Kilimanjaro Seasoning and Jerk Sauce on Country Pork Ribs

Kimimanjaro Foods - Berbere Seasoning and Jerk Sauce

We enjoy experimenting with different flavors at my house, so when Rhonda from Kilimanjaro Foods asked if we'd like to try out some products that are American made but capture the flavor of Africa, that sounded like it would be interesting.

Rhonda sent a pack of Berbere seasoning and a jar of Jerk Sauce. We don't have these products here at the grocery or restaurants, but I've seen jerk chicken. I thought about doing jerk chicken, but the product information said these products were good on all types of meats and even vegetables.

The Berbere seasoning is an Ethiopian inspiration. It had a pretty color, clearly had pepper flakes, and it smelled good with quite a bit of heat. I decided to sprinkle that lightly on some country cut pork ribs (which are not actually ribs).

After the ribs had smoked close to done on a Traeger smoker, I lathered on some of the jerk sauce. I know that typically a jerk sauce is very spicy, but this one was billed and labeled as mild.

The ribs looked great - darker than with most traditional American barbecue products. The smell was really good as well. I posted a photo on Facebook, and my friends there were impressed with how the ribs looked.

The real test is the taste - of course.

The flavor of the Kilimanjaro products was excellent. They have a different flavor which made the grill smoked ribs very tasty. The Berbere was spicy just as it smelled. My heat eating family members were here, so that worked out great. I'd go easy on it to start with, because it does have a kick. The jerk sauce was mild as stated. I think it's a good introduction to jerk and would work for any family. It was flavorful with some kick but not really a hot kick.

Here are the country ribs, and they did turn out as yummy as they look.

Jerk Ribs with Kilimanjaro Products

Pork Ribs with Big Butz Barbecue Sauce

I wasn't really planning to grill tonight, but it's such a beautiful day that I could not help myself. Since I have some work to do this evening, I got some pork ribs and put them on the Traeger which is a wood pellet grill. It's really no more difficult to smoke on a Traeger than to bake in the oven.

For the ribs, I went medium heat for an hour and then 1/2 hour on smoke. Now, I have sauced the ribs and will just let them sit on smoke for another hour or roundabouts.

These are small pork rib racks, so they do not take as long as bigger ones.

A good check to see if ribs are done is to get ahold of a bone and tug. The meat should be soft, and the bone ought to be close to pulling out. I guess that's why they call it "fall off the bone" ribs sometimes.



The sauce here is Big Butz. That's some heap good barbecue sauce. This is the original blend which is sweet but with a little kick of heat. Big Butz has hot and extra hot, but I am doing the regular tonight, since the younger son does not like his food too hot. The regular works for him, so it is not super hot. I think few people would find it too hot. I'm a hot freak, but I tone it down depending on who is eating. So, Big Butz original is a nice go-to sauce for any group or occasion.