks brushed side down onto hotter side of grill. (Turn all burners to high if using gas.) Brush tops with remaining 2 tablespoons reserved marinade and cook until steaks are well charred, 3 to 7 minutes per side. (Check browning often and reposition steaks as needed to avoid flare-ups.)
- Transfer steaks to cutting board, tent with foil, and let rest for 10 minutes. Slice steaks on bias ¼ inch thick and serve with lime wedges.
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