Jerk-spiced/jerked turkey

[IndyRob]

My wife just came back from a cruise with her girlfriends in the carribean. Luckily, there were no engine fire issues and they didn't need to be towed into port (although the weather was not exactly great throughout).

But, I got some stuff. She brought me some 'jerk spice' and some 'herb pepper blend' (which smells like oregano and black pepper). (To be frank, I suspect that we may have gotten some tourist spice, but I'm going to choose to be optimistic)

There seems to be just enough of the jerk spice to rub down a turkey. It seems clear that we should do a Carribean themed Thanksgiving. But I don't have any experience with this jerk thing.

Advice?

[Chris Hennes]

Do you have a smoker? Or a grill at least? If so, your best bet is to give the turkey a rub-down with the jerk spice 24-48 hours ahead, then smoke the turkey. There are plenty of good sauces that you can make to complement the allspice in the jerk rub: you probably don't want traditional gravy though! Take a look through the Jerk Cookoff topic for some ideas.

[Lilija]

I jerked my turkey (hah) last year, for Thanksgiving, cured it for a few days in a fresh jerk paste rub, then smoked it all day. I made a big pan of coconut rice and black beans instead of stuffing, made tostones, roasted some sweet potatoes with cardamom, allspice, and honey, then sauteed some spinach and garlic to round it out. It was the most untraditional and awesome Thanksgiving dinner I've ever made. I highly recommended trying it!

[IndyRob]

Is smoking an essential/traditional part of jerk? I was thinking maybe sous vide. Then again, I was thinking brining...Oh, I don't know.

Thanks for the rice prompt though. I think that's making it in in some form.

[Lilija]

Slow cooking over wood fire is traditional, and I would say essential to the whole overall flavor. Down there, they cook it over the wood from the tree that allspice berries grow on. You could do a Caribbean spiced turkey and season it however, and cook it in your familiar chosen way, but it wouldn't really be jerk turkey without the smoky element. It would probably be very tasty though.

[Doodad]

We do jerk stuff all the time including turkey. I hit on a side dish last week of plantains dauphinoise with coconut milk for the cream and allspice instead of nutmeg. I use dry rubs, sauces like Pickapepper and wet rubs all the time.

Grilled is how it is usually done.