American BBQ Showdown Smokers

I just got done watching the entire series and I thought the same thing just a sheer variety of cooking devices and their application was great to watch

Cooking on a Lang..... what’s not to like.

I've watched the first 3 episodes and the show is OK. I really just don't understand why TV shows in general aren't on board with American BBQ. Why does every show have short cook times, and endless challenges and side dishes? BBQ Pitmasters struck gold with showcasing American BBQ to the masses. Now they want every BBQ show to essentially be a "Grilllin' with Bobby Flay" meets "Chopped / Iron Chef." Silly "mystery box" type ingredients and endless sides and extras just gets old and there's no time left over to actually talk to the contestants about BBQ. It's just these people running around like crazy trying to do 15 things at once.

Something else I'm not a fan of is the different smokers...hear me out. It's incredibly obvious that some of these contestants have never cooked on an offset smoker. That leaves them with an egg and a Pit Barrel cooker...not enough space to cook for 50 people, so they're forced to use the offset. Someone like Tina is a spokesperson for Grilla Grills who make pellet grills and kamados. There's no way she can be on camera using a Big Green Egg and a Traeger...really limits her options.

Again, show is OK, but it feels extremely constrained and limited. It's fun enough but it's extremely "dumbed down" because it doesn't really show case anything. It's another run of the mill cooking show where contestants are running around like headless chickens.