Original subtitles

For this challenge,

you'll be smoking brisket in eight hours,

along with three incredible sides.

This challenge is all about understanding temperatures, weights,

and the right technique

that'll get you the perfect result in eight hours.

Jesus.

This is definitely your longest and hardest cook yet.

The actual challenge is tomorrow,

and you'll have 30 minutes

to prep your briskets tonight.

You guys ready?

- Let's go. - Yes.

- Get prepping! - All right.

Nice.

Oh my God, baby!

I am about to make my first brisket.

It's extremely scary because you're going against these other people

that have cooked brisket.

How y'all using your time tonight?

Just trimming and seasoning. It's all we can do.

It's final four now.

Everybody here is good, but guess what?

You're not gonna win on good. Everybody here is good.

You gotta be great if you don't wanna get home.

So I need to be great.

I don't usually trim. I go whole.

But eight hours and 15-pound brisket, I'm... I'm making that thing so aerodynamic.

I'm getting it down to about nine pounds.

They can trim off four or five pounds of fat off of that and get it right.

Is that enough time? I am stressed.

It's gonna be a late night and definitely gonna be an early morning.

- Oh yeah. - That it is.

Eight hours is enough if you know what you're doing.

Oof!

Hey, how you doing, Ticka?

This is my first time cooking brisket, so...

- Really? - Yeah, first time cooking.

- In a competition or in general? - Ever.

You lying.

We don't do a bunch of briskets where I'm from.

In Tennessee, we do more pork. Like, we're gonna eat a bunch of ribs.

Gotcha.

Kareem, you do a lot of brisket where you at?

I do, man. I do.

I've never cooked a hot, fast brisket though.

Brisket is a very challenging cut.

It takes a lot of time, a lot of practice, a lot of patience to nail a brisket.

- What are you gonna season it with? - Just salt, pepper.

How are you seasoning your brisket?

Salt, pepper, garlic, maybe a little paprika.

There you go, buddy.

I won't be seasoning tonight. I'll season before it goes on the smoker.

If I were to season tonight with a salt and pepper rub,

it would get way too salty.

I'm going to just kinda go with what I know about meat,

and hopefully, it pays off.

So I'm gonna kinda just...

I don't know.

I don't know where to start.

Right now, I'm just trying to cut off some of this fat

that I feel like doesn't play a part in anything.

I did kind of watch Gerald a little bit.

I seen him cutting off some trimmings of his.

Who knows if I'm doing it right or not, but here goes nothing, is what I say.

- Best brisket wins. - Yes, ma'am.

Brisket is on.

Let's go!

Ooh, boy!

Oh Jesus.

I feel I'm missing something. My head is just everywhere.

Good morning, everybody.

Oh my goodness. Good morning, Michelle. How are you?

I'm good 'cause I don't have to cook today.

Yeah, right.

First thing I wanna do is get my binder on my brisket.

I go with French's yellow mustard.

And then I'm going to season. I'm going to rub and make sure it sticks.

It really aids in the development of the bark.

So brisket is considered the king of all proteins.

Why is it so hard to get right?

Brisket is the barbecue king

on account of its deep beef flavor and its tenderness when it's done right.

The challenge lies in the dual muscle structure.

It's the chest muscle, one of the toughest muscles on the cow.

The lean flat and the fatty point.

The fat cap helps the lean end of the brisket stay moist.

You have to master the craft of rendering that fat.

The perfect brisket is all about three key elements.

A deliciously crispy bark,

a stunning smoke ring,

and mouthwatering tenderness.

This is why it's America's favorite meat.

I smoke brisket in the eight-hour range as it is.

I'm gonna cook at 250 to 275.

I'd like to pull at 204 to 207.

So today, I'm making a Texas-style brisket

with a black-pepper and kosher-salt rub,

my mammy's corn pudding, pinto beans with ham hocks,

and then our fried cabbage.

I feel confident about this.

Come on, baby.

Lord Jesus, please let these briskets do what they supposed to do.

There you go.

Today, I am making brisket with salt, pepper, garlic, a little paprika,

baked beans with ground brisket,

potato salad,

and banana pudding ice cream.

I'm extremely nervous.

I don't know a lot about brisket,

but I do know that it takes a long time to... to cook.

Keep it at about 225,

between 225 and 250.

And then just letting the meat marinate and smoke.

I'm cooking at 325 today.

I've never done a hot, fast brisket before.

Brisket usually takes me 12 hours to make.

The judges want this brisket done in eight hours.

I have to cook in a higher temperature. I have to cook over 300.

I wish I had time to practice this.

I've never done this before.

Today, I'm making my Texas-style brisket with salt, pepper, garlic, and oregano,

homemade pita bread,

fattoush salad,

garlic dip,

and my pistachio rice pudding.

I'm not sure how this is gonna turn out. I have no time to cook another brisket.

So if I mess this up,

there's no going back.

Following my instincts today.

I'm gonna start at 275.

They're not as big as a... as a really big brisket.

So I'm hoping that it can get the amount of smoke and flavor

that I need it to get.

- Hello, Gerald. - Hello, beautiful. How are you?

- How are... Oh, bless your heart. - There you go.

Tell me about your menu today.

Today, I'm making brisket with some salt, pepper, garlic,

and I'm gonna put a little paprika.

For my sides, I have potato salad.

I got dirty rice.

I got honey cornbread, then I have smoked mac and cheese.

I don't have a culinary background like everybody else.

I need to stick with the things that got me here,

which is home dishes, stuff that I'm familiar with.

Yesterday was not a good feeling for me. I'm not used to being at the bottom.

So do you feel like an underdog?

I always thought I was an underdog when I got here.

Um, I started smoking barbecue back in 2021.

So, while I practice my craft a lot,

just the experience portion of it

is something that I don't have as much as others have here.

You haven't won a challenge yet.

- Right. - What's your goal with that?

I need to get to the top. Eventually, I gotta climb this mountain,

and I gotta have a perfect cook.

Up for the challenge?

Oh, I'm here now, so we definitely gonna do it.

-Good luck, bro. -Will do. Appreciate it. Thank y'all.

♪ Everybody's lookin' at you ♪

This is for my mop sauce

to mop my brisket as it cooks.

What exactly is a mop sauce, and why is it good for your brisket?

It is layer upon layer of flavor when you're mopping.

You're also getting moisture to the bark.

But you're really setting the tone for your flavor profile with a mop.

I am happy with how it's looking right now.

Like I said, it's my first time, so I'm proud of it.

Let's make sure it makes Mama proud.

"Come on, Mom." That's me. I'm Mama. These are my babies.

I smell some stuff, man. What's going on?

This is the mop sauce that I'm making.

Onion, garlic, black peppercorn, star anise, bay leaves, cardamom seed.

I want a classic Texas mop sauce, but I wanna introduce

a little bit of Mediterranean, Middle Eastern flavors in it as well.

Mops always impart good flavor on whatever you put 'em on.

Absolutely. I think it's gonna hydrate.

I've never made it before. I've never tried this,

but my brisket is cooking really hot.

I need something that will keep it hydrated, moist,

and keep the bark on the outside from charring and burning too quickly.

I think I'm just trying to think about how to speed up the process

as much as possible today.

- You good, cowboy? - Yeah. How about you?

I am out here doing my thing, baby, just in my own zone.

-What's up, Shaticka? -Hey there. How are you?

How you feeling?

I'm feeling. You know, I'm working.

-I'm making it happen. -Tell me how you're cooking your brisket.

So I am cooking it on about 225 to 250,

letting it just do its thing.

It is my first time cooking brisket, so I am trying my best.

You seem pretty cool, calm, and collected to have never cooked a brisket,

-And this is the biggest day of your life. -Absolutely.

I listened to you all yesterday about just doing what I do

and taking the skills that I would use in the same way that I did the dino ribs.

I'm just trying to take that same type of method with this.

-Good luck, Shaticka. We'll see you soon. -Thank you. Oh! I know.

Thank you.

The only thing I'm concerned about is she's cooking at 225.

She's not gonna have a long rest period,

so I would like to see her cooking just a little bit hotter.

Six hours!

Gonna get some coffee.

Anybody want... to throw something in the order?

- Kareem. - Yes?

How much garlic you gonna put in all that stuff today?

I'm actually making a garlic dip today.

- The judges said you put too much garlic. - Yeah.

So you decided that you was gonna do a whole garlic dish.

Yeah.

You can take the Egyptian out of the garlic.

You can't take the garlic out of the Egyptian.

It doesn't make any sense, but it's true.

Go. Let's go. Let's go, baby.

Is this considered an easy challenge to have eight hours for a brisket?

The good thing about brisket is it doesn't need a lot of babysitting.

So they have plenty of time to do prep work for sides, for sauces,

or anything else they wanna do.

What if everybody cooks four incredible briskets today?

What is it gonna come down to? Sides. Just be spot-on with everything.

And everybody should have good sides today

'cause, like Melissa said, you don't have to monitor brisket.

You just have to glance... glance and keep it pushing.

I'm expecting some incredible sides today.

How you doing, sis?

Hey, I'm over here making this ice cream.

You made ice cream before?

Oh yeah, I make ice cream at home. Kids love ice cream.

My husband loves ice cream. What you making now?

Mac and cheese.

I already shredded my cheeses.

I'm using Muenster. I'm using some provolone.

It's getting there. Dang, why am I adding so much?

Is my palate messed up, and I'm just overdoing it?

Just taste it.

Oh. Oh, that ice cream good.

Mm.

This is the rice pudding.

Gonna add some pistachio butter to it. Pistachio butter, it's the bomb.

You can see it turning color.

You get that beautiful, creamy pistachio. This is like pistachio Nutella.

It's the best thing ever.

Four hours, guys! Four hours!

Heard four hours!

It's halfway done, y'all.

How we looking?

I'm gonna check my brisket, and if I feel like it, I may wrap it.

- I think I'm close to wrapping too. - Yeah.

What does wrapping your brisket actually do?

All big meats hit a stall during the cooking process

where the temperature sticks internally,

and you think, "Oh my gosh,

it's never gonna break through this temperature that I'm stuck at."

So wrapping helps get through that stall, helps tenderize the meat,

and it also catches those wonderful drippings

that I like to make a sauce out of.

Okay.

So I pulled my brisket. It's approximately 170.

So I'm happy with that.

It smells good, man. It smells good. It smells like brisket.

And I'm gonna wrap because my bark is perfectly formed all the way around.

All right.

You want a dark, black gold bark,

but I don't wanna burn it, so I'm gonna wrap it in paper

and let it go for probably another two and a half to three hours.

Let's rock and roll now.

Gonna go and check my temperature.

Like, 172 is where I wanna be.

I think it looks pretty good. I'm hoping that it tastes pretty good.

Wiggle, wiggle, wiggle.

Like I said earlier, good ain't gonna get it.

It gotta be great.

So this is beef tallow.

I'll reintroduce this to the brisket before I wrap it.

Use the tallow to reintroduce beefy taste into the brisket,

then I wrap it in butcher paper because that allows it to breathe.

And then I put a little foil boat at the bottom.

It allows it to cook quicker, but it also won't burn that fat.

Gerald is wrapping his brisket up like a Christmas present.

He's got butcher paper and foil. Why would you use both?

Smart move to catch those drippings.

But that's gonna be a lot of heat going right to the bottom of that foil.

So, I mean, it could be a boss move. It could be, but...

So I'm just giving it one final mop before I give it a wrap.

The final mop is also gonna help steam a little bit more.

Everybody wrapped in paper.

I'm the only one that wrapped in aluminum foil.

I know that this sacrifices bark

because you steam the brisket,

but the steam is what's gonna help it tenderize.

I don't know what the judges' preferences are,

but to me, tenderness and flavor come first.

- Three hours left, everybody. - Oh, three hours!

Yes, sir!

I'm just hoping that this temp set are a good temp for me.

I want it at 170.

I'm gonna let it go just a little bit longer.

How do we feel Shaticka's doing?

My concern, with only a few hours left in the cook,

she's cooking at 225 degrees.

She needs to make the determination right now

that she's going to have to increase her cooker temperature

in order to get that brisket tender.

I don't think she's gonna have no rest time on it.

- You wrapped yours, huh? - No, sir. Not yet.

Hey.

Think I'm pushing it?

Hey, everybody, we got two hours left! Two hours left!

Heard!

You better run.

You want me to chop some wood for you, or...

- Yes, please. - Awesome!

Let me just get... Do we have someone that can chop wood? 'Cause...

I thought it was plastic.

It's real.

What is this, Game of Thrones?

I'm feeling good about my sides.

I finally made homemade pita. It turned out great.

-I mean, that's called perfect. -Thank you.

I'll have my own line of pita. I'll call it the Egyptian Cowboy Pita.

- Oh man, that'll fly off the shelf, dude. - In Texas.

When these cowboys come to my food truck and they ask for sliced white bread,

I'm like, "Sir, I don't have sliced white bread,

but I have pita bread."

And they would have this kind of disbelief look, and they're like, "Okay."

And then they just take it, and they try it, and then they go...

That's it, man. That's all you.

One hour, everyone!

This would not be the time for y'all to play with me.

At this point, I reached the 205, but the brisket still felt tight.

I should probably be taking them out, but they...

If he's taking a probe and running it through that brisket,

and it's still kind of tight, one of two things.

Either he's gone over and it's tightened back up,

or he still needs to reach a few more degrees.

Everybody should be resting by now.

It's been a eight-hour cook.

I'm gonna let it go for a bit longer.

I'm gonna let that thing sit in there a little bit longer

'cause I just feel like it should.

I can go down to the last minute, as always.

Shaticka is not gonna have a whole lot of rest time for that brisket,

so, you know, I'm afraid that when she slices,

that all the juices are just gonna run straight out,

and... and you will get a drier brisket.

♪ Ooh, you got a hour, you got a hour You got a hour ♪

I mean, I don't know how much prayer could help right now.

It's always good, but I'm like, just take your meat off and let it rest.

It'll be all right.

All right, slow down now.

The temp is actually where I absolutely love it to be.

It does feel a little tight, but I'm gonna go ahead and take it.

It's at 207.

We're past the seven-hour mark,

and most of the other contestants' briskets are still on the pit.

I think what's happening is we're all finding our briskets are tight.

They're trying to push it till the end without any rest.

I'm gonna pull it, let it rest, and hope it releases up a little bit.

Thirty minutes, guys!

Thirty minutes.

That's, like, no time.

It's, like, minutes!

Work.

I'm gonna check on it.

Still needs time.

Going down to the last 30 minutes,

my brisket still feels tough. It's not ready yet.

So the brisket is the one that tells you when it's done.

The brisket is done when it's done.

Cooking at 400 right now.

I'm not feeling too good.

Yeah, how much more time I got? I'm gonna put it back in.

I'm not comfortable with that.

Wish I had more time.

Ten minutes, everyone!

♪ It's down to the last minute! ♪

Please do this thing. Come on.

I'm not really loving the tenderness,

so... we really don't know.

It definitely feels tender.

My brisket feels more tender.

I'm feeling really good about my brisket.

It's a little wobbly. It wobbled a little.

It got a little jiggle to it, I'm hoping.

The brisket did jiggle. So when a brisket is done,

when you tap it and it just shake like a nice little butt.

So that's a jiggle test.

But again, until I cut into it, it's all a guess. You never know.

Sometimes, you can be fooled by the jiggle.

I've had briskets I've tried to jiggle.

The ones that didn't jiggle were the ones I was the happiest with.

So you just never know with a brisket. You just never know.

One minute, everybody.

One minute left!

Let's go.

Magic has to happen today.

My beans! I left my beans. I gotta go get my beans.

Brisket in eight hours, man. That's what nightmares are made of.

Tell me about it.

Ugh, I have Home Alone face.

Ten,

nine, eight,

seven,

six, five,

four, three,

two,

one!

Time's up!

Show me the meat!

My brisket is still tight.

Me... Mine too.

Oh God, dude.

Lord, I prayed and I prayed, and I did the best that I could.

Hey there!

- Hey. - Hey.

- How y'all doin'? - All right.

- Great. How about you? - Awesome.

- Welcome to the family table. - What's going on?

- Yummy. - Looking good.

- All right. - Okay.

So today, we asked you to make us the perfect brisket

in eight hours

with three lights-out sides to make it into the semifinals.

Let's see how y'all did.

Shaticka, you're up first.

I made brisket for the first time.

I also made potato salad,

some baked beans with ground brisket,

and homemade banana pudding ice cream.

- Let's slice it up. - Oh my God.

Take it here.

Lord Jesus.

Shaticka.

I get great smoke on this brisket. I really like the bark.

I think it's very well-seasoned.

You already know it's tight.

And... and it's just not tender.

But the seasoning is there.

When I cooked my first brisket,

it was tougher than the 1985 Chicago Bears defense.

For this to be the first time you cooked a brisket, you did a good job.

- Thank you. - You did need a bit more time.

It did kinda dry out. But it's your first brisket.

I've had horrible brisket

from people who done said they cooked thousands of brisket.

So keep on pushing on your brisket. You're gonna be all right. All right?

Thank you.

I'm not sure I can quit eating the banana-pudding ice cream.

I need a bucket of that ASAP.

This damn...

Crack?

Right.

This damn banana-pudding ice cream, you need to bottle this

and sell that in the liquor store 'cause it's addictive.

-But overall, good job, Shaticka. -Thank you so much.

Kareem, tell us what you made for us today.

Today, I made for you a classic Texas-style brisket.

And for my sides, I made a fattoush salad,

a garlic dip,

homemade pita,

and pistachio rice pudding.

Kareem, this is a gorgeous smoke ring on this brisket.

I love the flavor on the bark.

There's a little... a little tightness,

but the flavor on your brisket is really, really good.

Thank you.

- Kareem. - Yes, sir?

Look at your smoke ring. I've hardly seen 'em hot and fast.

Usually, it's a skinnier smoke ring

'cause it doesn't have that long time for that smoke to penetrate.

But this is... You did a good job on that. And your bark is good.

For me, it's a little...

Being Texas, I wanna taste a little bit more salt and pepper crust.

-Yeah. -Why you wanna force garlic on me?

I think that you think that we have a lot of vampires in Mississippi.

But at this point, my husband's not gonna sleep with me.

So my advice on the sauce is,

if you're gonna do a sauce,

give us more depth of flavors.

Layering flavors in sauces is one of the hardest jobs I've ever had.

But I need to be able to taste it all throughout the palate.

So that'd be my advice on sauces.

Thank you. Understood.

Gerald.

So I did a brisket. I hope that I did well with this one.

For my sides, I have potato salad.

I got dirty rice made from the brisket trimmings.

I also did my rendition of my wife's mac and cheese.

And then I did a homemade cornbread.

Gerald, when I can pull it and it breaks away like that

and when I bite... like that, that's a tender brisket.

I think you got a excellent cook on the brisket.

I just wish there was a bit more seasoning on it.

I love the smoke ring that you got on this brisket.

I think you got a really good cook on it.

I would like to have had more seasoning on the bark.

I mean, for brisket, you expect a pretty powerful bark.

You know I'm already feeling the dirty rice.

Only dirty rice I know is pick it up off the floor when I drop it.

But anyway, I gotta ask,

the mac and cheese is good,

but what's that overpowering flavor in that mac?

It's a seasoning or something that's kinda throwing it off.

-Nutmeg? -Was it nutmeg?

It might be the nutmeg. It might be that.

That mac would've been perfect if it wasn't for that.

It's got that funky wang.

Sloan, you're up.

I smoked a classic Texas brisket.

I have my mammy's,

my great-grandmother's, cream-style corn pudding,

a fried cabbage in bacon fat,

and our pinto beans with ham hocks.

Go ahead and slice up that brisket.

Okay.

Wow.

-Sloan. -Yes, ma'am.

What was that for?

You have a great poker face, so I don't know what to expect anymore.

Yeah.

- The bark... - Yes, ma'am.

...is what I expect on brisket.

You have the right amount of salt and pepper.

That's a fantastic bark.

The smoke ring is very red, very nice, very prevalent.

But I felt like it could have been just a hair more tender.

It could've got a little bit more tender,

but the smoke ring, the bark,

the juiciness when you were cutting it, all that is still there.

-Great job on your brisket. -Thank you.

Them soul food pinto beans, you must have been to my house. And that cabbage.

-You been looking through my window? -I may have. I must have.

I'm all with that, 100%.

Overall, very well done.

Thank you. Thank you very much.

All right, everybody.

Kevin and Melissa have a lot of thinking to do.

So, you guys, head back to the pit.

-Actually, could you give me a minute? -Yeah. Sure.

Okay.

You all did well.

But one of you gave us a brisket dish today

that solidified your spot in the semifinals.

Today's winner...

is Sloan.

Oh God.

Congratulations.

Thank you, guys. Um...

I didn't expect this.

And I can't thank you enough for giving me this opportunity to move on

and that you actually felt that this was the best brisket today.

Thank you.

Being here in Barbecue Showdown, making it to the final four,

all of it, this is the absolute greatest day.

Then to win on brisket is beyond my wildest dreams.

Stop doubting yourself. And nobody is perfect.

If you have confidence,

your food will be even better.

Yeah.

And when you do what you know, good things happen.

You did an incredible job. Yes, the texture wasn't there,

but everything else was there on that brisket.

Thank you, sir. Both of you. It means a lot to me. Very much so.

So that leaves two more spots in the semifinals.

Gerald, Shaticka, and Kareem,

two of you are gonna be joining Sloan in the next round.

And sadly, one of you is gonna be going home.

But in order for Kevin and I to make that decision,

we need to see more from you three.

We're looking at the best of the best,

and it is too close to call.

There's only one way to settle this.

A three-way head-to-head battle

to decide who stays and who goes.

And we're about to do it right now.

Oh my God.

You'll each be taking on

one of the most iconic barbecue dishes on the planet.

Burnt ends.

Burnt ends are a delicacy in the barbecue world.

You'll have one hour

to prepare a burnt-ends dish

with your leftover brisket on this table.

One perfect bite to save your lives.

Wow.

And your time starts now.

Get smoking.

- Running again. - Ah!

I really wanna win this, so we gotta get that brisket tender

because the brisket was originally undercooked,

so it still is tough.

I'm making a pomegranate barbecue sauce. Pomegranate is my favorite thing.

It's what makes the most sense to me right now.

For this challenge, I'm gonna make a pomegranate glazed burnt end brisket

and my classic pomegranate Texas-style barbecue sauce.

I'm gonna cook it in the sauce for a little bit

and then take it out to the Green Egg and give it a nice caramelization

and make it nice and crispy and tender on the inside.

Even though I feel exhausted right now, but I'm gonna keep pushing.

So what is the perfect burnt end?

It's an advance on the brisket.

You cook a brisket, cut it up,

and then braise it in the sauce to get burnt ends.

When you take a bite of a burnt end,

it has so much flavor packed in one little cube

that it makes you keep going back for more.

Since they're cubing their leftover brisket,

is there a right size?

Is it more like in a Rubik's Cube?

I like mine kinda maybe like a quarter inch just 'cause...

I don't care how tender that brisket is. You make it too big,

you're just gonna have a big chunk and a tough bite.

Everything riding on this one bite.

I'm just trying to cut these burnt ends to put into this sauce.

My brisket's already tender.

All I have to do, in my mind, is not mess it up.

I'm doing burnt end sliders

with a whiskey barbecue sauce.

I'm using some brown-sugar ketchup. This ketchup base got a little molasses.

Hopefully, that's enough to keep me in another round.

-Hey, Ticka, how you doing, love? -Baby, I'm working.

Yeah, tell me about it.

I've cut the brisket into little bite-sized pieces.

I've never made brisket. I've never made burnt ends.

Now I have to go through a showdown with people that know what burnt ends are.

Almost there.

Like, oh my God!

It's been a rough day.

I knew I needed more time on that brisket,

and so I'm gonna let it cook down in some butter

and get a good tenderness on those burnt ends.

I'm gonna go with what I can do.

I'm going with the slider. I am going with a toasty Hawaiian roll,

and then the slaw is gonna give them a crunch.

I'm gonna do a apricot whiskey sauce.

Baby, it's gonna be the bougiest little cute sandwich you ain't never seen.

Thirty minutes, guys. Thirty minutes.

Gerald's running.

If this was supposed to be the best bite of my life for $50,000,

I'd be running too.

I'm getting the brisket more tender since it was a little under.

Get the sauce reduced, then I'm gonna take it out to the smoker,

give them that nice caramelization

and that nice, sweet burnt end that they're looking for.

How much time?

Fifteen minutes!

Come on, guys. You got this.

Make it prettier for 'em.

Sexy sandwich.

I'm making a coleslaw

to go on the burgers.

I love the fellas, but now I'm at war.

Every five minutes, I'll open the smoker,

and I'll keep basting this to get that deep, rich, caramelized flavor.

Kareem has some big blocks for his burnt ends.

You can have a tender brisket and cut it too thick,

and it's just such a mass of meat

that you're just chewing and chewing and chewing.

I'm just gonna keep brushing them until time is over, then I'll plate them.

I don't know what burnt ends are supposed to look like.

They're cooking. They look pretty, but I don't know.

Okay. I can see what the tenderness of the brisket was supposed to be there.

I can see it.

Five minutes, you guys!

You have five minutes left!

All right, guys, let's go!

Come on. Work.

I'm actually taking them out to rest a little bit,

then I'm gonna glaze them again.

They look pretty good.

One minute, everybody! One minute!

Let's go!

Sweet baby Jesus.

This is the sexiest little sandwich I've made in an hour.

Come on, guys. Finish strong!

Second chance on brisket.

Good as I'm gonna be, my boy!

Five, four,

three,

two, one!

Time's up!

- Show me the meat! - All right!

Oh man.

Let's do it!

-I still love you guys. -I love you too.

-I'm sorry. I get real competitive. -I'll always love you.

I get real competitive. That was tough.

Hey, Kareem. What did you make for us?

I made a pomegranate burnt end

with a Texas-style barbecue sauce.

I used some Middle Eastern spices in it, like cumin, cinnamon, and sumac.

Tried not to make it too sweet. Build flavors in the sauce, some layers.

Kareem, I think you did a great job of getting that burnt end

to the proper texture of a burnt end.

It melts in your mouth when you eat it.

-It is cubed a little large for me. -Yeah.

And the sauce has just a little bit of sour notes,

but the texture on that burnt end is spot-on.

Thank you. Thank you.

Yeah, Kareem. I agree with Melissa. The texture on that is... is spot-on.

A little sweet for me.

But to take that risk of getting a big chunk of a burnt end like that

and to get the right texture, you did a good job with that.

Thank you so much.

Gerald, what did you make for us?

I did a elevated burnt-end sandwich

with a whiskey barbecue sauce with a homemade coleslaw.

Burnt end was on point. I can still taste the integrity of the meat.

The sauce is not too sweet. I like that.

Could use just a little bit more coleslaw on it though.

But I love that you kept the integrity of that meat.

Yes, sir.

The texture of the burnt end is spot-on.

The sauce is great,

but just know that the sauce needs to be cooked into the burnt end.

Okay.

The texture on the slaw is crunchy.

It's sweet.

-It's a good coleslaw. -Thank you.

- That's an excellent job. - Thank you.

Thank you very much, Gerald.

-Hi, Shaticka. What did you make for us? -Hey there.

I made a burnt-end slider

with slaw and spicy whiskey apricot sauce on the burnt ends.

Shaticka, I love the coleslaw. Love the sauce.

That apricot whiskey sauce is fantastic.

I wish the burnt end had had a little more melt-in-your-mouth texture.

Shaticka, I love the flavor of your burnt ends.

It's totally different from the brisket to that.

I think you did exactly what you had to do to get more flavor into it.

You got it about as tender as you could get it.

Thank you.

Thank you so much, Shaticka.

- Thank you. - Thanks.

Feeling tired and nervous right now. First time I'm on the chopping block.

Been nervous since we got out here because I don't cook brisket.

-I don't cook burnt ends. -You did great. You did great.

It's been a good fight.

It's been an awesome fight. Tonight, we was at war, huh?

Definitely was at war.

But whatever happens,

I'm so glad I've cooked alongside you guys.

It was a pleasure.

You guys are all amazing, and you just be so proud.

Kareem, Gerald, Shaticka.

You guys really fought your way through this last challenge.

The three of y'all are warriors. We hate to see any one of you three go.

But, unfortunately, we can only keep two of you.

The first cook joining Sloan in the semifinals is...

Congratulations, Gerald.

Thank you. Thank you.

Man, you saved yourself today, G.

I'm glad you didn't put nothing weird on that burnt end tonight, man.

-But good job. -Whoo! Thank you.

And that leaves Kareem and Shaticka.

The cook joining Gerald and Sloan in the semifinals is...

Congratulations,

Shaticka.

Hey, Kareem, you had a great bite.

You did a fantastic job.

The sauce, for us, was just a little bit wangy,

but we are splitting hairs.

You are a fantastic cook.

I have enjoyed your bright Mediterranean flavors.

This is just the beginning for you.

Thank you.

I'm grateful.

It means so much to me

to be able to show the world who I am, what I do.

- Love you, Kareem. - Love you too.

I know I'mma see you again down the road. You ain't giving up.

No, I'm not, sir.

I'm gonna keep doing what I'm doing

with love and passion.

-We love you, man. -Thank you all so much.

I'm just excited to go back to my truck and cook with my team.

I'm proud of myself. I made it this far,

and I can't wait to see what unfolds for me.

You guys are the top three.

-Yeah. -It's crazy.

You guys are one step closer

to winning $50,000

and the title of Barbecue Showdown Champion.

-Absolutely. -That's right.

The last 24 hours have definitely been a roller coaster.

-Twenty-four? -Yes. Mm-hmm.

How about, um,

just one more twist?

What are we doing?

Oh my God.

I'm kidding!

You guys, it was too easy!

- Oh my God. - Did you see them? That was funny.

- It was not. - No, it was not.

Honestly, go home. Get some rest. You'll need it for the next challenge.

Yes.

-See you tomorrow morning. Bye! -All right. Bye!

Get outta here. I'm tired too.

That was rough.

- Can you believe it? - That was crazy.

Top three. Here we go!

Top three!

- Yes! - Yeah!

Yeah, baby.