Review: Flaming Joe’s Jerk Sauce

Overview

Maker: Flaming Joe's

Ingredients: key lime juice, soybean oil, soy sauce, green onion, Worcestershire sauce (vinegar, water, corn syrup, salt, molasses, carmel color, spices, garlic, natural flavorings, anchovies, tamarind, dextrin, and sulfating agents), ginger, habanero pepper, brown sugar, garlic, cilantro, chili powder, spices, xanthan gum, guar gum, sodium alginate

Label

Taste

Heat

Appearance

Aroma

Total Score

2/ 5

User Rating

no ratings yet

Posted May 15, 2008 by Justin

Full Review

Before I get too far into the review I want to let everyone know what my experience with jerk sauce is. Walkerswood and the product I am reviewing right now. When I first tried walkerswood jerk seasoning it wasn’t really my favorite although I liked trying something new. I was excited to try this so that I could compare it to the walkerswood and get a better idea of whether or not I like jerk sauces. The label is not bad, but not really anything that makes me want to buy it either, and the sauce itself is a thick greenish brown color that looks almost gritty with all the spices in it (don’t worry its not). The smell was similar to the other jerk seasoning that I had which is sweet. Both in the smell and taste (straight from the bottle) the first thing I notice is the molasses (even though it’s only an ingredient in another ingredient and probably don’t have a lot in it), ginger, and brown sugar, it has almost a nutmeg type of flavor to it. All the ingredients are well blended and I actually really liked the flavor of it, but it’s not something that I would think to match up with chicken, or really anything. I guess the point is that it’s different and you have to be willing to try something new if you have never had a jerk seasoning before. The instructions say to marinade over night and then grill or cook as usual. I know that traditional jerk cooking is done by method of smoking so that’s what I did.

The chicken turned out great, I expected it to be dry having never smoked anything other than jerky but it wasn’t at all. The flavor on the chicken wasn’t very strong, I tasted mostly the smokiness and the Flaming Joes was more of a background flavor that gave it a little sweetness after every bite that was a lot better than if the chicken was just flavored with the seasoning alone. The next day (today) I decided to follow the directions on the bottle and cook chicken as usual. I got plenty of chicken when I marinated it for the smoker to do a couple pieces in the oven also, and even though they marinated a day longer than the first the flavor wasn’t powerful but it did taste like the jerk seasoning and nothing else, which is what I tasted straight from the bottle and thought “its good but I wouldn’t want it with chicken”. If you do decide to try this product do it the way it’s meant to be done and smoke it, it takes awhile (about an hour and a half) but it’s worth it. all in all I would give the sauce a 5/10 because it wasn’t so good that I will buy it again but I will definitely experiment with other jerk seasonings and similar products, it was better in my opinion than walkerswood which I have heard from so many people is the best of the best when it comes to jerk sauces. The heat on this one is mild, in the oven I couldn’t taste any heat at all, but the smoked pieces built up more towards the end, I don’t know why that is but it’s one more reason to smoke it rather than to bake it. One last thing that I am yet to try is putting it on some vegetables which are recommended on the bottle. When I tasted it straight and thought that it wouldn’t really be the best with chicken, vegetables are what I would of thought to put it on instead so that should turn out good. To finish out the review I want to note that even though I would only give the product I 5/10 that could just be because jerk seasoning aren’t my cup of tea. If you like jerk seasonings it is worth buying a bottle to judge for yourself.

Ingredients: key lime juice, soybean oil, soy sauce, green onion, Worcestershire sauce (vinegar, water, corn syrup, salt, molasses, carmel color, spices, garlic, natural flavorings, anchovies, tamarind, dextrin, and sulfating agents), ginger, habanero pepper, brown sugar, garlic, cilantro, chili powder, spices, xanthan gum, guar gum, sodium alginate.