All language subtitles for The.American.Barbecue.Showdown.S03E05.WEBRip.NF.en

I'm bringing it today.

I can't be on the bottom.
I can't be on the bottom.

-Like, start bringing it.
-We're all gonna bring it.

Every day is gonna get tougher.

The numbers are smaller,
so it's gonna be intense.

Yeah, that's the crazy part.
I remember when it was, what, nine of us?

A whole gang of us.

- It's going by so quickly.
- Yeah.

Morning, everybody!

Morning!

Good morning!

Gather round!

What's going on, everybody?

Ooh!

You'll notice that I have
my very serious host face on right now

because today's challenge is no joke.

Today, we are joined by a giant
in the culinary world.

Uh-oh.

Chef Matheson!

Hey!

Whoo!

Hello! What's up, everybody?

Oh my God!

How's everybody doing?

-Oh wow.
-Hey!

Man, that's tough!

World-renowned chef, author,

a master of fast, casual cuisine.

Actor and executive producer
of the hit series The Bear.

Yeah!

It's exciting!
Chef Matty Matheson!

Yeah!

I wanted to share some beautiful things.
So here you go.

- A chicken sandwich. A little taco.
- There you go.

Ooh!

Here we go. A little beautiful burger.
There we go. Here we go.

-All right?
-Yes!

Did Matty Matheson just toss me a taco?

Yeah, he did.

Well, now that you've had
a little taste of today's challenge,

let's find out more about it. Matty?

We know usually barbecue is slow food.
It takes time to do it right.

So I'd love to see
what all of you can do with fast food

and do it the slow-barbecue way.

Creating your own original
fast-food recipes the slow way.

- Yeah.
- All right.

For this challenge,

you have five hours

to create your own slow fast-food meal,

featuring at least

one slow-cooked protein,

a creative and deliciously fried side,

and your own special sauce

to tie it all together.

-All right.
-Okay.

Now, if that all sounds easy, it's not.

Nailing that addictive quality
takes some real engineering.

You need to hit those perfect doses
of salt, sugar, fat, crunch.

You need to make us want more
if you're gonna make it through this one.

You guys should represent who you are

through your love
of fast food and barbecue.

-Okay.
-Gotcha. Okay.

All right.

That was my first job. In fast food.

So I know fast food,
and I'm ready to bring it.

I don't know about y'all,
but fast food makes me happy.

There's a joy you get
when you order that 20-piece nugget.

Two for the kids, 18 for me.

We wanna feel that fun
and enjoy it in your meals.

Make us wanna order it
for the whole family.

- Are you guys excited?
- Very.

- Are you ready?
- Yes.

Are you gassy? 'Cause that tailgate...

I mean, thank God we're outside.

In three,

two, one!

Get smokin'!

I love fast food.
I used to eat KFC in Egypt all the time.

If you look at Google Maps,
there is KFC around every single corner.

Egyptians freaking love KFC.

I got lamb shoulder and chicken thighs.

There we go.

Okay. There we go.

Get ready for the show.

Ham. Forgot I needed my ham.

What makes great fast food?

Consistency and knowing
that you're gonna get that same thing.

It's one of those things
that you have actual muscle memory

when you're eating at these restaurants.

Every single element has a purpose.

Messy,

salty,

greasy.

Dripping. You know, you bite it,
dripping down your lips.

Something like that.

America's favorite flavor is crunch.
You want a crunch somewhere,

and that's gonna be
either through an onion, a pickle.

All those textures,
all those flavors,

that's what makes this
such a difficult challenge.

Hair goes up,
that means it's business time.

You went for brisket?

Yeah. Brisket and pork belly.

I wanted pork belly because that'll cover
the slow aspect of it,

what I needed for the challenge.

And the brisket? I mean, it's brisket.

It's gonna make a good burger anyway.

Thank God I still got what I wanted.

It's a lot more softer of a bite
than just regular ground meat.

When it comes to fast food and barbecue,

to me, these are things
that don't go together.

But I feel excited for today

because I eat fast food
back in Cairo all the time.

So there's a lot of sandwiches in Egypt

that can be so easily tweaked

to introduce and marry a slow-smoked meat.

What do I give the judges
that gives them that addictive bite?

But how do I make it Egyptian?

Today, I'm making
a combo shawarma of chicken and lamb.

For my fried side,
I'm making fried cauliflower.

For my special sauce,

I'm making a garlic-parsley aioli

and an Egyptian shatta.

Shatta is a spicy sauce.

It's vinegary. It's garlicky.

It's definitely a sauce
that's not for the weak.

Whenever I go out
to eat food or fast food,

I always tend to over-order.

And whenever I see the word "combo,"

like, I get to try two different things,
I'll go for that.

So that's what I'm giving
the judges today.

The goal with this is to be shredded.
So this is gonna get a dry rub.

It's gonna get smoked and then braised
and then be pulled in the sandwich.

Shoulder can be a tough cut.

It needs low and slow cooking.

I also need to get the smoky flavor.

I need to get a nice color,
a nice bark on the outside.

So I'm starting with a smoke
and then finishing in a braise.

So you a big fast-food fan?

You're not gonna believe this, man.
I do not eat fast food.

- You don't do fast food? What?
- No.

My wife, she's the one in the family
that will eat fast food.

Yeah, so how does that work?

If you don't like fast food,
and your wife likes fast food,

how does that work?

Well, she doesn't
get to eat a lot of it, then.

Today, I'm making a Texas Q Rodeo Burger.

Ground-chuck-and-bacon smashburger

with a double smoked candied bacon,

homemade Kraft pickles,

or cucumber dill pickles,

and Texas Q sauce.

And then a chicken-fried onion ring

with a spicy aioli on the side.

Cutting the slab bacon.

I think I'm gonna put some rub on 'em
and make, like, a thick-cut candied bacon.

I'm rubbing it with some yellow mustard.
This is a little binder for my rub.

This is my pork rub,

and it's a sweet heat.

I think I'm gonna do
an hour, at least, smoke.

So she's smoking bacon,
but isn't the bacon already smoked?

If it's cured, it's smoked already.
She's doubling up on it.

Okay. And what does that do?

I mean, that could give
a stronger flavor of smoke to it,

but it really is gonna depend on
what piece of wood she uses.

I would go something real light
since it's already smoked.

Yeah, I think I'm gonna smoke
for about an hour.

I may braise it and then glaze it.

I've never double smoked bacon,
but my thought was,

it had a very light smoke on it,

so I knew that I could double smoke it
with a subtle wood, pecan,

and let it candy in the smoker.

It's bacon. It's the same element.
It's just cooked a little different.

Okay. I'm good with that.

What kind of proteins do you think
would really stand out in this challenge?

Brisket burgers
are a huge thing right now.

I think anybody who's doing burgers
should make some incredible burgers.

For one thing,
the prep time is not gonna be that long

to grind 'em and cook.

Your burger and your sides
better be incredible

for a five-hour burger.

Or lamb and chicken
combination shawarma.

It's just like those crispy
kinda pastor caramelized outside

and then moist on the inside.

Even the rib sandwich
is what everybody thinks of.

I've made McRib sandwiches before.

The meat needs to fall off the bone
but not overcook it.

I'm doing the famous rib sandwich.

-Like the McRib?
-Yeah.

My first job out of high school
was at McDonald's,

and I truly believe that led me down
the career path I'm on now.

Yeah, you are definitely
the sauce queen, ma'am.

Really excited for this challenge
'cause, I mean,

that brings back some memories,

very fond memories,
and I'm excited to get with it.

- Only I'm gonna call it Rib-o-licious.
- Rib-o-licious? Hey, I like that.

♪ Rib-o-licious! ♪

♪ So delicious! ♪

I've got a game plan,
and I'm ready to execute.

For this challenge, I'm making
the Rib-o-licious baby back rib sandwich

with a blackberry chipotle barbecue sauce,

homemade pickles, fried onions,

with fried mac-and-cheese balls,

and a jalapeño ranch sauce.

These are meaty. Meaty ribs.

I'm a little concerned about
the baby backs being different sizes

'cause some I know
won't take as long to cook,

but the fatter ones,
they're gonna take a little while.

Ribs are really meaty,

and I wanna get 'em on the smoker
as quick as I can.

All right.

What did you say
you were doing, man?

I'm grounding up brisket for ground meat.

I'm also gonna ground up brisket
to make a hot sausage.

Then I'm gonna smoke this pork belly
as bacon, put it on the burger.

Almost like the pork
is gonna be cooked like a brisket.

I'm making what I call
a Big Papi Spillway Burger.

It's a burger that has ground brisket,
hot sausage, smoked pork-belly bacon,

with crawfish fries with queso,

and I have two sauces,

which is a Cajun mayo,

and then a bourbon barbecue sauce.

The spillway is a area close to my house

where it's basically like
a overflow for the Mississippi River.

When it's open, we used to go in there

and eat our hamburgers
and ride four-wheelers,

fish, crab, and everything.
So it's a area of my youth.

I wanted to be able
to name my burger after that

just because
of what that spillway meant to me.

So Big Papi Spillway Burger.

Pork belly is forgiving.

Since time has been an issue for me,

to be able to have a meat that I can
increase the temp as high as I want to

if I need to finish it faster,

it's a good thing for me to have.
That's why I chose pork belly.

-Hello, guys. How you doing?
-Hey, Sloan.

Good! What are you making for us today?

I am doing a Texas Q Rodeo Burger
using beef chuck.

I'm gonna grind that
into some smashburgers.

You making sure you don't dry it out?

-The pork belly or slab bacon is one.
-Right.

And the fat content in the chuck,

I'm gonna add bacon and grind it up.
That's gonna give me some additional fat.

-Cool.
-There we go.

-How are you cooking that bacon?
-Thick-cut, double-smoked.

-So, hopefully, it'll turn out.
-Have you ever double smoked bacon before?

No, sir.

- Good luck, Sloan.
- Thank you.

Okay.

- Sloan has been a little conservative.
- Mm-hmm.

But that's okay because she's cooking
her proteins perfectly.

She knows how to work flavors.

I'm wondering about,
like, with a double-smoked candy bacon.

It could get chewy too, right?

So like, on the burger,
are we gonna be able to chew through it,

or are we gonna take a bite

and then, all of a sudden,
that whole sticky bacon comes right off?

Watch out for the Egyptian Cowboy.

What are you making today, Shaticka?

Oh, I'm gonna make
my take on a Cuban sandwich.

It's Petie's Incredible Cubano.

It's named after my husband.

Yeah, his name is Dwayne,
but his family calls him Petie.

Let's go. Let's go.

First thing I'm doing
is putting the ham on the smoker.

I gotta get this on.

Put that ham right there.

This is slow-cooked,
so I need all the time that I can get

to make sure that I can produce
a quality fast-food dish.

Put this ham over here.

Let's go. Let's go.

I'm making
Petie's Incredible Cubano Sandwich.

It's a slow-cooked pork-butt sandwich
with ham, with a mojo "Ticka" sauce,

sweet potato fries,

and chocolate chip cookies.

It's my husband's favorite sandwich.

I'm gonna go sit this out there
just so I can get ready.

Doing this for you, baby.

Shaticka looks like
she's got pork butt and ham.

It looks like she's trying to do a Cubano.

So what would be the risk making Cubano?

There's a lot of risks,
especially with that pork butt.

And I think cooking a pork butt,
it takes a long time.

You know, I would have
definitely cheated a bit

and cooked it in some duck fat
or in some pork fat.

If there's any cheat you can do
to get it there quicker, do that.

Work smart, not hard.

- Can we get a time, please? Time?
- Three hours and 30 minutes.

Everybody feeling good? Good mood?

I don't wanna jinx it, but I'm okay.

You okay?

- Yeah. You?
- All right. Yeah.

Is this a fun challenge or what, guys?

So what really makes
a great side dish that's fried?

There's so many amazing things.
You can have french fries.

You can have tater tots.

You can have, like, even churro,
do a savory churro.

And you always want
that just golden exterior.

You don't wanna be frying at a high heat

and getting that kinda darker,
kinda bitter feeling.

If you make french fries today,

you better be making me
some chili cheese fries or something.

I think that there's so many options.

It's just a matter of think of something
that makes them happy,

and it's gonna ripple that happiness,
you know?

Two hours, 15 minutes!

For this fried cauliflower,

I'm gonna make
a very simple batter to go with it.

My process here
is I'm gonna dip them in the batter.

Gonna go even an extra step

and bread them in panko breadcrumbs

just to get an extra layer of crispiness.

I'm shredding the cheese
for my cheese sauce

that's gonna go on to my crawfish fries.

Crawfish was a staple of my childhood.
It's very Cajun. It's very New Orleans.

So we did crawfish boils
literally all the time.

The food of my childhood.
I just wanna be able to share that.

I'm working on the flour mixture
for my onion rings.

I'm doing them a different way.
I'm gonna use flour, paprika, cayenne,

some granulated garlic,
salt, and black pepper.

As we all know, Sloan's onion rings
were fantastic in a previous challenge.

She's doing an onion ring a different way,
using a different technique.

The thing about onion rings
when you cut 'em too thin is,

that's when
you usually have batter issues.

She doesn't have time
to freeze these onion rings,

which we typically do
in order to get that breading to stay on.

The last ones that she made
were super thick

and super crunchy and fantastic.

I hope that's the case this time too.

I'm excited. Everyone's talking so much
about her onion rings.

And I'm just like...
And now she's making a chicken-fried one.

Doing a good onion ring
is something that's hard to do.

Ready to put my stuff together
for the mac-and-cheese balls.

So for the mac-and-cheese balls,
I make my cheese sauce.

Velveeta is the base again.

Smoked Gouda, mozzarella,
and medium cheddar.

I always feel I've never got enough time.

Add some cheesy mac
for the mac-and-cheese balls.

I have got to get this macaroni cheese
in the freezer.

If it's not cooled down properly,
I can't form the balls.

I put it on a sheet pan
and pop it in the freezer to cool down.

Okay.

Yeah!

There you go.

- Hey, Staci.
- Hey, guys.

-Hey, Staci.
-Okay, Staci. What are you making for us?

Today, I'm actually doing
a take on a McRib.

Why the McRib?

That was my first job when I got out
of high school, was McDonald's.

- Are you scared at all?
- Yeah.

Because is it gonna hold up to the memory
of everyone's McRib memory?

Well, it's not gonna be exactly the same.
I'm hoping it's gonna be a lot better.

There you go.
And how do you plan to make it better

than everyone's memory of the McRib?

I'm gonna make it better by making...
What I know best is my sauces.

- Bring that sauce over here.
- I'll take that spoon.

- Queen Stingy with the Sauce.
- I know.

Stingy with sauce in Kentucky?

Hell no. I get pissed if I get a McRib,
and it looks like they've wiped it off.

It'll be a lot better
once I take the blender

and blend all the blackberries
and everything together.

- Good luck, Staci.
- Thank you, all.

Keep doing what you're doing.

I am so looking forward to that Stace rib

'cause that's gonna be way better
than a McRib, just the sauce in general.

She's risking it all, making a McRib.

Is it gonna be that memory?
You're fighting that.

It's a lot of risk.
I hope it comes with a lot of reward.

Lamb shoulder is looking great.

While lamb shoulder is cooking really hot,

I'm working on my chicken shawarma.

I go in and start my marinade real quick.

For the marinade, I'm using fresh garlic.
I'm using salt, pepper, some sumac,

some tomato paste for color.
It gives it a nice red color.

Some smoked paprika,
a little bit of honey.

I put some turmeric in it

because turmeric gives meat
a beautiful color

when it's slow roasting on a smoker
or a spit like that.

It's packed with flavor.

Now I'm rubbing my lamb shoulder.

So I'm trying to think
of how do I cook a meat

that you normally cook it hot and fast
in a low and slow manner.

So I instantly think of chicken thighs
on a rotisserie,

more of, like, a classic shawarma.

So now I'm gonna skewer the kebab
on this giant rotisserie.

Something I've never done.

Normally, when I make kebab,
I either grill the thighs on the grate,

or I just skewer them on smaller skewers.

I go ahead, and I start stacking
the chicken thighs all together.

So I channeled
this inner Egyptian "shawarmer" in it.

You know, if that's even a word.

This is a technique
that I have never done before.

But I know this is the right way to do it.

This is the traditional way
to cook a shawarma,

on a spit rotating skewer
that just keeps rotating,

and then you would come in
and shave the cooked parts

and make your sandwiches with that.

This thing is just rotating,
and it's getting charred.

It looks so juicy. It looks so good.

It looks badass.

So we've gotten to know these cooks
pretty well in these last challenges.

And Gerald is
the only one that hasn't won a challenge.

Gerald may not have won a challenge,
but he's been up there twice.

I mean, he has brought that Cajun soul,
if you will, to his food.

What were some of the things
that didn't allow him to win?

Somebody was just better.

Yeah, it's just like football
when you see a team that's ready

'cause right now,
we're getting close... to the playoffs.

Are you a pretender or a contender?

Ooh, put it on a magnet!

Let's go!

So I got
my brisket burgers seasoned up.

The next thing I'm gonna do
is make my hot sausage patties.

They're gonna be made out of brisket,
too, but it'll be a thinner patty.

You got your meat on already?

- Your ribs? What you running those on?
- Yeah.

I'm getting ready to check 'em
and pull 'em and wrap 'em.

- Dang, already?
- Yep.

They're thick, meaty ribs.
I wanna make sure they get done.

I have to take time
and go check on these ribs.

I open up the Lang.

They are a little darker than I want.

Yep, they are ready to be wrapped.
They got a lot of dark color on 'em

to be running at such a low temp.

It's the paprika is what it is.

The sauce is gonna cover it up.

I'm not afraid they're overdone.
They've still got a lot of time to go,

but they have got way too dark of a color
on the outside from the rub.

So they have got to come off the smoker.

They have gotta be wrapped immediately.

I wish I had a wider roll of foil.

Wrapping helps hold the moisture in
to the ribs,

and I add honey
to add another flavor component.

I'm putting it on the foil,
so it'll sweeten it up a little bit.

These ribs are thick, thick, thick.

Kentucky queen of the world over there.

That one up there.
Just getting 'em where I want 'em to be.

One hour
and 45 minutes, everybody!

My good sis,
how you doing over there?

Working on a dessert right now.

- Making dessert?
- Yeah, a dessert.

There you go again.

When you go to a fast-food restaurant,
you want a quick, little dessert.

So here you have
some warm chocolate chip cookies.

I'm gonna wrap that up
and let it sit in the fridge.

♪ While I continue on my journey
With fast food today ♪

♪ The struggle is real ♪

I'm very happy with this.

I think it's good to go.

This is braised lamb shoulder.
It looks perfect.

It doesn't get better than this.

So it pulls really nicely,
but it's still moist.

I wanted to present the judges with
more of a pulled texture kind of meat

because you already are gonna have

the other texture in the chicken

where it's all stacked
like the classic shawarma texture.

So I wanted to go with a different texture
for the judges

and incorporate more

of that barbecue, slow-cooked
pulled meat for the lamb shoulder.

There's something we've learned.
More is not always better.

So Kareem has got this combo going.

He's also got three sauces.

-Fried cauliflower florets.
-He's swinging for the fences.

It's one of those things I think,
"Is it gonna be too much in one?"

It's so difficult to do simple
because your ego wants you to do more.

Why go above and beyond and something
that you put on the plate might lack

and might get you sent home

when you could have stuck
with the original what we asked for?

Forty-five minutes, everybody!

Thank you.

Come on.

That one's got a little...
There. It was stuck on the end.

Yep, perfect.

Check the rest of 'em too.

I'm very concerned on time at this point,

just considering how thick these ribs are.

Some ribs do not wanna pull.

They have all kinds of tension.

It almost feels a little...

Yeah, that's got a little tug to it.
I'm gonna put that one back in.

Still got a long way to go.

How you looking, Staci?

If I can get
them big fat-ass things tender,

I'll be okay!

So there's under 30 minutes left
in this cook.

What should they be doing right now?

It depends
what protein that you selected.

If you're making a burger,
and I had 30 minutes left,

my burger would be going on right now

because a burger on a Santa Maria open
is not gonna take that long.

That way, I'm gonna guarantee
I won't dry it out.

If you're doing ribs or pork shoulder,
that has to be done already.

Two at a time.

I like to smash 'em fairly early,
not long after I get it on the pan. So...

Looking for the caramelization to happen
on those edges, right?

That's a good burger.
That's what I'm looking for on both sides.

I like that.

They're not too big,
I don't feel.

So it's gonna be a burger.

I got too many things going on right now
and a little bit of time.

So I'm pumping the temperature up
on these burgers,

and I'm hoping
they don't get away from me.

Now I'm looking at 'em,
and they look overdone.

I'm hoping they're not too dry.

I don't exactly know
how I'm gonna fix this right now.

At the same time, I still have to finish
the cook of those hot sausage patties.

So I'm really feeling like this
could be a major issue for me.

Fifteen minutes!

Let's get it!

I'm stressing 'cause I didn't realize
how little time was left.

Ideally, I go through, check each rack
of rib for the most perfect cuts,

the perfect bites, the perfect tenderness,
but I just don't have the time.

I start grabbing rib pieces,

throwing 'em on the bun,
slapping sauce on.

I don't know
if I'm gonna get it done in time.

Get a couple on there.

So, with about 15 minutes left
in the cook,

Shaticka just dropped
her sweet potatoes in the fryer.

That's perfect timing.
You trying to guarantee a crisp fry.

Three-fifty.

Oh, Gerald's going into his fryer.
That oil doesn't look hot enough.

Oh, it's not 350.
I'm tripping. It's 300.

I can see that his oil's not hot enough.

It's not Big Papi's time to go home yet.

Just crank it.
Throw the propane tank in it.

Lord Jesus, just...
Meat, be what you need to be for me, okay?

Dun, dun, dun!

Okay, I can do this.

Ha! I'm happy.

I always feel like I'm behind.

I've got some onion rings in,
my first batch of onion rings,

and hopefully it tastes good.

I'm getting ready to say a Hail Mary
on these darn mac and cheese balls

if they don't fall apart
as soon as I drop 'em in there.

So far, so good.

I'm finishing these up
with some Creole seasoning.

My crispy cauliflower is ready.

Yeah! Let's get it.

I saw Shaticka pour
those sweet potato french fries out,

and they looked
pretty... pretty golden brown.

I saw Gerald.

- My crawfish fries.
- He's putting them in the bowl.

What's he gonna toss them with?
I'm just a french-fry cam now.

I'm a human french-fry cam.

Ten minutes!

Hamburger time.

No matter how hard I try
to plate on time, I never do.

I just don't like to plate too early,
but I'm never learning the lesson.

It's so stupid.

It's coming down to the wire.
We have to execute everything perfectly.

Okay, that weren't bad.

In a bite, you want everything.

You want fat.
You want crunchy. You want it all, right?

This is my Texas Q Rodeo Burger.

♪ I'm the greatest ♪

♪ Come on, say it... ♪

Good God, don't drop it.

Woo-hoo! I feel good!

Ah, ha-ha-ha-ha!

Just trying to get it all plated
at this moment.

One minute, everybody!

You have one minute left!

I did this to myself.

I have so many elements in my dish.

I'm feeling stressed out, and I'm trying
to get it done as quickly as I can.

I had to just, like, pull the bones out,
rip 'em out, so they're not that pretty.

Cubanos! Order up!

I'm gonna fail.

I don't know how I feel about this one.

Ten,

nine, eight,

seven,

six,

five, four,

three, two,

one!

Time is up!

Show me the meat!

Your number five is up!

- Whoo!
- Golly!

God dog it!

Doesn't matter how much time you get.

- Hey.
- What's up? What's going on?

Glad to be here.

Delicious!

You guys, this looks delicious.

This is, like,
the cutest food court I've ever been to.

A round of applause for yourself.

Round of applause!

Today, we asked you to make us
an original, slow fast-food meal

with a slow-cooked protein,
a perfectly fried side, and a sauce.

Let's see if you succeeded.

Gerald, you're up first.
Why don't you serve up your fast food?

So I made
the Big Papi Spillway Burger.

They did Big N' Tasties
back in the day for 99 cents

when I was in college.

Make a elevated version of it
that has a brisket point, rounded down.

It had a homemade hot sausage.

And then for my slow-cooked protein,
it was a pork belly.

It also includes a homemade barbecue sauce
that is infused with a bourbon,

and it has a Cajun mayonnaise.

Crawfish fries in a homemade queso
that has Louisiana crawfish on it,

just to give it an extra oomph.

Did you catch that crawfish
after it rained?

- I brought it from the spillway.
- Okay. That's what I thought.

I'm in love with the french fries.
The fries were banging.

You know, coming from Canada,
we don't have crawfish at all.

So it's really special.
The crawfish, they're not chewy.

They got a beautiful bounce to 'em.
The queso is great.

This is ten out of ten. It's great.

That barbecue sauce,
that is so sweet and sultry to me.

- Gotcha.
- I would like to bottle that for you.

- Thank you.
- Okay?

The pork belly is very well cooked.
I taste the smoke. I taste the seasoning.

But that two patties of the brisket burger
that you have layered there?

Yeah, one's brisket. The other one
is brisket made as hot sausage.

-It has more heat in it.
-I wasn't picking up any heat.

I was kind of expecting some,
you know, from you.

Were you happy with the cook on your meat,
or did you think you went over?

I think I went a little bit over.

I think I grounded up
too much brisket at one time.

That grind right on that meat,
'cause you're cooking that burger,

and if you don't have enough fat,
that's such a big patty,

and it's a big, dry bite for me.

-Let's taste your food, Sloan.
-All right.

All right!

I have made for you
a Texas Q Rodeo Burger

that is comprised of
a ground beef and bacon burger

topped with a double-smoked
and candied slab bacon

with pickled red onions
and a quick pickle cucumber

with a little bit of jalapeño.

You also have a chicken-fried onion ring
and an aioli to dip it in.

There is barbecue sauce.
Our Texas Q sauce is on the burger.

Sloan, um,

was... was this the cook
that you intended on that burger patty?

When I flipped it,
I had great caramelization on both sides.

Okay. I don't think I like this burger.

I understand.

I freaking love this burger.

You're too good at that.

- I freaking love this burger.
- You are too good at that.

Let me tell you, the patty is so moist
and has so much flavor.

I can taste the seasoning.
The barbecue sauce is sweet.

It's savory. It's salty.

It's the perfect combination,
and then a great soft bun.

Thank you very much.

We're asking these questions,
like, "Does it make you want more?"

- Mm-hmm.
- The sauce, the aioli, beautiful.

- Thank you.
- Onion ring is strong.

I wish I could eat more of it,
but, you know, I'm watching my calories.

Sloan, you've seen
Samuel L. Jackson, right?

Yes, sir.

"This is a tasty burger."

I was nervous
about you cutting your bacon thick.

- Yeah.
- But you got a perfect cook.

So it's almost like
when you bite through it, it's not there.

It's just showing

what type of professional you are
on that pit.

And then you're matching up flavors
on this burger

all the way down
to the onions and pickles.

Nothing threw nothing off.
Excellent job on that burger.

This is one of the best barbecue burgers
I have ever had.

Thank you, sir. Thank you.

All right, Kareem, serve it up!

Thank you.

So today, I made for you
a combo shawarma sandwich.

This is a classic fast-food meal
you get in Cairo.

I slow-cooked my chicken thighs
in a rotisserie,

and I smoked lamb shoulder and braised it.

The lamb shoulder gets
a fresh salad and tahini sauce.

The chicken gets sumac, pickled onions.

Is this spicy?

- It is spicy.
- Okay.

I feel like I'm in Cairo!

Ooh, it's hot there, isn't it?

For my fried side,
I made fried cauliflower.

For dessert, I made
one of my favorite things,

a dessert sandwich.

We call it sakalans in Cairo.

It's basically just cream,
strawberry jam, and crushed pistachios.

I really, really love
the chicken shawarma.

It has so much grilled flavor.

When we talk about
"I wanna taste the fire on my taste buds,"

that's what we mean.

I really, really wanted to like that lamb,

but sometimes when it goes over,
it gets kinda mushy.

So then when you bite it,

it just gets real, real mushy and dry.

The peanut butter and jelly... What is this?

- Your dessert?
- Yeah.

For me, it kinda works

because garlic and stuff
is so strong everywhere.

So to bite something sweet at the end
was kinda okay with me though.

But just control that damn garlic.

Understood, sir. Thank you.

The cauliflower, lights out.

Like, whatever you did
to this cauliflower,

you do that to some shrimp.

You do anything. Put that
just on ice cubes, and that thing's good.

Your sauce work, incredible.

Thank you.

What's this one called?

-Shatta.
-This sauce is beautiful.

-Thank you.
-I've never tasted a sauce just like that.

That was really nice.

- Thank you.
- The lamb...

The lamb, I feel like
it's just like you kinda overshot.

-Yeah.
-You got banging cauliflower.

You got a chicken shawarma that's fire,

and then you did this thing,
and it's just, like, more isn't better.

Showing your whole world at once,
sometimes it's too much.

Just focus, especially with fast food.

If you can do one thing
really good, legend.

You know? You gotta line up for days.
Just one thing.

Yeah. Thank you so much.

Thank you, Kareem,
for supporting the garlic industry...

...and for all your hard work.

Thank you so much.

- Shaticka.
- Yes.

- Serve it up, please.
- All right.

Thank you so much.

This is the Incredible Petie Cubano

with Ticka mojo sauce
that's already on it.

I do have some on the side
if you would like a little extra.

The sandwich also has homemade pickle
and some candied jalapeños.

When you go to a fast-food restaurant,
you can get a bit of everything,

so sweet potato fries

and my signature chocolate chip cookies.

-Do you think this is happy land?
-I'm hoping.

I put a lot of love into it.

Shaticka, how did it feel
being at the bottom on the last challenge?

Lord, it was horrible.

Looking at you now,

I'm thinking about the song
"We Fall Down, But We Get Up."

Yes!

You got back up today, girl.

You made an incredible Cubano sandwich.

Give it up for yourself. Seriously.

The smoke, the layers of flavor,

the cheese that you selected,
all the way down to the bun,

is excellent. Do you hear me?

- Yes.
- I see you are a fighter.

Nobody likes being on the bottom.

-We've all been on the bottom before.
-Many times.

When you're on the bottom,
you can only go up.

-Very impressed.
-Thank you. Thank you.

I will tell you,
I don't even like Cubanos.

This is one of the best sandwiches
I've ever had.

-Thank you.
-I could probably eat this whole sandwich.

I don't know if you know this about me,

but my go-to pity party food
is chocolate chip cookie dough.

I did not know.

You didn't even have to cook it for me.
But that's okay 'cause it's real good.

Thank you. Thank you so much.

Sweet potato fries.

When I want something crunchy and crispy,
the sweet potato isn't it.

But this sandwich, I don't know.

This sandwich, world-class.

- Thank you.
- Yes.

And you cooked the thing
that's probably the hardest thing to cook.

You know, I'm really impressed.

And this sandwich is lights out.
It really is amazing.

-Thank you so much, Shaticka.
-Thank you.

- Staci.
- Yes.

- You're up next.
- Yay!

I call it a Rib-o-licious.

Is that also your rap name?

Yeah.
Maybe I need to change it.

It is a baby back rib

with a blackberry chipotle barbecue sauce,

homemade pickles,

and fried red onions.

And then my side
is fried macaroni-and-cheese bites

with a jalapeño ranch.

I've never had a McRib.

Oh!

I know you had your ribs
on the smoker very, very quickly.

And for me, and it's just my opinion,
I may be wrong,

but, you know, I'm probably not...

Uh...

So I think they might have benefited

if you had just taken
some of that strip of loin meat off

and thinned it up.

And that way,
it would have been more moist.

-And a little bit better chew.
-Okay.

Were you happy with the cook on your ribs?

Some of them were thinner than others,
and some were thicker.

The idea of the sandwich is perfect,

but I was just a little disappointed
in the cook on my rib.

You had the right amount of sauce on this,

but it just didn't balance with the meat.

And next time,
if it's meat that you don't feel is right,

put that right meat
on every single thing that you put out.

Yeah, I let time get away from me
on that one.

The thing good and bad about ribs
is that every rib is kinda different.

Oh. Mm.

This rib right here, it's pretty good.

It's juicy. It's good. It's soft.
I can taste the smoke.

What was the sauce? The black... No.

- The blackberry chipotle?
- This is the blackberry chipotle?

Yeah, fire. Your fried mac-and-cheese ball

is good.

I honestly think
that the inside just needed salt.

And it is one of those things.
You're up against actual food memories.

- Yep.
- You know?

You chose to go up against a mountain.
Some people have had it. Some haven't.

But people all have an idea of it,

and to go up against something like that
takes a lot.

You guys, that was
some incredible fast-food meals.

Thank you so much for all your hard work.

Now Melissa and Kevin
and our guest judge, Chef Matty,

have to deliberate.

So you guys go down to the pits
so we can talk about you.

Bye.

-Bye.
-Bye, guys.

- Man, that was a tough one.
- Yeah.

It sounds like a lot of us
could have left something out.

I think we all panicked a little bit,
sounds like.

- Yeah. We're trying to overdo it.
- Yeah.

So do we know what we're doing?

Yeah.

Okay.

I appreciate everyone's hard work.

It really feels good
to enjoy other people's food.

There's nothing really
that parallels that,

having somebody cook for you.
It's really a beautiful thing.

I think you all reached new heights
in slow fast food.

You should be proud of yourselves.

Fast-food chains take years
to perfect their menu items.

And we gave you five hours.

It was no easy task.

But our favorite dish today

really embodied the challenge

and brought everything
that makes us addicts of fast food.

You really brought it home

and made us wanna come back for more.

The best barbecue dish today

belongs to...

...Sloan.

Congratulations.

Thank you so much.

I can't even begin to tell you.

- Tell me.
- Thank you. It's, um...

My first few competitions,
I was really doubting myself, you know?

But for you to say
the things that you have about my food,

I will take it with me
the rest of my life. Thank you very much.

That was one of the best burgers
I ever ate.

-That's why you won.
-God!

I'm winning a beer challenge.
I don't drink beer.

I'm winning a fast-food challenge.
I don't eat it.

I think what has worked for me
is that I understand flavor.

It may not be the prettiest,

but the flavors
that I put together really work.

And now we're gonna give
our honorable mention shout-out.

Shaticka, your food was a close second.

-So, well done.
-Well done.

Come on!

I'm moving on back up!

We fall down!

But we get up!

Feels so good.

And when you just focus on
what you are supposed to do,

you can redeem yourself.

-It's a comeback story right there.
-Come on.

Unfortunately, not everybody today
had that special sauce.

So one of you
will be leaving the competition.

Kevin, who's facing elimination?

So right now, we are getting down
to the best of the best.

When we eliminate tonight,
we are down to the final four.

Staci and Gerald, I'm sorry to say,
you both are up for elimination today.

Gerald, I felt your burger was just dry.

I think you didn't have
a good fat-to-meat ratio on there.

Staci, I think
your Rib-o-licious was a good idea.

But I think consistency got you today.

Both of you are incredible cooks.
This is not easy for none of us.

The cook going home is...

I'm sorry, Staci.
You're going home tonight.

Oh wow!

- Proud of you, Stace.
- Oh, Stace.

Okay?

It's too early for me to go home
because I know what I'm capable of.

I know that I can do better.

And I just, uh... failed miserably today.

But that's not who I am.

-I love you all. Y'all kick butt.
-Thank you.

I've met some great people.

I love y'all.

People that I consider family,
and I will continue to keep in touch with.

I plan to push forward

and strive even harder to, you know,

get somewhere in this barbecue world

and make a big name for myself.

I'm about to cry. If I start crying...

Barbecue is emotional, you guys.

- Yeah. For sure.
- Yeah.

Unfortunately, we have to say
one more goodbye tonight.

Chef Matty Matheson.

What? He's a guest judge.

-I'm going home.
-Going home!

Thank you, everybody. Good night.

Good night.

You are the final four.

Wow!

Oh my God.

-Nice!
-We gotta crank up the heat, honey.

Uh-oh!

Starting with our next cook.

We've got the mother of all challenges
just for you.

That's right, honey.
The holy grail of meat.

- Okay.
- The one...

-All right.
-The only...

-The brisket.
-Yes!

Being the fourth-generation Texan
that I am, brisket is king.

If you cannot create
an incredible brisket,

you're not doing barbecue.

I've been waiting for this brisket!

Never done brisket a day of my life.
That wasn't something I grew up eating.

That is extremely scary.

Like... scary like Michael Myers scary.

That's good.

Brisket is the most beloved

and probably the most challenging
large-format meat to smoke perfectly.

Getting a brisket cooked right
is no easy task,

and certainly not in eight hours.

Well, I'll be...

I moved across the entire world
for brisket,

but my fastest brisket
takes ten to twelve hours.

My brain started calculating.

"What the hell am I gonna do?"

This is the big one, guys.

And that's why you'll have
30 minutes right now to get started.

Wow.

Your time starts now.

Oh boy.