Pitmasters Episode 1: Recipes We Cooked

If you caught the premiere of Food Network’s new competition series Pitmasters, you already know I traded my backyard for a week of open-fire cooking in the middle of nowhere alongside my friend Susie Bulloch of Hey Grill Hey.

We teamed up against eight other two-person teams to compete in nonstop live-fire challenges for four elite judges who don’t hold back (Andrew Zimmern, Big Moe Cason, Ernest Servantes, and Jess Pryles).

Here’s what Susie and I cooked for the judges, and the best part is we’re sharing the recipes so you can make them at home.

The First Challenge – Building a Pit

When we walked on set, we immediately learned that it was different than BBQ Brawl. Susie was on BBQ Brawl Season 1 and I was on season 4. On that show, there were several grills to cook on and the fires were already lit.

On Pitmasters, we found our kitchen had one offset smoker and a six-foot roped off area. It was our responsibility to build our own pit.

We had to race to grab cinder blocks, grill grates and anything else we could wrangle in anticipation for the first challenge.

Setting Up Camp

The judges walked on set and immediately announced our first challenge: 10 hours to cook two proteins and at least one side to feed everyone, including our competitors.

Hearing that we had 10 hours was such a relief. That was plenty of time to cook some great BBQ, but we couldn’t start cooking right away. We had to gather our ingredients, finish building our pit and get our fires going.

And our kitchen area was so unorganized.

Spices and tools were everywhere. And if you know me, I am super OCD when it comes to competition BBQ. I like everything in its place.

For the first few hours, we didn’t even know what we had or if we needed to run back to the pantry or main kitchen to get more tools…oh and I forgot to mention, running to the pantry was about 150 feet each way.

About 5 hours into the cook, just when we were finally feeling a bit comfortable, the judges dropped a new twist.

The Flash Burn: Create a Perfect One Bite Dish

We were given 60 minutes to create the perfect one bite dish, and the winner was going to get $2,000.

I do one-bite challenges in competition BBQ all the time. Most times, something fried with awesome texture takes the trophy, so we agreed to fry up some chicken lumpia.

Because we’re a team, we wanted it to reflect both of our culinary styles and our family’s favorite food. Susie had the great idea to turn it the dish into buffalo chicken lumpia with creamy buffalo ranch dipping sauce.

The chicken grilled up beautifully, but we definitely started feeling the impacts of the elements.

Our prep table was in direct sunlight and the heat of the day was bearing down. Lumpia wrappers are super delicate and dry out in an instant. I worked to keep them damp as I rolled each one.

At the same time, we had to get a pot of oil hot over the open fire. The clock was ticking and the oil was not reaching 375F like I wanted.

With seconds to spare, we were able to get enough lumpia wrapped, fried and plated.

They weren’t the prettiest, and that showed. When Andrew walked up he said he “was prepared to dislike it immensely.”

But after tasting it, he said it was “very, very nice.” Big Moe also loved the flavor of the chicken and sauce.

As soon as the judges left, we raced back to our pits to check on the big burn dishes.

The Big Burn: 2 Proteins, 1 Side

One of my favorite dishes is smoked beef plate ribs. Everybody loves how meaty, tender and flavorful they are, so I figured they would be a great dish to start with.

Susie jumped right in with the idea to cook candied jalapeno pork belly burnt ends over live fire.

I started by hanging the ribs over the live fire to catch some smoke while I worked to get the offset smoker to temp. That proved to be way more challenging than I expected.

We were at an altitude above 5,000 feet, and altitude impacts cooking a lot. I knew that going in, but my biggest issue was getting enough oxygen into the offset to get that temp up.

As time was ticking, and the ribs weren’t cooking fast enough, I decided to do the Texas crutch. I wrapped them in butcher paper and foil to speed up the cook.

That worked! They were tender, but I felt like they weren’t enough. So at the last minute, I sliced the meat into medallions and threw them on the plancha over live fire to add some more texture and really caramelize the fat.

The Side Dish Save

For our sides, we had two ideas. Susie made  smoked mac and cheese with poblanos and white cheddar.

I wanted to make a side that would cut the fat, so I had planned to do a charred and blanched kale salad.

As I was chopping the prepared kale, I tasted it, and it was not great. It had a really skunky flavor. I knew I had to pivot immediately. I ran back to the pantry and tasted all of the fresh greens.

I grabbed some spinach and ran back to our site. I knew I couldn’t char and blanch the spinach, so instead I threw it in a basket and tossed it over some smoke to add flavor. Then, I dressed it with a sweet and smoky vinaigrette, toasted breadcrumbs, charred carrots and manchego cheese.

Was it perfect? Nope. I didn’t feel super confident about either of my dishes. But, I was proud of what we pulled off and that we got them on the plate.

The Judging

My favorite part of the episode, besides building the pit with Susie, was gathering around the table with the judges and other teams.

We broke bread, shared stories and shared dishes that represented us.

Susie’s 17-inch skillet of mac and cheese piled high with pork belly was such a statement, and together our flavors showcased our Southwestern roots.

Andrew didn’t love the texture of my beef ribs, and while Jess appreciated the different techniques I used, she said it wasn’t her favorite preparation either.

At that moment, I realized, this competition was going to be fierce. And internally, I was feeling that I really needed to up my game.

See What We Cook Up Next

Catch new episodes of Pitmasters live Mondays at 9/8c on Food Network, or streaming the next day on HBO Max. Make sure to stop by next week to see how we did in episode 2.

Featured Recipes

Christie’s Recipes

Susie’s Recipes