Netflix

The Best Barbecue Shows on Streaming – July 2023

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Monk: Earlier this month I power ranked the new barbecue shows this summer but with the ever changing streaming landscape I wanted to revisit the older shows that are currently available on streaming, which I somehow haven’t done since late 2020. Starting with a few of my favorites:

Previously:

The New Barbecue TV Power Rankings of Summer 2023
The Best Barbecue Shows on Streaming (December 2020)

BBQ Pitmasters – Season 1 (Max)

For me and likely many others, this is the show that got me into barbecue on television. It’s first season (the only one currently available on Max) was filmed documentary style, following several competitors over the course of a barbecue competition season across the country. Myron Mixon and Tuffy Stone were two of the competitors followed during the course of this format and would go on to be full-time judges starting in season 3. Noted competition pitmasters Danielle Bennett (aka Diva Q), Johnny Trig, and Harry Soo are also featured in season 1.

Previously: Barbecue on Netflix Streaming (March 2016)

BBQuest (Hulu)

Across three seasons of the travel show co-produced by the Texas Beef Council, host and native Texan Kelsey Pribilski (along with Austrialian-turned-Texas Jess Pryles in season 3) criss-crosses Texas to meet with some of the best pitmasters in the state. She’s in search of the state’s best barbecue as well as secret barbecue menu items. The first season gets the large cities (Austin, Houston, San Antonio, Dallas-Fort Worth) out of the way, while season two and three are able to tackle more remote locales. Texas Monthly Barbecue Editor Daniel Vaughn even makes an appearance as Kelsey’s guide for the Big Bend episode (S2E1).

Previously: Season 3

BBQ with Franklin (PBS, Prime Video)

This series was originally made for PBS Austin but is available on both the free PBS streaming app as well as Prime Video. This is very much a process-oriented series about brisket, sausage, whole hog, and other aspects of a barbecue smoke, but Franklin’s such an easygoing on-screen presence that its definitely worth a watch.

Chef’s Table: BBQ (Netflix)

This barbecue and live-fire cooking edition of the Chef’s Table series profiles 4 pitmasters or live-fire cooking chefs, with the Tootsie Tomanetz of Snow’s Barbecue and Rodney Scott episodes being the highlight for American barbecue fans.

Previously: The Best Barbecue Shows on Streaming (December 2020)

Other options:

Netflix

  • Barbecue Showdown – 2 Seasons
  • The Chef Show – S1 V1 E7 “Aaron Franklin” & S1V1E8 “Hot Luck”
  • Cooked – S1 E1 “Fire”
  • High on the Hog – S1 E2 “The Rice Kingdom” & S1 E4 “Freedom”
  • Queer Eye – S3 E3 – “Jones Bar-B-Q”
  • Somebody Feed Phil – S6 E4 “Austin”
  • Street Food: Asia – S1 E9 “Cebu, Philippines”
  • Taco Chronicles – S1 E5 “Barbacoa”
  • Taco Chronicles: Cross the Border – S1 E6 “Dallas”
  • Ugly Delicious – S1 E5 “BBQ”

Hulu

  • The World Food Championship – S1E5 “BBQ”
  • Worth It – S3 E2 “$7 BBQ Ribs Vs. $68 BBQ Ribs” & S2 E10 “$13 BBQ Ribs Vs. $256 BBQ Ribs”

Max

  • BBQ Brawl – 4 Seasons
  • BBQ USA – 2 Seasons

PBS

  • Planet Barbecue with Steven Raichlen
  • Steven Raichlen’s Project Fire
  • Steven Raichlen’s Project Smoke

Prime Video

  • Food Safari – Fire
  • Smoke And Ribbons: A DocQmentary

The Roku Channel

  • Mind of a Chef – S1 E15 “BBQ” & S2 E7 “Lowcountry BBQ”

The New Barbecue TV Power Rankings of Summer 2023

/ Barbecue Bros / 1 Comment

Monk: I’ve spend the past two summers recapping Food Network’s “BBQ Brawl” on a weekly basis and while I’m proud of those efforts, ain’t nobody got time for that this year. Instead, let’s take a holistic look at the four barbecue programs that have premiered in the past few months. And what’s more fun than power ranking them?

In reverse order:

4. “Steven Raichlen’s Planet Barbecue” (PBS)

“Barbecue” is in the name but Steven Raichlen’s latest show is really more about showcasing the live fire cooking and grilling customs from around the world more than low and slow barbecue. The format is a little bit of history of the barbecue tradition followed by cooking demonstrations of 3 dishes in the vein of a classic Cooking Channel show, oftentimes including a veggie meal or salad. Ultimately, this is just not my favorite barbecue TV show format.

Confusingly, the “Texas Trinity” episode features grilled quail with pear salsa and blue cheese farrotto, a smoked, grilled rib-eye steaks with jalapeno horseradish butter, and a hot gut hero (beef sausage and pepper jack cheese sandwich).

3. “Barbecue Showdown” (Netflix)

Season 2 of this Netflix series (formerly titled “The American Barbecue Showdown”) premiered on May 26, 2023 and while it has a new host (Michelle Buteau replaces Rutledge Wood), it maintains the same judges (Melissa Cookston and Kevin Bludso), format, and setting from season 1. While the first season had a novelty factor for me, when it comes to the mostly unknown contestants in season 2 I found myself rooting for a couple of while bemoaning the apparent skill level of the rest.

One season 2 improvement that I do like is that the show has introduced a presentation element to most of the challenges, such as a slicing reveal to show the viewer the doneness of the meat at the same time as the judges. This visual cue helps the viewer understand the quality of the food since current TV technology unfortunately does not allow us to taste the end product (much to our collective dismay).

2. “BBQ Brawl” (Food Network)

For me, “BBQ Brawl” is the more polished and entertaining version of the barbecue cookoff format than “Barbecue Showdown.” In addition to returning captains Bobby Flay and Anne Burrell, in season four there is a new face in the form of Sunny Anderson (replacing Jet Tila) and they’ve also traded Austin, TX for Half Moon Bay, CA. The judges – Carson Kressly, Brooke Williamson, and Rodney Scott – remain the same as they have been since season 2, which is a plus for me. The cooking here appears to be at a higher level than “Barbecue Showdown” which is why it edges it out for me.

1. “BBQ USA” (Food Network)

I noted that season 1 of Michael Symon’s “BBQ USA” was spiritually similar to “BBQ Pitmasters” season 1 in that it focused on a few teams at an actual barbecue competition and followed them through the competition and judging. It seems as if season 2’s philosophy is “more, but different” in that they are using the same format while visiting different events from season 1; in episode 1 they visited the American Royal World Series of Barbecue in Kansas City where over 500 teams competed in all categories. Future stops this season will take in competitions in Texas, Florida, Louisiana, Washington, and NYC.

What’s your favorite barbecue show this summer?

Netflix’s Barbecue Showdown is Back for Season Two

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Monk: Netflix’s barbecue answer to the Great British Bakeoff is back. “Barbecue Showdown” (formerly “The American BBQ Showdown”) premieres today, May 26th. Eight amateur barbecuers (some who are even “new to this whole barbecue thing”) compete for a $50,000 prize. Melissa Cookston and Kevin Bludso return as judges, and the trailer heavily previews “the trench,” a “massive, open fire cooking arena.” Will be curious to see how they incorporate this apparatus into the season.

Description: Barbecue Showdown is back, and the competition is bigger, and blazing hot! Eight of the best barbecuers from across the country will have to master the flame in an open fire playground, and create mouth-watering, boundary-pushing barbecue, for a $50,000 prize. Actress and comedian Michelle Buteau serves as host, and joins world-class BBQ judges Melissa Cookston and Kevin Bludso to crown the next great pitmaster. Barbecue Showdown Season 2 premieres May 26th, only on Netflix.

Linkdown: 5/26/21

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