We have been known to be notoriously hard on jerk sauces, mainly because there seem to be relatively few that offer both the heat and flavor that we’ve come to expect from them. We carried that same skepticism with us to ZestFest and we were just about to write off the chance of finding anything good when we ran into Steve Kitchen from Devil’s Own Sauces. We tried a lot of his hot sauces, but it was his Jerk Seasoning which really hooked us. We greedily absconded with a bottle, determined to make our own jerk chicken recipes at home soon.

First impression: For one thing, we were struck by the fact that the ingredient list shows nary a preservative or artificial color…which we much appreciated. The sauce is dark brown (almost mud-colored), with a wonderfully wafting aroma of scotch bonnet peppers & allspice. Not just that, but it’s thick. Like needing to have it carved out of the jar with a spoon thick. Yet another positive sign, so we pressed on further.

Taste: For our taste-tesing experience, we defrosted some boneless, skinless chicken breasts to endure the jerk seasoning treatment. We didn’t have advanced warning enough to marinate the chicken overnight, but we were able to get them a good solid 5 hours throughout the afternoon to let the seasoning infuse its way into the chicken.

What foods we liked it with: Chicken, chicken, and more chicken. If there’s something else that jerk sauce is equally good with, tell us and we’ll make it. Meat, veggies, whatever…

Ingredients: water, onions, scallions, scotch bonnet peppers, salt, allspice, black pepper, vinegar, nutmeg, thyme, lime juice, garlic powder, and spices

Here you can see the profile view of the finished chicken. We are not sure how much to contribute to the Jerk seasoning, but this was a damn fine looking and tasting piece o’ chicken.

Overall recommendation: For a company not hailing out of the Carribean where Jerk was really created and made popular, the Devil’s Own Jerk Seasoning won high marks with us. Depending on how hot you want it, you can coat your food with more or less. The flavor is out of this world, and you’ll really appreciate how the spices blend with peppers, onion, and scallions. If you want to experience Jerk Seasoning that truly blends flavor, heat, and a wee bit of pizzazz, then we’d recommend this product to anyone. Tell Steve we said so.

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