''BBQ Pitmasters'' is an American

reality television Reality television is a genre of television programming that documents purportedly unscripted real-life situations, often starring unfamiliar people rather than professional actors. Reality television emerged as a distinct genre in the early 19 ...

series which follows

barbecue Barbecue or barbeque (informally BBQ in the UK, US, and Canada, barbie in Australia and braai in South Africa) is a term used with significant regional and national variations to describe various cooking methods that use live fire and smoke ...

cooks as they compete for cash and prizes in barbecue cooking competitions. The series premiered on TLC on December 3, 2009. The eight-episode first season was filmed in a docu-reality format as it followed several competing BBQ teams around the country to various BBQ contests. Season two premiered on August 12, 2010 at 10 pm EDT featuring a completely new competition game show-based format. Each week, four teams competed against each other. Challenges included common protein and more exotic meat. Weekly winners faced off against each other in the second-season finale as they vied for $100,000 and the Kingsford Cup. The judges for the second season were

Myron Mixon Myron Mixon (born May 31, 1962) is an American celebrity chef and competitor on the competitive barbecue circuit. He is a five time barbecue World Champion and appeared as a judge on Destination America reality television show ''BBQ Pitmasters' ...

, Art Smith, and

Warren Sapp Warren Carlos Sapp (born December 19, 1972) is an American former American football, football defensive tackle who played in the National Football League (NFL) for 13 seasons, primarily with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. Sapp played college footbal ...

. Kevin Roberts served as host. On January 29, 2012,

confirmed on his

Facebook Facebook is an online social media and social networking service owned by American company Meta Platforms. Founded in 2004 by Mark Zuckerberg with fellow Harvard College students and roommates Eduardo Saverin, Andrew McCollum, Dustin ...

account for Jack's Old South that filming for Season 3 would start in March. On April 4, 2012, it was announced that Season 3 would air on

Destination America Destination America is an American cable television channel owned by the Warner Bros. Discovery Networks unit of Warner Bros. Discovery. The network carries programming focused on the culture of the United States—including food, lifestyles, ...

, which is a rebranded version of the Planet Green channel that launched on May 26, 2012. On May 26, 2014,

debuted a preview of their new TV series named ''BBQ Pit Wars''. The episode first aired on May 31, 2014. This new reality show uses the old docu-reality format of BBQ Pitmasters season 1 (many viewers had voiced their preference for this format on the channel's website), in which

is one of the team competitors rather than a BBQ judge. Along with Stump McDowell of Stump's BBQ, Moe Cason of Ponderosa BBQ, and Michael Character of Character BBQ, the four teams compete in regional BBQ championships around the nation, for prizes, and bragging rights to be named the master of BBQ.

Series overview

Season 1

Season 1: Teams

* Jack's Old South, led by

* Smokin' Triggers BBQ, led by

Johnny Trigg Johnny Trigg (born 1938) from Alvarado, Texas is an American celebrity chef and competitor on the competitive barbecue circuit. He is a two time Grand Champion of the Jack Daniels World Championship Invitational, and has appeared on TLC reality t ...

* Slap Yo' Daddy BBQ, led by Harry Soo * Cool Smoke, led by

Tuffy Stone George "Tuffy" Stone (born 1962/1963) is an American chef and competitor on the competitive barbecue circuit. He has appeared on the Destination America reality television show '' BBQ Pitmasters''. He runs the team "Cool Smoke" and founded a barbe ...

* Wood Chick's BBQ, owned by Lee Ann Whippen * Jambo Pits, led by Jamie Geer * Pablo Diablo's, led by Paul Petersen, a recognized Texas chef but BBQ rookie. * Notley Que BBQ led by Gary Notley

Season 2

Season 2: Judges

—season one competitor and owner of Jack's Old South * Art Smith—celebrity chef and author of ''Back to the Table and Kitchen Life'' *

—Super Bowl champion and barbecue enthusiast

Contestants

Season 2: Preliminary Results (Ep. 1-5)

Season 2: Final Results (Ep. 6)

Season 3

In this season, three teams compete in each episode. The winning team will move on to the championship round, where they will compete for a $50,000 prize.

Season 3: Judges

* Myron Mixon * Tuffy Stone * Aaron Franklin, the owner and pitmaster of

Franklin Barbecue Franklin Barbecue is a barbecue restaurant located in Austin, Texas, founded in 2009 by Aaron Franklin. The restaurant has attracted a national following. History In 2009, Aaron Franklin launched the restaurant in a trailer. The restaurant has s ...

Contestants

Season 3: Preliminary Results (Ep. 1-5)

Season 3: Final Results (Ep. 6)

Season 4

This season features individual regional BBQ style competitions. Each episode crowned a regional champion of the BBQ style for that state. Three local teams compete for bragging rights, and a $2,000 prize donated by Jack's Old South. There is no overall BBQ champion at the end of season 4. The last episode has Myron Mixon competing against his son Michael.

Season 4: Judges

* Myron Mixon * Tuffy Stone * (Aaron Franklin)

Contestants

Season 4: Episode Results

Season 5

This season the BBQ competition returns to the previous

elimination Elimination may refer to: Science and medicine * Elimination reaction, an organic reaction in which two functional groups split to form an organic product *Bodily waste elimination, discharging feces, urine, or foreign substances from the bo ...

format. Three teams from around the country compete in each episode, and the winning teams advance to the finale. The overall grand BBQ champion wins a $50,000 prize.

Season 5: Judges

* Myron Mixon * Tuffy Stone * (3rd Judge changes in each episode)

Contestants

Season 5: Episode Results

Season 6

All Season 6 episodes were filmed in a single location in Florida.

Season 6: Judges

* Myron Mixon * Tuffy Stone * Moe Cason

Contestants

Season 6: Preliminary Results (Ep. 1-6)

Season 6: Semi-Final Results (Ep. 7-8)

=Season 6: Final Results (Episode 9)

References

External links

Official website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Bbq Pitmasters 2009 American television series debuts 2015 American television series endings 2000s American cooking television series 2010s American cooking television series TLC (TV network) original programming Barbecue English-language television shows Destination America original programming