Welcome to Fire Masters,
where three chefs will take on three blazing culinary challenges.
[Janice] Oh, shoot.
[Terry] Don't you burn on me.
[Dylan] Two will be eliminated.
And the last chef standing will go head to head
against one of our Fire Masters' judges,
battling for the chance to win $10,000.
I'm panting, I'm sweaty, I'm feeling the pressure of this arena.
Calm down.
And to earn their place as a Fire Masters' champio.
That's just kind of sad to me.
Stop second-guessing yourself.
-[Dylan] Speed. -Let's go.
[Dylan] Skill. Scorching competition.
That is hot fire.
This is Fire Masters.
Three chefs think that they can tame the flame
and be the next Fire Masters' champion.
Let's meet them.
First up, Terry Jones from Atlanta, Georgia.
I'm chef owner of It's Go Thyme food truck and catering.
Coming from Atlanta, there's a lot of great chef out there.
I got a lot to prove.
If I win $10,000, I'm putting it
toward my catering and food truck company.
I have what it takes to be the next Fire Master' champion.
It's Go Thyme.
Hey, guys, how y'all doing?
[Dylan] Next, Janice Smella from Calgary, Alberta.
I'm the head cook for SmellaQue Competition BBQ Team.
We are a family barbecue tea
who love fire, who love meat and we like having a good time.
Barbecue is my life.
I'm a two-time National BBQ Champion.
I did not come to lose. I came here to win.
Howdy, judges?
[Dylan] And last, Peter Zukiwski from Edmonton, Alberta.
I'm the owner operator of Pitt County BBQ.
Pitt County BBQ is a whole h barbecue company.
We want to bring the flavors of the south up north.
Seven years ago, I started cooking pigs.
I devoted myself to finding out all the best secrets, the best flavors.
I'm gonna be the next Fire Masters' champion
because I'm creative, I'm good on my feet,
and I like playing with fire.
How's it going today?
Chefs, welcome to Fire Masters.
Here's how it's all going down.
There will be three rounds of competition.
In the first two rounds, you'll be competing against one another.
And at the end of each of these rounds,
one of you will be going home.
In the third and final round,
the last chef standing will go head to head
with one of our judges for the chance to win $10,000.
And the title of today's Fire Masters Champion.
Speaking of judges, here's who you'll need to impress.
Roger Mooking is a globally-inspired celebrity chef,
author, TV personality and live fire cooking expert
Welcome to the Fire Masters arena, chefs.
Make sure you pay attention to that clock.
[Dylan] Chef Andrea Nicholso is chef owner of Butchie's restaurant,
Banana's Dessert Shop and the culinary event space Dish Play.
I expect fire and flavor today.
Woo-hoo.
Ray Lampe a.k.a Dr. BBQ has published nine cookbook
and is a member of the Barbecue Hall of Fame
Welcome, chefs. We're happy to have you here.
[Dylan] Chefs, I hope you're ready for some fierce competition
because it's time to heat things up.
In this first Wildfire Round,
you'll create a signature dish that showcases who you are as a chef.
You'll each have your own top- of-the-line grill station
and use of our Fire Masters' firepit
as well as access to our fully-stocked pantry.
Your dish will be judged on three things,
presentation, creativity and, of course, taste.
Chefs, are you ready?
-Yeah. -Let's go.
You've got 30 minutes on the clock...
and your time starts now.
[Roger] Let's go, chefs.
Let's go.
Yes, sir.
[Janice] Steak.
To win this competition, I need to think fast on my feet
and I need to execute well.
There's a lot going on.
The pressure is real. The time is real.
Everyone wants a good steak
For my signature dish, I'm making a seared striploin steak
with mustard cream sauce and baby bok choy.
Every Friday night is steak night and we do it with friends.
Look at that marbling.
I've been practicing this dish.
I can make it with my eyes closed and it is delicious.
I want to reverse sear my steaks.
I want to cook it low and slow.
Get it up to almost finishing temperature, about 10, 15 degrees under.
And then once it's at that temperature, you can sear it off
by finishing your steak on high heat.
It allows the sides to caramelize and you get really good flavor.
Ooh.
That is hot, baby.
For my signature dish, I'm making fire roasted pork tenderloin
with roasted cream corn pure and fried okra.
This is my signature dish because it represents what I specialize in.
Silver skin off.
There's no way I can do pulled pork in 30 minutes.
Usually we cook our hogs for five to six hours at a minimum,
so I'm gonna substitute that with pork tenderloin.
It's a little risky using a pork tenderloin just because of how lean it is.
My strategy to win in the Fire Masters arena
is keep my head down, keep focused, and I got to watch the clock.
All right. Let's do this.
For my signature dish,
I'm making a cilantro lime chicken
with char avocado salsa and corn ribs.
First, I got to butcher this whole chicken.
I'm going ahead and break this chicken up.
Next, I'm gonna make my dry rub for the chicken.
Onion powder, salt, pepper, garlic powder and smoked paprika.
I love to have fun.
I like to bring a lot of energy,
and I like to play with my dishes,
make sure that people love what they eat,
that make you smile on the inside.
Chef Terry, how are you doing?
What's going on? I'm feeling good. Baby, let's do this thing.
What about this dish is gonna be so special
it's going to get you through to the next round?
[Terry] Seasoning, flavor, creativeness.
What I do with the ingredients.
This could be a $10,000 day for you, chef.
-How you feel about that? -It's gonna be a $10,000 day for me.
Well, you're looking confident, smelling good already,
-looking forward to seeing this dish. -Man, I appreciate it.
In order to win today, it's going to take a lot of skill and concentration.
If I'm making chicken in Fire Masters arena, I got to deliver.
It's time to get it.
[Janice] Let's check the steak.
So I'm checking the steaks and I'm looking for 125.
Still not there.
Next, I'm prepping the charcoal grill for my strip loins.
-Chef Janice, how are you? -I'm good, thank you.
I see you've got the charcoal grill going over there
with some wood chips.
-What kind of chips do you have over there? -I use pecan.
It has a nice smoke flavor to it that would complement the beef.
Well, I see you're bringing the smoke.
Really excited to see this dish, chef.
[Janice] Thank you.
I smoke all the time.
I know my way around the charcoal grill.
Ooh, it's hot.
I need to get my corn cooking to make my puree.
My favorite way to cook corn is right in the husk, right in the coals.
I wanted to get some nice char.
The coals are perfect for that.
Cooks nice and quick.
Judges, it's the Wildfire Round.
These chefs have a lot to accomplish in 30 minutes.
Let's talk about Chef Peter down on the end.
He's got those pork tenderloins.
Well, my concern is that he started the temperature
too low with the grates too high.
So you start kind of boiling the exterior skin
and it's hard to get any crispiness
or browning and good flavor on it.
We see it all the time.
Chefs constantly turn the grates up too high.
I mean, it's only sitting at a warming heat of about 250 to 300 degrees.
Not enough heat.
Especially for a thick chicken breast like Chef Terry is trying to cook.
[Terry] I got to start worki on my corn.
I'm trying to make sure that my corn has that street corn aspect...
You gonna like the seasonin from the south.
I want the judges to taste the real juiciness of that corn
with all those spices on top
Next, it's time to start working on my charred avocado salsa.
When you in a Fire Masters arena,
you've got to char every single thing on that plate.
Everything get the char on it. That is hot char... fire.
[exclaims]
Chefs, only 10 minutes left.
[Terry] Ten minutes left.
I go check on my chicken and it is raw.
It's cold. It's taking too long.
Got nice, crispy skin.
But the chicken is so thick and I'm concerned
that my chicken's not gonna cook
all the way through. What am I gonna do?
I cannot serve raw chicken to the judges.
So I take the chicken
and I cut some of the breast off the back.
I've got to cut it down some because it's not cooking fast enough.
Got to make sure this thing is well done for my judges.
So I'm putting on the Sizzle Zone,
so the chicken cook quicker.
Got a little sear, get them going.
At this point right now, I'm kind of freaking out a little bit.
I'm sweating. I'm sweating hard.
It's crunch time.
I still have so much to do.
This striploins are ready, so now I'm going to bring them to the charcoal grill
and I'm going to sear them off.
The problem with the reverse sear is that we're not in our home kitchen.
The barbecues are blazing easily at 600 degrees,
and you're not going to achieve a reverse sear
on a barbecue that is that hot.
I have overcooked one of my strip loins.
Girl from Alberta, striploin in the trash.
This is not good.
[breathing heavily]
Calm down.
I cannot believe that I overcooked this steak.
Sorry!
But three of the steaks look great.
Thank goodness.
[Peter] As the clock winds down, I want to get my okra in.
Usually in North Carolina, you get okra fried on the side of a sandwich.
I want it to be crisp and I want it to be fresh.
Chefs, five minutes left. Time to hustle.
[Peter] With my puree on the go and my meat restin I am under the time crunch.
I really want to get everything on the plate.
[Terry] We're gonna make a cilantro lime vinaigrette,
it is going outside of that beautiful chicken.
Made... make that thing pop out.
Give me all that juice.
My thoughts are all over the place,
but my number one focus is to make sure that that chicken is cooked.
Don't you burn on me. Don't you burn on me.
I'm taking my chicken off the Sizzle Zone
and put it on a grill because I don't want to overcook the chicken.
Get up off of that.
Steaks are off. Bok choy.
Three minutes left,
and I have not plated anything.
I'm slicing my striploins and I am seeing that my steaks are overcooked.
I don't have any choice.
I have to put them on the plate.
[Dylan] Chefs, go, go, go, go. Hustle. Hustle.
Come on, chefs.
Plate time. With only one minute left,
it's a miracle that this chicken is done.
I'm moving so fast.
I'm putting whatever I can on this plate
so the judges can have a little bit of everything.
[Peter] I have to get the pork on the plate.
I'm feeling the pressure.
The clock is driving me nuts.
[judges in unison] Ten, nine, eight, seven, six, five,
four, three, two, one.
Time's up, chefs.
[Terry] Oh, man.
I look down on my plate,
it's not my best.
But I'm hoping that the judges taste that flavo that I put in there.
I'm panting, I'm hot, I'm sweaty,
but the dishes are there,
and I'm happy with how they look.
I look at my plate, and all I can focus on is my overcooked steaks.
Chef Terry, please tell us about your signature dish.
[Terry] I made cilantro lime chicken
with char avocado salsa and corn ribs.
Chef Terry, your chicken, it's cooked, but it's overcooked.
Oh.
The corn, I think was the best thing on your plate.
I actually like the fact that there was a lot of dry rub on it
-because you got the bite of salty and sweet and spicy. -Right.
[Roger] It's kind of all over the place.
I love the energy you bring to the Fire Masters arena.
And if you target all of that energy on the plate
and really focus, I think that you'll do well
if you carry on to the next round.
Thank you very much, chef.
I think I'm having too much fun in the kitchen,
so I need to tone it down on the second round
and really concentrate on what I really have to do.
[Dylan] Chef Janice, please tell us what you made.
[Janice] I made a seared striploin steak
with a mustard cream sauce and baby bok choy.
Chef Janice, I love the concept of this dish.
Unfortunately, Janice, my steak is overcooked.
[Janice] I really wanted to put some char on it,
and it was just on the grill too long.
[Ray] That steak is definitely overcooked,
but the sauce certainly paired well with both elements.
The bok choy, I loved all that char on there,
and it came together as a nice dish.
Thank you.
[Janice] At this point, I'm a little nervous
that these overcooked steaks are gonna send me home.
[Dylan] Chef Peter, please tell us about your signature dish.
[Peter] I made fire-roasted pork tenderloin
with cream corn puree and fried okra.
Pork tenderloin, while it's cooked nicely,
there's just not a lot of brown char on it.
You know, that's just kind of sad to me.
Like my man Ray said, you know,
you got to make sure you get that crust on the outside.
That crust will give you flavor.
But the components on the dish are very strong actually.
I'm a super fan of okra.
I love the consistency where it's just crunchy like that.
So I think it works really well.
[Dylan] Thank you very much, chef.
And thank you, chefs.
Let's give the judges a few minutes to deliberate
and we'll call you back when we're ready.
[Peter] The one comment that rattled me was the char on the pork.
These judges really want cha
They really want crust and they really want the depth of flavor in the arena.
All right, judges, the Wildfire Round is complete.
And now that you've had a chance to taste
each of these chefs' signature dishes, how did they do?
You know, Chef Terry had a lot of energy,
but his energy didn't make it to the plate.
You know, unfortunately, Chef Terry's cook on his chicken was overdone and dry.
[Andrea] I love the corn.
That extra little bit of seasoning on the outside of it was a great flavor bomb.
Tell me your thoughts on Chef Janice's signature dish.
A really nice, concise dish.
She made a mistake with her reverse sear idea.
At home, that works good, here in the Fire Masters arena,
you're not going to get that to work out.
My favorite thing on Chef Janice's plate was the bok choy.
She did a really nice job in being able to concentrate the flavor.
Let's take a look at Chef Peter and his signature dish.
[Andrea] There were some flaws for sure in the pork tenderloin
not getting hard enough sear,
not adding enough flavor to it, but the okra, it's really hard to cook okra.
And the char on it was great.
Only two can advance.
Have you made your decision?
-Yes, we have. -Yes.
Let's call the chefs back in.
Chefs, in this first round,
you were asked to create a signature dish
that showcases who you are on a plate.
Judges, whose signature dish was the best in this round?
The chef with the best dish is...
Chef Peter.
[judges applauding]
Congratulations, Chef Peter.
You will have an advantage heading into the next round.
Well done.
It's down to Chef Terry and Chef Janice.
Judges, tell us, who will you be sending home?
I am not going home. I am just getting started.
I have to go to the next round.
I haven't showed everything I have in my arsenal.
The chef who'll be going home is...
It's down to Chef Terry
with his grilled chicken breast and charred avocado salsa
and Chef Janice with her seared striploin steak and mustard cream sauce.
Judges, tell us, who will you be sending home?
The chef who'll be going home is...
Chef Terry.
Dang.
Chef Terry, I'm sorry to say you've been eliminated from the competition.
It's time to leave the Fire Masters arena.
-Cheers, Terry. -Thanks.
Losing sucks, but I don't take losses.
They are lessons.
This ain't the last time, you're going to see Chef Terry again.
Better believe that.
Chefs, welcome to the Crossfire Round.
This round is a fiery face off.
Get ready for...
Battle of the Wild.
Nice.
[Dylan] Give us a barbecue dish
that celebrates a wonderful and wild protein.
Chef Peter, as the winner of the first round,
you get to decide which ingredient you'd like to cook with,
wild salmon or wild boar?
[Peter] I'm worried about the salmon because it is delicate
and we don't have a lot of time.
So, Chef Peter, which do you choose to cook with?
I'm gonna pick the wild boar.
Which means, Chef Janice, you'll be cooking with wild salmon.
Chefs, are you ready?
-Yeah. -Yeah.
You've got 30 minutes back on the clock and your time starts...
now.
[Ray] Let's go, chefs.
I have to cook wild salmon in round two, and I need to make sure
that it is the star of the show.
I am making smoked wild salmon with cauliflower salad.
This one's extra charred.
[Andrea] Wild salmon tends to be a little bit leaner,
So when it cooks down, there's not enough fat to save an overcooked piece of fish.
There's that very fine line where it goes to being overcooked,
and that happens in like 30 seconds to one minute.
[Janice] I know how to cook wild salmon,
but this arena is getting to me.
Ooh, I don't know.
[Peter] I'm making grilled wild boar with a fire-roasted salad
and some patty pans and brown butter to top everything off.
I feel like my experience cooking pigs really helps with wild boar.
I'm going to treat it like a pork chop.
[Ray] Wild boar is a little bit leaner and a little bit richer in flavor.
It's a great item, but it's not exactly like a pork chop.
[Roger] It's a big piece of meat.
So much flavor in that boar.
[Ray] I hope Chef Peter isn't making the same mistake from the first round.
So there's no caramelization, no good brown stuff on it.
[Peter] The judges told me last round they want more color on my protein.
That's a main focus here.
I need to get that.
[Janice] Can I get an onion?
I got to get a lighter, lower temperature smoke going on my fish.
I need a pan.
I decide I need to concoct a smoker.
Chef Janice has created her own smoker,
almost like a quasi cold smoker on her station.
[Ray] She just wants to smoke.
She doesn't need any cooking right now.
So she's got this cool environment,
but it's going to impart the flavor of the smoke.
That's really a smart thing to do.
I'm basically doing meat and two sides.
I have my salad on the go and now it's time for the patty pans.
Patty pans are nice, vibrant squash.
Brown butter on a patty pan just makes me so happy.
The pork is coming along, but I want to throw some smoke in there.
I run to the pantry, I grab my apple chips.
They always go well with pork, so they have to go well with wild boar.
They're gonna add a little bit more complexity
with the fattiness of the chop.
I have no time left.
I've got to get this wild salmon on heat.
Cauliflower is perfect. It's got a great char on it
I'm going to chop it up and add it to the dressing
so that it can soak in the flavors.
Chefs, five minutes left in the round! Let's go!
I'm finally happy with where the chops are.
Definitely time to start plating.
Looking at the patty pans, I feel like I need to put them in something.
This is also a great way to keep the brown butter
where I want it to be, on the patty pans.
Chefs, you've got two minutes left.
Time to get some food on the plate.
Let's go. [Roger] Come on, chefs, get it on the plate.
Ooh. Not all of the pieces of salmon are cooked.
So I really got to be careful what I put on to that plate.
[Dylan] Chefs, only 60 seconds left.
This is it.
[Peter] There's not as much pink in the chop as I would like
but at this point in time, I don't have any other optio
They have to go on the plate.
[judges together] Ten, nine, eight, seven, six,
five, four, three, two, one.
Time's up, chefs.
[Janice] When I look down at my dish, I'm really happ with the colors on the plate
the flavors, the smoke.
I made my own smoker and I executed well.
[Peter] My biggest worry abo this plate is that it's a little simple.
Would have been happier to have a thicker crust on it.
Makes me nervous.
Chef Peter, please tell us what you made using wild boar.
Today I made grilled wild boar with a fire-roasted salad and brown butter patty pans.
You know, in the last round, we made a very decisive comment
about making sure you get some color on the pork
and you did it a little bit more this time.
But that should be brown.
Your wild boar, overall, it's tender and it's seasoned well.
Patty pans, I quite like, but I think they were too separated.
Think about maybe going like that and discarding that.
If you would have brought them together,
you would have had a really good brown butter sauce
to sop up your wild boar.
Let's talk about execution. It's a boar chop.
There's some brown on there, but not as much as I would like.
I had to put a nice sear on it, get that fat heated up.
There's nothing wrong with that fat,
but you've either got to trim it off or cook it.
-Chef, thank you very much. -Thank you.
I'm worried about this.
I didn't get as much char as I wanted on the pork chop.
This could be a major issue
[Dylan] Chef Janice, please tell the judges
what you made with wild salmon.
[Janice] I did a smoked wild salmon on a cauliflower salad.
Chef Janice, three quarters of my salmon was perfect,
but on the end here, it's still quite raw.
[Andrea] Stop second-guessing yourself.
This salmon could have simply gone on the grill, eight minutes, you're done.
Stress-free.
The charred cauliflower has a beautiful char on the outside of it.
So the element of smoke and char that we asked you for, you presented to us.
-Thank you, chef, and thank you, chef. -Thank you.
Let's give the judges a few minutes to discuss what they've tasted.
We'll call you back when we're ready.
All right.
If I'm gonna go home, it's going to be that salmon.
I needed to have it thoroughly cooked.
At this point, everything is in the judges' hands.
Well, judges, that was a wild Crossfire Round
with wild salmon and wild boar.
How'd these chefs do?
[Ray] Chef Peter chose the wild boar,
I think he fell a little flat.
Chef Peter really didn't listen to us in the second round.
The meat wasn't seared properly.
I did really like the brown butter patty pan squash.
Chef Janice was handed the salmon,
which we thought was a pretty good ingredient,
and she did okay.
[Roger] If Janice really intended to do the smoking thing,
she could have made a beautiful, nice, square, clean cut portion
and done that like that.
[Andrea] But Chef Janice brought forth some complexity with texture.
She presented a really beautiful dish.
Two chefs with two amazing ingredients,
but both with some execution issues.
Have you made your decision?
-Yes, we have. -[Andrea and Roger] Yes.
Let's call the chefs back in.
Chefs, in this Crossfire Round,
it was a Battle of the Wild, wild salmon versus wild boar.
The winner of this round will walk away with a Napoleon portable grill
and move on to the final round.
Judges, tell us who will be moving on to the final round.
The chef who'll be moving on to the final round is...
-Chef Janice. -Yeah.
[judges applauding]
I am in complete shock and awe.
I'm feeling good. I'm gonna bring it.
Chef Peter, you're a talented chef.
Unfortunately, it's time to leave the Fire Masters arena.
-Good luck. -Thanks.
I had so much fun today, and I'm glad I took my shot.
Chef Janice, in the first two rounds,
you showed us that you're a strong competitor,
but now the competition is really heating up.
In this final round,
you'll be going head-to-head against one of our Fire Masters' judge.
And the judge you'll be facing off against is Chef Ray Lampe.
-Yes. -[Andrea] Go get him, doc.
Wow. Dr. BBQ?
He's my idol, but tonight, he's my competition.
-Woo-hoo! -I'm really excited.
Getting to cook is the treat. I'm ready.
Chef Janice, Chef Ray, you're about to face-off in the Feast of Fire.
Chefs, in this final round, you must create a family style feast
inspired by the theme...
Barbecue Essentials.
I like that.
[Dylan] Perfectly seared meat and irresistible iconic sides.
Give us a finger-licking feast filled with barbecue staples.
This is totally in my wheelhouse.
But Chef Janice is the captain of her competition barbecue team.
It's in her wheelhouse, too
This is gonna be one great battle.
The stakes have never been higher.
So you'll each have a sous-chef to help you create your feast.
These feasts will be tasted blind,
which means we're not gonna be here to watch you cook.
But when we do return, I'll be taking Chef Ray's seat at the judges' table.
But, chefs, before you get started,
I've got a hot twist for you.
Over by the fire, there are two stands.
Choose a stand and light it on fire
to reveal an ingredient you must use in your feast.
Chefs, are you ready?
-Yes. -We're ready.
You've got 45 minutes on the clock,
and your time starts now.
Barbecue time, my friends.
-I know. Man, I can't wait. -Right?
I got cabbage.
I got corn.
I'm good with that.
I was thinking about making a corn dish tonight anyway.
Beautiful corn.
I went to my first barbecue cook off in 1982, do the math.
For my main, I'm making a char-grilled ribeye.
My first side is charred and cheesy corn.
My next side is bourbon, barbecue beans.
And for dessert, we're having grilled pineapple with espresso mascarpone.
These are barbecue essentials in my backyard.
Ooh. It's hot.
To beat Chef Ray, I'm gonna have to bring everything I've got.
Cherry smoke's going on.
Barbecue is my life.
I eat, sleep, travel just for the sport of barbecue.
I can bring it.
For my main, I'm making grilled sweet and smoky wings.
For my side, I'm making charred cabbage with bacon cream.
Oh, yeah.
For my other side, I'm making a smoked broccoli salad.
For my dessert, I'm making a bacon-wrapped mango with fruity yogurt.
Get ready, judges, we're having a backyard barbecue,
and you're coming over.
Bacon makes everyone happy.
-Yeah. -Who doesn't like bacon.
[Dylan] My friends, it's Feast of Fire time.
Tonight's theme, Barbecue Essentials.
And these chefs have a wide-open playground.
We've got Chef Janice, who has come up through the ranks today.
That is a hot fire.
She's going up against a barbecue legend in Ray Lampe.
[Ray] I need my steaks.
It's gonna be challenging for her.
[Roger] You know, she's show improvement from the first to the second round.
So hopefully, she's generated a little bit of confidence.
You know, she's realized that she's got this.
Beautiful.
[Andrea] Here we have Chef Ray Lampe author of nine cookbooks.
I mean, this guy's got some recipes in his arsenal.
[Ray] Then we're going to get a little smoke on.
Who knows? It's anyone's game, really.
We've got two very talented chefs
competing within a theme that's right in their wheelhouse.
I think we're in for an epic meal.
I'm gonna just put a little of that in my beans.
We'll go ahead and work on that cheese sauce.
Don't be shy. Make it rich.
If you hang out in Kansas City,
you know about this famous cheesy corn.
You want to talk about barbecue essentials?
You better mention cheddar cheese.
Cheese going in.
So the corn's nicely charred up on the firepit.
It's got to cool down a little bit
before I can cut it off the cob.
How about that, huh?
When you're hot, you're hot.
Chef, this veg is looking beautiful.
Oh, yeah.
I have to cook with cabbage for my backyard barbecue feast.
I added napa cabbage and green cabbage.
We're going to make a braised cabbage with the bacon cream.
I want the cabbage to stand out.
So we're slicing red cabbage and that's going to go in my broccoli salad.
Let's check the chicken.
We got char.
This firepit is so hot, I can't even get my chicken wings.
Oh, my.
[Ray] Hot enough for you, chef.
It's hot.
[Ray laughs]
I better get my steak moving over to the hot grill, I think.
It's hard to cook a steak that thick, especially over on open fire in 45 minutes.
But I'm not scared of that big steak.
I'm on it.
I go back and get my pineapp for my dessert.
Now I'm at the fire pit. I'm happy there.
I've got my ribeye. I got my pineapple.
This is where I belong.
You're on track?
-I'm ready. -All right.
It's exciting, ain't it?
Fifteen minutes.
This is the fastest 45 minutes of my entire life.
I'm checking on my cabbage.
It is not ready yet.
The cabbage needs to braise a little longer.
It's not quite there.
Everything's just got to keep on track.
I'm adding an Asian glaze to the chicken wings.
Make them a little bit sticky.
I'm throwing these chicken wings on the barbecue
to get that glaze seared and sticky.
Time is running out.
This cabbage dish is not where I want it to be.
Just keep cooking.
I am freaking out. I can't think.
This dish is not where I want it to be.
The cabbage just needs to cook down.
Tinfoil will trap the heat so that
it steams on both sides and braises it all the way through.
Once steaks start coming together, we're tasting, tasting, tasting.
It's time to get the corn in with the cheese sauce, mix it up.
It's looking really good.
-I'm going to close the lid on the corn. -[sous-chef 1] Yep.
Just to make sure it's hot, but it's pretty much done.
Smells good.
My beans are still really sweet.
Some vinegar is going to be the trick.
That'll cut my sweet.
So I need to start putting the mascarpone.
Now time to make the topping for my dessert.
This is espresso powder going in with mascarpone.
Espresso and mascarpone are Italian ingredients, and they go together well.
So why not?
A little jar with the pineapple in there
and then the espresso mascarpone on t
is looking kind of fancy for me.
I like this.
Chef, is that yogurt good to go?
-Yeah. It is. -Okay.
I'm going to work on my fruity yogurt,
which is the base for my dessert.
In a bowl, we've got Greek yogurt, pomegranate molasses and maple syrup.
Chef Ray, can I borrow some maple syrup?
-Yep. -[Janice] Thank you.
I should have known that Canadians are gonna want the maple syrup.
Now it's time to wrap the mango in that delicious bacon.
These turned out good.
Beautiful.
Two minutes, chef.
Let's get plating.
I've got to get going.
The steak is going to get over here and rest.
The number's a little low on my steak,
but I'm cooking on this hot grill.
When I take it off, there's going to be a lot of carryover cooking.
It's going to keep resting until it gets to the judges table.
And I think it's gonna be okay.
[Janice] I give the charred cabbage dish another taste.
It's got the good bass, but it needs something to pop.
What makes any dish better?
Cheese. Come on.
One minute.
[Ray] Beans are up.
[Janice] I have no idea what Chef Ray is doing.
I am so focused on my own cook.
There's a nice char on this chicken.
It smells so good.
[Ray] The steak is just going on that board.
We will splash something on top of the corn and the steak and we are good.
[in unison] Ten, nine, eight, seven,
six, five, four, three,
two, one.
-Yeah. -Real nice.
-This looks beautiful. -These look so pretty.
Yeah.
[Ray] I look down on my feas
It looks good to me.
The one I'm worried about is the ribeye.
You just never really know
what the inside of a giant rib eye like that looks like.
[Janice] I'm looking at my Feast of Fire, and I feel really good.
I put my own twist on it, but it's definitely a barbecue essential.
I am so excited for the judges to taste my food.
Well, my friends, tonight's feast is Barbecue Essentials.
This chef has cooked for us char-grilled ribeye,
charred and cheesy corn, bourbon barbecue beans,
and we'll finish off with grilled pineapple with espresso mascarpone.
This chef had to cook with corn.
Thank you. Sure.
Looks like the cook on the steak is perfect.
[Andrea] Enjoy, guys.
How do you guys feel about that steak?
[Andrea] A ribeye is my all time favorite cut.
It's a perfect rare, medium rare, perfectly cooked steak.
I agree, but I could use with a whack more salt on the outside.
I actually really like the beans.
They're your classic baked bean
that you'd find at a barbecue.
You know, it's called bourbon baked beans.
I definitely taste the bourbon.
And it's really, really nice.
This corn dish, it says charred and cheesy corn.
I see the charred, I see the corn,
not really getting a ton of cheese.
I wish the chef would have just incorporated some more
white cheddar or cheese curds
to give it that gooey stringiness that it's really missing.
I do think the texture of that corn, though, is absolutely perfect.
Are you ready to see what this chef made us for dessert?
[Andrea] Oh, yeah.
[Dylan] The chef made us grilled pineapple with espresso mascarpone.
I've never had pineapple and coffee together and I'm a little bit confused.
It's such an intense flavor.
[Roger] Although, I like the components of it,
I like the idea of it,
I can't eat more than what I've eaten now.
It ends up being quite a lot of this alcoholic syrup to consume.
It's almost missing a biscuit on the bottom
to turn it into like a tiramisu.
In this first barbecue feast, we had flame, smoke and char.
Let's see if the next chef can raise the bar.
Our second Barbecue Essentials feast is here.
This chef has made for us grilled sweet and smokey wings,
charred cabbage with bacon cream, smoked broccoli salad,
and we'll finish off with bacon-wrapped mango with fruity yogurt.
This chef had to cook with cabbage.
-Oh, yeah. -[Andrea] There you go.
[Roger] Thanks so much.
Buon appetito.
I really like the flavor of those wings.
I also really like how the chef left the wings whole
because it's a backyard barbecue.
It's very casual. It's rustic.
[Roger] What's cool about the wings is that,
they've got a nice char,
you know, when you get those little crunchy bits with the little sticky bits.
So it's just a magical thing.
When it comes to the broccoli salad,
I do like that the chef grilled the broccoli.
I think that was smart, with the red cabbage and the raisins
and the pumpkin seeds,
it's very reminiscent of a dish that my mom used to make
when I was growing up.
[Andrea] I want to talk about this cabbage for a second.
I think this chef was really smart to add bacon,
onions and cabbage together.
I mean, that's like the Holy Trinity of Eastern European cuisine.
I wish the chef would have chosen
a different type of cabbage.
Napa cabbage does not hold well to a long braise
and it becomes a bit soggy and watery in texture.
Another solid Barbecue Essentials feast.
You guys ready for one more dessert?
Oh, yeah.
[Dylan] Our second dessert Dessert has landed,
and this chef has made for us bacon-wrapped mango with fruity yogurt.
I've had bacon with a lot of things,
but never with mango.
And I think if you're going to apply bacon to a dessert,
candy it, chop it up finer, incorporate it somehow
rather than just wrap it around a mango.
It doesn't translate to dessert.
When I saw this combination, I thought immediately of, like, Southeast Asia.
They do pork floss with tropical fruits.
But this forces you to take a big hunk of the mango
with a big hunk of the bacon.
If it was applied a little bit differently,
I think it could have worked.
Well, we've had two interesting interpretations of barbecue
from the chefs tonight, both with big, bold flavors.
Let's break it down plate by plate.
This Battle of the Barbecue tonight in the Fire Masters arena,
let's take a look at both of these chefs' feast and see how they stacked up.
The first chef had that charred-grilled bone in ribeye,
and the second chef with the sweet and smokey wings.
Kudos to the first chef for cooking
such a gigantic cut of meat, cooked to perfection.
The bark on the outside was right.
My steak could have used a good smack of salt to really drive it home.
[Andrea] Then we had the sticky glaze barbecue wings.
[Roger] The sauce on them was great.
They had a nice brown on them, a nice grill mark.
So when you got some of that crunch and that brown skin,
that had a lot of flavor on it,
it was really, really nice to balance out the stickiness.
Let's move on to the sides,
the first chef with the charred cheesy corn
and the second chef with the cabbage and bacon cream.
I definitely enjoyed the charred corn,
but I would leave out the word cheesy
because it was definitely missing a lot of cheese, a lot of richness.
For me, the creativity went to the second chef with the cabbage dish.
[Roger] I agree there was definitely more layers of flavor.
Moving on to the next round of sides,
the first chef prepared us those bourbon barbecue beans,
and the second chef with the smoked broccoli salad.
I lean on the first chef with the baked beans.
It was sweet and sticky baked beans that you would expect.
[Andrea] For the broccoli salad, I quite enjoyed that the chef
grilled the broccoli instead of just boiling it
or blanching it or, you know, keeping it raw.
I can taste the arena in both, so could go either way for me.
Let's take a look at these desserts.
The first chef with the charred pineapple
and espresso mascarpone and the second chef
with the bacon wrapped mango and fruit yogurt.
The first dessert, it was a combination that I've never had before.
Maybe as an amuse bouche, but not as a full dessert.
[Dylan] The bacon-wrapped mango, I really wanted to like it.
Unfortunately, it totally missed that mark for me.
[Andrea] The yogurt was great.
The raspberries and the passion fruit worked really well together.
Those are classic flavors that work well together.
The only thing that was a flaw was the bacon.
Well, my friends, we've had two big, bold,
flavor-packed Barbecue Essential feasts tonight.
It was a tough choice, but I think we've made a decision.
-I do. -Absolutely.
[Janice] I think I have the winning feast.
There's a little bit of fire in every dish.
It's something to be proud of.
As a Fire Master, there's no excuses.
I got to win tonight.
Chefs, both of your Barbecue Essentials feast
found a beautiful alchemy between food and flame.
As you know, these feasts were tasted blind.
In the first feast, we thought the crust on the char-grilled ribeye
was cooked beautifully.
However, we were missing the promise of cheese flavor in the charred corn dish.
In the second feast, we thought the sweet and smokey wings
had an enticing and delicious char.
However, we thought the charred cabbage with bacon cream
was a touch on the watery side.
Chefs, both of your Barbecue Essential feasts
achieved great things on the grill,
but there can only be one winner.
Tonight's Fire Masters Champion is...
the second feast with the sweet and smokey wings
and broccoli salad.
[all applauding]
Congratulations.
Congratulations, Chef Janice, you have won $10,000.
Thank you.
And the title of today's Fire Masters Champion.
Well done.
[Janice] I won.
I am a Fire Masters Champi.
Great work, chef.
-Congratulations. -Thank you.
Winning $10,000 is amazing.
I have so many awesome barbecue trips in store.
I cannot wait.
Chef Ray, an incredible cook in the kitchen today.
As always, an honor to taste your food.
I had a great time today competing.
Chef Janice cooked really well.
I'm proud to see her win.
But my fellow Fire Masters, do not worry, I'll be back.
How are you feeling?
I'm overwhelmed.
[Dylan] Did you have some fun?
[Janice] I had a lot of fun.