American Barbecue Showdown: Meet the Cast (& Learn All About The Show)

For generations, people have been obsessed with the process of smoking, grilling, and eating barbecued foods. American Barbecue Showdown gives viewers an in-depth look at this process while entertaining them with a little “unhealthy” competition. The judges and competitors are a wide variety of talented people coming from different backgrounds and cooking styles. Without reinventing the wheel of cooking competition shows, the eight-episode Netflix series gets more personal into the flavors of BBQ and the lives of the pitmasters.

The competition is set in a giant backcountry barn with eight contestants assigned to their own backyard barbecue area, each equipped with their own smoker and grill. Like most BBQ competitions, the presentation of the dishes is much less important than the actual taste, contrary to many other food competitions shows. The judges preselect the proteins and the structure of the plates before the contestants know what they’re going to cook, sometimes even restricting them to preparing the meat in a certain way, making a delicious end result.

According to Reality Blurred, the season was filmed during September 2019 in Covington, Georgia. The show is hosted by actress Lyric Lewis and Rutledge Wood, the host of another Netflix competition show, Floor Is Lava. Judging duties belong to American BBQ champions Kevin Bludso and Melissa Cookston. The season begins with a diverse group of eight contestants who come from diverse professional culinary training, or ones with almost none at all. For example, Rasheed was born in Jamaica and has ancestors from Columbia, which brings a unique Latin/Caribbean flavor to his barbecue. He works as an IT technician and attributes most of his cooking knowledge to American culinary legend, Julia Child. Another contestant, Tina, is a bubbly Southern bell who always sports a pearl necklace over the grill. She graduated from culinary school and has won previous barbecue competitions. Ashley, a BBQ-loving car salesman hailing from North Carolina, dedicates his bid for the championship to his late friend and teammate, Big Worm. At the end of each episode, one of these unique contestants gets sent home for cooking the “worst meal of the day.”

Filming took place during the summer in the northern Georgia town, and it definitely shows in the sweat of the contestants. The open fires from the smokers and grills crank up the competitiveness in the air. While the show definitely has its fair share of heated moments, the drama is never exaggerated and each cook has the utmost respect and consideration for each other.

American Barbecue Showdown brings a fresh authenticity to cooking competition shows without trying too hard. The show takes a look at the history of some of these old-school cooking methods and how they influence families, cultures, and societies across the country. The characters are genuine, fun, goofy, and entertaining. To many of them, BBQ is life. Their emotions show how much they care about their recipes and about each other. It’s everything an audience wants in a backyard cooking competition and keeps them wishing that summer will never end.

All episodes of American Barbecue Showdown are available to watch on Netflix.

Source: Reality Blurred

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