Jerk Pork Jamaican Ribs
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My jerk pork Jamaican ribs have a mouthwatering sweet and spicy seasoning of scotch bonnet peppers, allspice, and thyme. This spicy baby back ribs recipe is not for the faint of heart!
Grilling and smoking season is upon us! If you’re wanting to go beyond the traditional grilled pork chops and smoked baby back ribs, it’s a great time to make Jamaican Jerk pork.
What is Jamaican Jerk?
Jerk seasoning has three primary ingredients: chile peppers, allspice berry, and thyme. After researching and testing many different recipes, I learned that allspice berries and Scotch Bonnet peppers are key to the authentic flavor of Jamaican jerk.
Peggy Trowbridge Filippone wrote a great description of what Jamaican “jerk” is in About.com’s cooking section:
“Jerk is the process of spicing and grilling meats, poultry, and even vegetables, although the most popular are jerk pork and jerk chicken. The resulting food yields a spicy-sweet flavor and a tender texture.”
Peggy Trowbridge Filippone
She also wrote that the history of the term jerk is said to come from the word charqui, a Spanish term for jerked or dried meat, which eventually became jerky in English. Like most Caribbean islands, Jamaican foods are derivative of many different settlement cultures, including British, Dutch, French, Spanish, East Indian, West African, Portuguese, and Chinese.
Jerk Pork Jamaican Ribs
Beware, the seasoning is VERY spicy and not for the faint of heart (or taste buds)! After testing several renditions, here is my favorite version.
Because I already have a recipe for One Pan Jerk Chicken and Rice, I decided to make baby back Jamaican ribs this time. I prefer pork loin ribs (aka baby back), but you can use spare ribs (also known as country ribs) if you’d like.
The ribs marinate overnight, which allows the flavors to penetrate deep into the meat for maximum flavor. These do not disappoint and can be cooked on the grill or in the oven.
Jerk Seasoning Substitutions
In addition to spicy heat, there’s a lot of flavor in Jamaican jerk pork. If you don’t tolerate spicy food well, you can always cut the amount of peppers to suit your tastes. You can’t remove peppers after the fact, so start with a small amount and scale up if it isn’t spicy enough to suit your tastes.
- Scotch bonnet chili peppers–
Scotch bonnets are hardly the hottest peppers in the world, but they have a Scoville Heat Unit (SHU) rating of anywhere between 100,000 and 550,000! To put this into perspective, most jalapeño peppers have a rating of 2,500 to 8,000 SHU.
If you want something with less kick, look for a sweet variety of scotch bonnets, called cachucha peppers. They’re grown in the Caribbean, so they may or may not be available in your area.
If you’re unable to find cachuchas, substitute habanero peppers for the scotch bonnets.
Jerk Pork Marinade
CAUTION: Please protect your skin!
If you aren’t careful, the oils in chili peppers can and will burn your skin. To help prevent this from happening, I recommend that you wear kitchen gloves when you clean the peppers.
- Clean the peppers. Rinse the peppers under water, cut off and discard the tops, then transfer the peppers to the bowl of a food processor.
- Add remaining marinade ingredients. Place all other ingredients in the food processor bowl and blend until smooth. Scrape down the insides of the bowl to gather up the marinade and pour it into a small bowl.
- Trim the ribs.
Clean the ribs up by removing the back membrane. Use the tip of a knife to make a slit that you can use to grab a hold of the membrane, then pull to remove. Don’t worry if you can’t remove it all; it’s edible, but very chewy. - Rub and marinate the ribs. With clean kitchen gloves on, rub jerk sauce all over ribs. Wrap the ribs back up in the butcher’s paper (it has a great wax interior side to keep juices from dripping out or plastic wrap), and seal with aluminum foil. Place in the refrigerator for 24 hours.
Video: How to Cook Jerk Pork
To watch the process from start to finish, check out the video in the recipe card at the bottom of this post!
Instructions
If you’re unable to grill outdoors these can be made in the oven, see instructions in the recipe card below.
- Prep the grill and optional wood chips.
Preheat your grill to 350°F. For some smoky flavor, soak wood chips in water for at least 30 minutes.
Brush the cooking grates clean with a wire brush. Add the soaked wood chips to the smoker box of your gas grill and close the lid.
- Add ribs to the grill.
When the wood begins to smoke, unwrap the ribs and place on a sheet of aluminum foil bone side down. Put the ribs and aluminum foil on the grill. Close the lid, adjust the temperature to 250°F and cook for 1 1/2 hours, depending on thickness of ribs.
At this point, the Jamaican jerk pork ribs should be tender enough to pull apart with your fingers. You want the ribs to have an internal temperature of 195°F. Allow the meat to rest 5-10 minutes prior to cutting.
Want to make more Caribbean food?
If you like Jamaican food, try my Jamaican Pepper Sauce or this Caribbean inspired Tropical Pineapple Chicken.
For more ribs recipes check out my Sweet and Sour Sticky Ribs or these Pineapple Five Spice Pork Ribs.
Storing Leftovers
If there are any leftover ribs, strip the jerk pork from the bones and make BBQ Pork with Cheesy Grits. The leftover pork is shredded and simmered in BBQ sauce and served over cheesy grits for a Southern inspired dinner that’s sure to satisfy.
Enjoy!
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This recipe post, originally published on Kevin Is Cooking on September 2013, was last updated on May 5, 2021.
Jerk Pork Jamaican Ribs
Ingredients
- 4 Scotch bonnet peppers (See Note 1)
- 6 garlic cloves
- 2 tbsp vegetable oil
- 1/2 cup light brown sugar
- 2 tbsp allspice
- 1 tbsp ground thyme
- 1 tsp nutmeg
- 1 tsp ground cinnamon
- 1 tsp red pepper flakes
- 2 tsp salt
- 1 tsp ground black pepper
- 3-4 lbs pork loin ribs (baby back) or spare ribs
Instructions
- Using gloves, cut the tops off the Scotch bonnet peppers and put in a food processor. Do not handle without gloves. Place all other ingredients in a food processor and blend until smooth. Scrape inside of processor to get all of the rub mix and pour into a small bowl.
- Clean the ribs up by removing the back membrane then with gloves, rub jerk sauce all over ribs. Wrap the ribs back up in the butcher's paper (it has a great wax interior side to keep juices from dripping out), and seal with aluminum foil or in a re-sealable plastic bag. Place in the refrigerator for 8 hours or up to 24 hours.
For the Grill
- For low and slow cooking, set up the grill and preheat to 225°F. Add smoker chips per manufacturer's instructions if desired.
- When the wood begins to smoke, unwrap the ribs and place, bone side down, meaty side up, on a sheet of aluminum foil. Put the ribs and aluminum foil directly on the grill. Cover the grill and and cook the ribs 4 to 5 hours for baby backs or 5 to 6 hours for spare ribs. At this point they should be tender enough to pull apart with your fingers. You want the ribs to have an internal temperature of 195°F.
- Remove from the grill and let the ribs rest 10 minutes, then cut the ribs (See Note 2).
- For faster cooking: Set up the grill and preheat to medium (325° to 350°F).
- Place the ribs, bone side down, in the center of the grate, cover the grill and cook the ribs for 2 1/2 to 3 hours for spare ribs or 1 1/2 to 2 hours for baby back ribs. At this point they should be tender enough to pull apart with your fingers. You want the ribs to have an internal temperature of 195°F. Allow to rest 5-10 minutes prior to cutting.
- Remove from the grill and let the ribs rest for 10 minutes, then cut the ribs.
For the Oven
- Preheat oven to 325°F.Place the ribs, bone side down, on top of a wire rack set in an aluminum foil lined baking tray and roast for 2 1/2 to 3 hours for spare ribs or 1 1/2 to 2 hours for baby back ribs. Halfway through, cover ribs with aluminum foil to protect them from drying out.At this point they should be tender enough to pull apart with your fingers. You want the ribs to have an internal temperature of 195°F. Allow to rest 5-10 minutes prior to cutting.
Video
Notes
- If Scotch Bonnet peppers are not available, substitute with habaneros.
- As the ribs cook, the meat shrinks and exposes the bone at the thinner end of the rib. When 1/4 inch of bone is exposed, the ribs should be done. For pork, the accepted finished temperature is 145°F. However, the collagen inside your ribs hasn’t had time to become gelatin for that perfect bite, which happens when the internal temperatures reach 165°F. It’s recommended to continue cooking ribs until they reach an internal temperature of 195°F to 200°F for that fall off the bone goodness.
Nutrition
The information shown is an estimate provided by an online nutrition calculator. It should not be considered a substitute for a professional nutritionist’s advice.
I haven’t tried this recipe yet, but I think I will. My husband went to school in Jamaica and considers himself a true jerk lover. I’ve made jerk chicken in the past that reminded him of being in Jamaica. I will let you know if he feels the same about these!
On a side note, I have to giggle at all the comments about scotch bonnet peppers. For those that know jerk, you know that this is the pepper used in true recipes. While it can be spicy, the heat is nice. 🙂
So glad to read you’re giving this a try. please let me know what you think. I love and and I love flavor, so foods like this are perfect. Thanks C.
Scotch bonnet? Yeoww!
Seriously it’s warm, but surprisingly not as hot as you’d think. I know you could handle this Jeff. 🙂
Hey Kevin! These are gorgeous ribs! I’m afraid I would have to scale back the heat some. I like spicy, but when dishes approach this heat level I just can’t deal. Yeah, you can call me a sissy! I would also require a nice cold beer (or two). 🙂
Thanks Dorothy!! LOVE ribs! It’s hot but not mouth watering burning. If you like cut the pepper sin half, you should be fine. Hello to Gary! 🙂
The flavours in this one sound absolutely amazing, Kevin! And scotch bonnet peppers? Bring the heat! You know the recipe is good when I want to grab some right through my screen 😉 Pinned! Have a great week, my friend!
It’s a wonderful heat, not a burning heat. FLAVOR big time! Thanks Dawn!
I am looking at the ingredients and the photos and that bowl of rob/marinade looks too liquidy for the ingredients. What other liquid ingredient is missing? Soy sauce? More oil? Pineapple Juice?
Nope, it’s exactly as stated. No other liquids added Jim. It turns into a tar-like spread. Be sure to use gloves! Thanks too for reminding me of this one, haven’t had it in a while. Just wrapped it and it’s marinating for tomorrow’s dinner!
Do I have to use a gas grill or smoker ????.Can a regular charcoal grill be used???
Definitely Myanka, charcoal grill would be great. There are so many different ideas on smoking, times and temperatures, so feel free to use what best works for you and your desired doneness (see other comments!). The recipe is mainly to share with you the Jamaican Jerk. Enjoy!
Hi J, thanks for stopping by. After my own recipe studies and tests on different ribs, this is the time that worked for the best, fall off the bone rib for me on the grill and smoker. While most set their temp @ 225°F I use 250°F and less time. Feel free to do a search on the internet and you will find numerous times and temps, so I suggest you do what works best for you and your desired doneness.
As Meathead Goldwyn says in his book The Science of Great Barbecue and Grilling: “Every grill and smoker is different and every slab of meat is different, so exact cooking time depend on a number of variables. The goal is to get the meat to 180 to 190°F. The ideal cooking temp is about 225°F, hot enough to brown the surface, to develop a crusty bark, and to melt fat and collagens.”
Aaron over at The SmokerKing writes: “The ribs are done when the meat retracts and exposes the edge of the rib bones by about 1/2 inch or so, and basically each rib section will tear apart with ease. Grab a rib bone and twist. If it releases from the meat, or is pretty darn close, the ribs are done. The internal meat temperature will be about 175°F or so when done.”
According to USDA: “ribs are “done” when they are 145°F internal temp, but they may still be tough. If you take them up to 180°F, drop the oven temp to about 180°F and hold them at this temp for about 30 minutes, the collagens and fats melt some more at this temp and make the meat more tender and juicy.
I hope this bit of info helps, have a great day.
Made this and it was awesome
It may not look too pretty as a rub, but that flavor is crazy good, right? So glad you tried it and it was a success. Thanks Nathan!
Curious to know if you tried this recipe in a smoker at lower temp? Also, I notice you didn’t use a mop sauce to finish. Any suggestions in that regard for a good Jamaican Rum/Pineapple/Coconut flavoured sauce?
Hi Tyler. I usually smoke on the grill using a smoker box. Cook until the meat has shrunk back from the bones at least ½ inch and the internal meat temperature is 196°F, about 1 hour and 20 minutes. Keep the temperature of the grill at 250°. Remove the racks from the grill and let rest for 10 minutes. If using a smoker, keep it at 250°F and for 2 racks of ribs (approx 4 lbs) I’d go at least 4 hours, more or less, and the internal meat temperature is 196°F. As for a mop sauce I have not on these as they are quite flavorful on their own, but you have me thinking of making one! Thanks for stopping by.
I literally got shivers looking at that first pic. OMG. OMG OMG. The flavour….the ribs….I need to make these…..
And iPhone pics you say? No way! These are awesome photos! The colours you captured are amazing!!
I love the idea of a dry Jerk Rub. I don’t have a smoker so I’d have to make these in the oven and finish them off on my BBQ. I think that will work – smoke flavour aside of course.
WOW. Seriously, that crust just looks incredible…..
I’ll take that high praise, thanks you so much. Yes, those were definitely from my iPhone, that was back in the early stages of this site (and money). Ha!
Also, you could use a smoker box on your grill, it works great. I wrote a post on wood chips, and smoker stuff, etc. in my Tips & Tricks section here https://keviniscooking.com/wood-chips-for-smoking/ Long live good rib bark! Thanks again Nagi! 🙂