Food Network’s Chopped has begun a new series, Chopped: Grill Masters which premiered on July 22nd. The five-part series features a battle of sixteen grilling professionals from around the country, a few from Arizona, competing for the grand prize of $50,000.
The show takes place outdoors at the nostalgic Old Tuscan Studios for a Western-themed showdown. After four battles, the winning chefs will compete against each other in the final match, but only one will walk away with the prize. Amanda Freitag, Marc Murphy and Aarón Sánchez judge this special series.
We had a chance to interview two Arizona competitors, a husband and wife team who competed against each other: Tommy & Jennifer Duncan of Whiskey Ranch BBQ. Tommy and Jennifer recounted their experience on the show with us and shared their biggest ingredient-fears coming in to the competition.
Read our interview with Tommy Duncan here.
And, our interview with Jennifer Duncan here.
There’s only one battle left before the final match. Tune in on Food Network this Sunday, August 12th at 9pm ET/PT to watch. Check out the episode synopsis below for past episodes and upcoming:
- “Grill Masters: Part 1”, premiered on July 22nd
In the appetizer round, the first four grill masters are faced with preparing a dish using cookies and yak steaks. Then, a giant surprise awaits the competitors in the entrée basket, and in the dessert duel, chocolate meets fruit for a showdown not to be missed. Competitors: Ray Lampe (Florida), Jennifer Duncan (Arizona), Tom Duncan (Arizona), Galen Zamarra (New York City)
- “Grill Masters: Part 2”, premiered on July 29th
In the first round, the chefs must hatch a successful meal plan using chile taffy and Hawaiian blue prawns found in the basket. Then, after the remaining competitors serve up their rack of boar entrées, the judges debate the relative complexity of flavors in the three dishes. Some delicious Italian surprises await the finalists, but perfect desserts will be difficult to execute in a windy and intense final round. Competitors: Sam Choy (Hawaii), Nicole Davenport (Texas), Carey Bringle (Tennessee), Dushyant Singh (Arizona)
- “Grill Masters: Part 3”, premiered on August 5th
Advancing past the first round for these four masters of the open flame will require a lot of hard work in just 20 minutes, including opening oysters and defrosting blocks of creamed spinach. Then, a tropical fruit lightens things up in the entree basket. With marshmallows in the dessert basket, s’mores comes to mind for the last two chefs, but only one masters the campfire-inspired creation. Competitors: Robyn Lindars (Florida), Timothy Grandinetti (North Carolina), Ernest Servantes (Texas), Doug Keiles (New Jersey)
- “Grill Masters: Part 4”, premiering on August 12th, at 9pm ET/PT
The final four grill masters face off for the last slot in the finale. When they see speculoos in the first basket, some competitors might lose their cool. Then in the entrée round, the contestants strive to make pork butt dishes while also including fruit leather. When the two remaining chefs open up the last basket and find every meat-lovers worst nightmare, they must attempt to put their feelings aside and grill up some terrific desserts. Competitors: Chad Ward (Florida), Kent Rollins (Texas), Corinne Trang (Connecticut), Rick Browne (Washington)
- “Grill Masters: Finale”, premiering August 19th at 9pm ET/PT
The champions of the first four competitions cowboy up to compete for the $50,000 prize in the grand finale. The fierce fight to the finish begins with an appetizer basket full of sardines and canned Sloppy Joe filling. The three remaining chef must serve up steaks in the entrée round, but it is the relative success the chefs have with the other ingredients that gives the judges lots to think about. Then, the final two chefs draw from family memories when they open up the last basket and must grill some do-or-die desserts. Competitors: Prior episode winners
Learn more about Chopped at foodnetwork.com/chopped.