Jamaican jerk chicken

Slice under the backbone with a paring knife to expose the thigh joint, cut into the socket and slice top to bottom to remove the backbone edge.

Skin side up, feel for the gap between thigh and drumstick and cut through it; four leg quarters give about eight pieces.

Season both sides generously with the salt and sugar dry brine, which seasons the meat more than a marinade can and holds moisture during cooking.

Refrigerate to brine about 15 to 20 minutes.

Strip the thyme by pinching the base of the stem and pulling it through, then run a knife through the leaves three or four times so no woody stem gets in.

Put the thyme, garlic, scallions, ginger and habaneros in the food processor.

Add the olive oil, soy sauce, brown sugar, allspice, cinnamon, nutmeg, black pepper and lime juice.

Spin about one minute, until the fibrous ginger has broken down and it is smooth-ish; keep the texture rustic, not a perfect puree.

Move the brined chicken to a bowl and slather it with about half the jerk paste.

Lay the chicken out on a sheet tray rather than marinating in the bowl, brushing any exposed areas with the marinade left in the bowl.

Refrigerate to marinate about 24 hours, until the surface looks matte and dry, which keeps it off the grates and catches more grilled flavour.

Refrigerate the rest of the marinade for saucing later.

Set the grill for two zones: burner high with the grate out and a smoker box in its place, the other side low with the grate on; fill the box with dry wood chips.

Once the grill is about 300F and the box is smoking hard, spray or brush the grate heavily so the skin will not stick.

Lay the chicken skin side down, two by four, over the low side; it must still sizzle on contact.

Smoke and grill about 10 minutes on the first side.

Flip the pieces, rotating any that sit in a hotspot, and brush the grilled side again with jerk marinade.

Cover and cook low on the other side another 10 minutes.

Put the leftover marinade in a saucepan over medium heat with the water, bring to a hard simmer and cook down about five minutes to unify the flavours, soften the aromatics and sterilise it.

Puree the sauce on high in the blender until smooth, then move it to a squeeze bottle.

Flip the chicken at least once more and cook at least 10 more minutes, raising the internal temperature slowly without burning the outside.

Cook to an internal temperature of at least 185F, so the fat in the dark meat has rendered and the meat pulls off the bone; 165F is merely safe and comes out chewy.

Rest 10 minutes, then sauce with the cooked jerk sauce.