Original subtitles

- Mornin'. - Good morning!

-How's everybody? -We good. How y'all doin'?

-Good. -Yeah.

We got six cooks in the competition,

and y'all are about to celebrate

the greatest invention in the history of food.

We are here to celebrate the holy grail of American barbecue.

-We talkin' about rib. -All right!

-Yes. Yes!

No great pitmaster has ever made it

without some badass, show-stoppin' ribs.

Me and Melissa designed this challenge

to test your fundamental knowledge of barbecue.

That is my forte.

I am the Lady of 'Cue because of ribs.

That got me started in barbecue competition.

I got this one.

No problems. Give it to me. Let's go.

Each one of you are gonna be smokin' two types of ribs.

One set of pork ribs, and one set of beef ribs.

One wet with a sauce, and one dry with a rub.

-Okay.

There are some heavy hitters in the rib field

across the other contestants.

So I'm not sure I can out-rib these folks,

but I want to be in their league,

and I'm gonna work as hard as I possibly can.

A winning rib will have the right amount of smoke, perfect tenderness,

and well-balanced flavors.

I mean, a rib is like a work of art.

If I bite your rib, and you don't see me look up,

eyes rolled back in my head,

you might have some problems today.

-Mm. -Phew.

Oh, and one more thing, y'all.

Each of you will have to make two sides

and one smoked dessert, but...

with its own unique twist.

Kevin and I have placed a basket at each of your stations

with ingredients each of you will have to use to cook your sides and dessert.

In those baskets, you will find a flavor profile of sweet,

sour, bitter or spicy.

- We did this

because we wanna test how sophisticated your palates are

and how well you work with unique flavor combinations.

-Uh... - Okay.

We're lookin' for sides that go with the flavor of that rib.

- Give us the wow factor.

I'm lookin' forward to it. I ain't ate since yesterday.

All right, you got six hours. Six!

Get smokin'!

-Yes! -Okay!

- Go, go, go, go! - Ooh!

The four flavor components that we have given them to cook

in their side dishes

could be difficult,

depending on how familiar you are with some of the ingredients.

For instance, competition barbecue kind of lends to sweet or spicy,

but sour?

Bitter? We don't hit those notes in competition barbecue.

This is a real curveball.

Sour? Greek yogurt, sour cream...

I think this is tamarind.

What the hell?

Bitter. God...

However, a good barbecuer will figure this out.

Wow, that's bitter. God, that's bitter.

Spicy!

I wish we could trade.

Feelin' a little...

out of my comfort zone.

Seeing an entire...

basket full of peppers...

wide variety of peppers I don't know the names to,

I have to...

check out each of these peppers and see if one of them speaks to me and says,

"Make me! Make me into something."

Oh... Ah!

Think I'm the only one got sweet? I think I am.

That's a beautiful thing.

Whoo-hoo!

It's not bitter!

Bitter...

-What you got, Tina? -Bitter.

Ooh!

-Hey. -Oh!

What happens if I eat it all before I cook with it?

I have... the bitter box.

The only one I didn't want.

I'd rather have yours.

Man, them figs are good!

Mm.

- What's goin' on, bro? - I'm gonna do some baby backs.

Hell, yeah.

- Whatcha grabbin', Georgia? -I'm gettin' some baby back ribs.

I hear ya!

Is it easy to mess up a rib?

-Like, what y'all think?

Yeah, it is,

especially if somebody picks up that big dinosaur bone in there,

and tries to get that done in six hours.

I'm cooking big thick beef ribs.

When I saw that big dinosaur rib... I've never seen a finer cut of beef.

It's intimidating to me. The marbling...

Dang, this is the real deal here.

This ain't no Walmart pack of ribs, you know?

Six hours seems like a long time.

-You know-- -It's plenty of time for pork ribs.

-Yeah? - But for the beef ribs,

it's gonna be a little challenging.

Why do beef ribs need so much more cook time than pork ribs?

-There's more cartilage, more fat. -There's-- Yes.

There's more connective tissue.

-Tougher tissues. -All that has to be broken down

or rendered durin' the cookin' process,

as opposed to pork.

I would pick the smallest...

beef ribs I can find, simply because you have six hours.

Gotta be thinkin' about that clock.

Can you get that on and get it to have as much smoke time as possible?

Well, you need to get the beef ribs on first, for sure.

Today, we gotta make two different sets of ribs.

One pork, one beef. One wet, one dry.

I noticed a lot of people get confused on wet and dry.

Really, a wet is kind of like, at the end,

puttin' sauce on it towards the end of the cook.

A dry, dry rub, dry all the way to cook.

That's the only difference between wet and dry.

Which would y'all do dry and which would you do wet?

-If you had beef or pork? -Hands down.

-Pork-- -You're gonna do pork wet, beef dry.

Pork is naturally a little bit sweet.

It loves a little bit of salt,

loves a little bit of acidity, loves a little sweet.

That's why sauce pairs well with pork.

Beef loves salt and pepper.

It's perfect for a good rub.

I am going to make a wet pork rib.

I'm gonna go with, like, a sweet-spicy sauce.

A dry short rib with salt, pepper, butter.

I'm gonna make stuffed jalapeños, cornbread, and then finally

spicy chocolate ganache pudding.

These are the biggest ribs I've ever seen!

So, I'm already behind schedule. I'm behind schedule when the clock starts.

Tina, have you decided what you're gonna do

with your basket of bitter goodies?

No. That's why it's pushed aside over there.

-Well, I gotta do a dessert out of it...

and two sides, so I'm-- I'm contemplating exactly

while I'm preppin'... these ribs.

I'm afraid to do a pork rib

that's traditional,

because, if I mess it up...

I'm just trying to strategize here.

I know Ash is gonna go traditional, which is sweet, smoky.

I know Rasheed's gonna go spicy, Jamaican somethin'.

Grub is gonna do traditional.

Sylvie, she competes.

I think she's gonna go more traditional. So, I'm not.

I'm gonna do somethin' different and stand out from everybody else.

Tina!

-Hey! - How you doin'?

Can you smell what I'm making?

- Smell-- Is that soy sauce? -There's some in here, yes.

I decided to cook wet Asian-style pork ribs,

and I'm gonna do a dry method on my beef ribs,

with a secret ingredient.

Have you ever had this?

Herbes de Provence.

You gotta put your pinky up for it.

Just, like, lavender, rosemary, marjoram.

I just like the smell of it.

I mean, that could be like a sachet in your lingerie drawer.

I mean, it smells so different.

So, if I go with a different flavor profile,

maybe I have a-have a shot.

To impress Melissa and Kevin with my ribs

would be like... a home run.

I hope she's not disappointed that I'm not... going... traditional.

I hope that's not a mistake.

But that's what I'm doin'.

Tell me about gettin' the bitter box here.

That is the one I did not want.

When I came in and saw this...

The little bitter melon?

-Can I-- -Like, honey...

-Let's taste. - Yeah, great.

-Cheers! - Okay.

-Cheers! -Here's lookin' at you. Cheers.

-Y'all gonna eat it? Raw? -Yeah.

-I'mma, like... -Okay.

Okay.

You realize, "Oh, that's why it's called bitter melon."

-No. No. -This is a no for me.

Throw it away immediately.

Aah!

Don't get an opportunity to cook beautiful pieces of beef like this often.

I can tell by the cut of the beef, the marblin', that they got a lot of flavor.

That's why I cut the fat off of 'em, so I can get the rub on the meat.

The ingredients are minimal, but the coverage will be deep.

The pressure on me for this challenge is the beef rib, 100%.

There's no... The sides don't bother me,

Pork ribs I can file in the back of my brain

'cause I can do that in my sleep,

but these beef ribs I find intimidating with the time frame,

because it is a large chunk of meat.

I'm gonna try to keep it simple with salt, pepper and garlic.

My spare ribs will be sweet. I'll leave it at that.

For my side dishes, what I'm gonna do is butternut squash with cinnamon

and then fresh coleslaw.

And dessert, s'mores in a cone.

I'm excited about it. It's gonna be a good day for cookin'.

Injection is, uh, somethin' that I do think is necessary

in competition-style barbecue,

because the judges are gonna take one single bite of our barbecue,

and you gotta make sure that one bite that they taste

has got everything that you can pack into it.

I don't wanna give the judges the same flavors

as I gave 'em in the first challenge.

So today, I'm gonna be switchin' it up

and I'm gonna be giving them a sauce on my baby back ribs

that are a little bit more spicy than sweet.

I'm gonna do some, uh, dry beef ribs today for 'em.

And I'm gonna do a wet baby back rib.

I'm gonna make sweet potato boats,

and I'm gonna use the kumquats down into my Texas-style baked beans.

And then for dessert, maple bacon cupcakes.

If I don't win this challenge, I'm gonna be very disappointed in myself.

I'm trying to, um...

make sure that I go for what I know the judges may like.

I can cook a rib.

I have a 180 in ribs,

and what that means is "perfect."

Each judge gave the highest score to me.

Nine, nine, nine. Six out of six judges.

Perfect taste, bite, appearance and texture.

So, I got this. I can cook these ribs.

My... These ribs are gonna be a Memphis-style dry rib.

My wet rib is gonna be my spare rib.

Sauce-wise, I'm gonna be using a Kansas City-style sweet.

Side dish-wise, I'm cooking a corn salad,

and I've also got an Asian-flavored coleslaw.

And I'm also gonna make an apple crisp.

The bones that I'm most interested in

are gonna be the ones that are gonna be in here to there.

Those are the ones going to the judges.

I can say I'm bitter about it, to be perfectly honest with you, but...

other than coffee, the rest I'm not really familiar with,

and I just drink the coffee.

I'm going for, uh, dry on the beef, wet on the pork,

with a smoked mango Scotch bonnet barbecue sauce.

For my sides, I'm doing radicchio coleslaw,

and my pitmaster potato with a coffee-rubbed pork butt.

My dessert is a cacao brownie.

I'm just trying to get some stuff on the smoker

and figure it out as I go along right now.

Hopefully, I can pull somethin' out.

Get 'em, Grub!

Giddy up!

The difference between a pork and a beef rib,

the pork rib is-- It's way more forgiving.

Maybe a quarter inch of meat on it.

That beef rib is just a big thick cut of beef

that you really gotta know what you doin' to get that thing tender.

Only some experienced cookers gonna know what they doin' on this.

Those beef ribs take a long time,

so they have to go on first.

Lock it up.

I'm gonna get my pork ribs and bring those out, and then...

I'm gonna worry about side dishes.

The ribs that, uh... There you are.

I don't even know if you can make beef ribs in six hours, to be honest.

I've always heard that you need a lot more time,

so I've set up my green egg

to be my hot and fast unit.

I left a gap...

in between the deflector plates, so that all the heat comes up,

but then I have a pan with water and liquid underneath it,

so the heat comes up, knocks around the pan,

comes around and comes right back down onto my meat.

So it's cookin' on the sides and top.

I think I run a little hotter than most of the folks here.

Hope that's not a mistake.

We're a couple of hours in and I've gotta get those on.

They're rubbed and I let them sit for a little while,

and I gotta get 'em on.

I'm running behind.

I think I'm gonna bump the temperature up a little to cook a little faster, and...

we'll see what we get.

All right, smokers. You got four and a half hours.

Please tell me she don't have those big dinosaur ribs.

We're not Jurassic Park around here.

Sylvie's OG. I'm not even gonna... I'mma-- I'mma back off of that one.

I-- Mm.

Sylvie is definitely later getting beef ribs on the smoker.

Sylvie's are still a very large chunk of meat.

Ribs of this size will probably take at least five hours,

so therefore, I'm bumping the temperature up to cook 'em hot.

Ribs are all about timin'. Beef ribs are slow smokin'.

You can't cook those beef short ribs no quicker.

They're gonna be tough in the middle or not done in the middle.

All six of these pits are lit up.

-Everybody is rollin' smoke. - Yeah.

If you look at the difference in the colors,

-Georgia is runnin' a dirty fire. - Yeah.

Either she has gotten her smoker too hot and she's shut it back down,

which means she's got a backup of smoke...

-Yeah. -...or she has overpacked her fire box,

to the point that it can't breathe,

-so she doesn't have proper oxygen flow. -Yeah.

That's gonna affect the flavor of whatever,

-'cause she's already got meat in. - She already got beef ribs in.

Look at the color of that smoke.

Okay, so...

first rule of thumb, you gotta have proper oxygen flow.

If you look at these other smokers, you see how you can't even see the smoke

-comin' out of these others? -Yeah.

This is called dirty smoke.

I was worried 'cause it all burned down while I was inside.

- She's loaded up. - I loaded it.

- Melissa, it's too much. -Yeah.

-Um... -All right.

-Let me get some of that out. -Right.

-It's how you adapt. It's how you adapt. -They're still gonna be good, I promise!

-Can we see your meat, just a second? -Yeah.

The dirtiness on the meat, that's all from dirty smoke.

- Oh... - Adapt and overcome, baby.

- Yeah. -Get that under control. Let some out.

-It'll be alright. - Thank you.

Guess I should have only put one log on.

-So now she has dirty smoke on those ribs. -Yeah.

I don't know if you can do anything

with those ribs at this point.

The first 30 minutes.

-I don't-- -The first smoke that hits those ribs,

that's the flavor it's gonna get.

Oh, that's so sad.

Oh, poor Georgia.

Oh, no.

How do I overcome that?

With their ribs on the grill,

it's time for these cookers to start figurin' out

how to incorporate their flavor baskets into their sides.

I think it'd be hard to be calm, cool and collected

if you had five different things you're makin', right?

- Yeah. -Pork rib, beef rib,

-two sides and dessert. -And dessert.

And you got this basket challenge.

Those are tough, and to incorporate all those things, the different flavors...

Y'all are really tryin' to mess with 'em!

Well, I will tell you,

it depends on their level of experience with cooking

other things besides barbecue and grilling.

Interesting thing is if you have sour or bitter,

the best way to change those is make 'em sweet and spicy.

Exactly.

I'm havin' a change of plan now.

After tastin' the bitter melon, I cooked a piece.

And I don't...

It wasn't good with the tomato.

I tried this. It tastes horrible.

Uh, it's extremely, extremely bitter.

To say I'm not a huge fan of my bitter box is, uh...

a huge understatement, that's for sure.

If you've licked the bottom of a shoe, it tastes better than this radicchio does.

The fact that they sell this to people is horrible.

I've gotta get that flavor out.

So I'm thinking... pickle it.

So I'mma make a really nice, refreshing coleslaw,

and then I'm workin' on a pork belly right now

that I'm gonna rub with coffee to make the pitmaster potato.

We gotta work with what we're given.

I've gotta use the bitter melon, even though I don't want to.

I think I'm gonna use these rice noodles

that's gonna go with the beef, so that-- That is a challenge.

We gave the cookers a flavor profile

of bitter, spicy, sour and sweet,

that they have to implement somehow into the two sides and a dessert.

I put the Greek yogurt in here from my sour box,

and brown sugar, cinnamon.

Traditional stuff you'll see in sweet potatoes.

I've never tried it with Greek yogurt, but, uh... it's not that bad.

I wanna make sure the flavor profile is not overpowering.

I don't want nothin' that's overly spicy, just to be hot.

I don't want nothin' that's overly sweet, just to be sweet.

I'm whippin' up a little side slaw.

I'mma try somethin' I never tried before.

Instead of addin' a little sweet to the slaw with sugar,

I'mma put sugarcane in my coleslaw, and I hope it tastes good.

Put the yuzu in the corn salad.

-Oh, my gosh, it's got such a kick. -Oh, okay.

It called for lemon juice and lime juice,

but instead of that, I used the yuzu.

-You add sugar to it. -Mm.

It makes it not so sour.

-I'm not mad at this, I'm not mad.

This is my rice noodles.

I'm just lettin' 'em get soft, and then I'mma take 'em out.

I have decided on my sides, finally.

I'm gonna make a rice noodle salad.

I'm gonna try to use the bitter melon in that.

Sautéed or grilled radicchio with smoked bacon and onions.

I've got... peach shortcake instead of strawberry shortcake.

This is grapefruit juice, rice wine vinegar, some ginger,

sugar... oh, and mirin.

'Cause it's kind of a sweet... Asian wine.

And I'm gonna sauté it with bitter melon

and then toss it with the rice noodles.

Now, that is good.

If that sugar can't kill the flavor in that bitter melon, then nothin' can.

Radicchio is like a horrible...

cousin of cabbage.

But if I did my job right...

I've pickled it...

and it won't leave the world's worst taste in my mouth.

All right.

I have an idea!

All right!

Um... Take this cheesecloth. I'm gonna wipe all my ribs down,

try to get some of that dirty smoke off before it really infiltrates the meat,

then I'm gonna do a butter bath and, um, get back on track.

I feel like butter cancels out a lot of sins.

And so, this gives me an opportunity to... readjust the seasoning.

-You got a plan. You have a plan. -I have a plan.

-You have a plan. -And a backup plan.

-There you go. -So...

- Do your thing, Georgia. -I gotta get moving. Thank you!

She's screwed.

She better have a side of some more beef ribs.

-She's screwed. -Yeah.

Not trying to go home.

I like butter on beef. I like butter on a steak.

I never had it on beef ribs before.

Hopefully, Georgia can pull it off, but I think she might be in trouble.

I think I'm at risk of goin' home.

I was on the bottom yesterday, so I'm worried.

Oh, my God, please!

The beef ribs are lookin' good. Givin' 'em a slight mist.

Red wine vinegar, that will really help bring out the natural flavors.

It's come along real well.

Whoo-hoo!

These are my dry beef ribs,

which means that they're not gonna be sauced at the end.

So in order to keep it from dryin' out too much on top,

I need to put the mop on there.

It's lookin' pretty good. I just wanna give it a little spritz

so it doesn't dry out.

Won't be long and I'm gonna wrap those up.

This is the first time since the first competition that...

I've felt pretty confident in the cook, uh...

I think I got it goin' on today.

They're looking good, smelling good.

Ms. Tina!

-Hey. -No complainin' now.

-We wanna hear what's going on. -No, I'm very happy.

But I didn't go traditional.

- What you got goin' on? -Yeah, I'm usin'...

It's kind of an herbaceous-- They're gonna be my dry--

-"Herbaceous"? -Herbaceous.

So it's like herbes de Provence.

I started-- Thought about doin' Texas style, but--

-I love Texas beef ribs. -You ever had a--

You ever had a French beef rib?

-No. - No.

-Hm. -So what about those pork ribs?

I'm goin', uh... Asian style.

I'm afraid this is a decision that...

I'm either leavin'...

or I get to stay.

I'm very worried.

- Good luck, Tina. -Thank you.

My butt is ready.

This is actually gonna be part of my pitmaster potato.

There it is. Boom.

It turned out really, really well. I'm real happy with it.

I'm making a smoked baked potato,

but instead of putting cheddar cheese and bacon bits,

I'm gonna put pulled pork

and cheesy mac and cheese,

and I feel like it's something that the judges will love.

Mm. That's good.

That's real good.

Two and a half hours, okay? Two and a half hours left.

Check my ribs. Wrap them rascals up.

Mm-hm.

The color's good.

Still... They're kinda tough. They don't bend like they should yet,

but this will take care of that real quick.

Just finishing with a little honey and a little Grub-rub in there.

I wanna get them right, make sure they're good and tender for the judges.

So, the key to a great pork rib

is you wanna wrap 'em up and put some flavor down in there with it,

whether it's butter, honey,

brown sugar, agave nectar.

Now, beef ribs,

I wanna put just some butter down in there with 'em,

and what that's gonna do is help moisturize that meat

and get it really tender.

Much rather wrap it in butcher paper than foil.

Uh, the butcher paper will keep everything

warm and tight without cookin' it.

If I wrap it in foil,

the foil just wants to keep bouncin' that heat all around and all through it,

and I can end up with pulled beef instead of beef ribs.

And that's the last thing I want.

Most people don't think I can come up with a dessert, but I'm a dessert guy.

-I'm a dessert eater . -There you go!

In a dessert round, nothin' wrong with a little spicy peppers on a s'more.

-A little heat with a little sweet. - Yeah.

You need a little salt to appreciate sugar.

Don't keep yourself in one lane.

Think outside the box just a little bit.

You don't have to use

-all of that ingredient. -Yes!

I'm making a chocolate chipotle ganache,

which is totally new territory.

Ooh! Oh!

I'm a real wimp when it comes to spice,

and I don't mind a little more salt.

A nice balance to the real spiciness.

This is gonna be the topping of my peach shortcake.

It's got some cocoa nibs in it.

And then I'm gonna make a coffee syrup,

caramel syrup to pour over the top.

I think a little sugar might take a little bitterness out of it,

'cause it's bitter.

I'm in the middle of making my dessert.

All it is, you take the cone, you fill it with miniature marshmallows

and milk chocolate.

Look at that.

Wait till they get in the smoker and they melt. Boom! S'mores in a cone.

I'm prepping for my apple crisp

and I'm using Granny Smith apples

and the Greek yogurt from my basket.

You-You add a lot of sugar to it.

Greek yogurt sweetened up.

Should do it.

There it is.

What are you workin' on?

I am makin' my rendition of my Aunt Jen's brownies

-made with cacao. - Awesome!

Never really made them without her there,

so, uh, I'm trying to do a test batch right now.

What's the word for someone who knows how to play cards

but pretends they don't?

-I don't... A beginner? - No, hustler!

I feel like, every time you say,

"You know what? I've never done this before,"

you're sort of just like...

Bam! Out of the park.

These are my dry beef ribs,

so I wanna get a crust formed on now that they're tender enough.

See that jiggle?

I got to go in and get some foil.

-I got foil, Sylvie. How much you need? -A lot.

-Is that enough? Should be enough. -It should be, I just need to wrap these.

I have less than an hour

and I need to get these beef ribs tender.

Sylvie is throwin' every trick in the book at these ribs,

but that is not enough time.

Basically, when you wrap, you're using liquids to braise,

so she needed hours.

Oh, boy.

Uh, right now, I'm at 196.

All right.

This is... Just like butter.

That's what you want on beef ribs, right there.

So, to you, what is the perfect rib?

It's that throwback to caveman eating.

You get it to your nose,

-you can smell the smoke. - Mm.

You sink your teeth into it, it should be just a little bit sweet,

but then you oughta taste the salty.

Then you oughta get just a little bit of heat, so you're tastin' it

from the tip of your tongue all the way to the back of your throat.

- Preach. - The mouthfeel...

-Stand up. -...should be tender,

-but it shouldn't be fallin' off the bone. -Ah!

You are now in rib heaven.

That is the perfect rib bite.

And when you can work that on a beef rib, too...

-Psssh! -You like just a little bit...

Like, not a tear, but, like, just a little pull, right?

-No! There's no pull. Were you listenin'? -No pull.

I still wanna be able to bite a rib, and it doesn't fall apart.

Be able to hold it up and talk smack with it, and the meat don't fall off.

But as soon as I bite, it just comes away from that bone.

That's the way I like my rib. Like butter, baby.

Hot.

My beef ribs look great. They smell...

fantastic.

I'm checkin' for tenderness.

Ms. Sylvie, how are your ribs comin' out?

Not as tender as I would like it.

Here I am, Lady of 'Cue,

and I've got ribs that will not be done...

that are not tender enough to turn in to the judges.

I failed on ribs. You know, something that I cook all the time.

There was nothing else I could do with it.

Fifteen minutes!

Time to get the cones in.

Whoo! Got that smoke!

- Get those plates ready! -Oh, man, they look gorgeous!

All right. About eight minutes, ten minutes, they'll be done.

Then, to finish 'em off! And a rum-fig reduction on top of it.

I'm tired of runnin'. I'mma be on time.

Are you ready? Got your brontosaurus ribs up here.

Yeah. Cones are in the smoker.

They got about-- probably about four more minutes.

Maybe sooner, 'cause we're runnin' pretty hot, but I'm gonna check.

Oh yeah, they're... Oh, snap.

-One of my cone holders fell apart.

One of my cones!

This fire's a little too hot in the smoker.

The time restraint on these challenges is unreal.

When you make a mistake, you're sweatin' bullets.

I got enough time. I got enough time.

I'm basically shittin' and gettin'. I don't know, but...

I didn't realize the grill was 400 degrees and not 300.

So they got a little overmelted.

Eight and a half, everybody! Eight and a half.

I-I still got time, they only take a few minutes.

Hoo, boy, that's hot!

Waitin' till the last minute to do my whipped cream.

We're under a minute.

Less than a minute, guys.

Less than a minute.

He's got little ice-cream cone things in that little...

Oh, yeah. Smoked s'mores.

And I have a little rum-fig reduction here to go right on top.

-Ten, nine, eight,

seven, six,

five, four, three,

two, one...

Show me the meat!

Whoo!

Phew!

Who wants some ribs?

I got ribs for everybody.

Of the three racks that I cooked, I think I found the most tender one.

The anxiety that I'm feeling right now is just overwhelming,

and I'm freakin'.

My cone's wobbly.

- Look at this. - Yeah.

- Ah, these ribs look amazing! - Hope y'all are hungry.

Okay, so, Tina. Why don't you tell us about your plate?

- I made a "provincial" dry rib,

a Asian-style wet rib, Asian-style salad.

Radicchio out of the basket that I had, which was bitter,

and I cooked it kind of like we do... cabbage in the South.

And then peach shortcake with some bourbon whipped cream,

and that's where I used the cocoa nibs and the coffee,

and made, like, a syrup out of it.

You had a-- You had a rough basket.

I wasn't really feelin' the radicchio. I think you could have...

maybe pulled a little more of the bitter out of it.

You took a huge, huge risk with your beef ribs,

because it is so far removed from anything barbecue.

It was a risk that paid off for you.

-Oh, good.

What's the crazy seasonin' you used on it? What's it called again?

Herbes de Provence.

This Herbes de Va-- whatever...

-...is good as hell.

Totally different flavor profile than I ever had before,

but you nailed the tender. Still taste the smokiness in it.

This is one of the best beef ribs I ever had.

Thank you. Thank you so much.

The pork ribs, for me, had a great bold flavor,

which you know I am a big fan of bold flavors.

This is genius,

as far as what you did with this to go with your Asian... pork rib, so...

-Thank you. -All in all, I think you had a--

a pretty good day.

Oh! Hallelujah.

I guess I went round and round with that.

All right, so, Ashley.

- I did a, uh...

dry beef rib, a wet pork rib.

My basket was "sour,"

so I used Greek yogurt in the, uh, sweet potato,

kumquats in the baked beans,

and sour cream in my smoked maple bacon cupcakes for you.

Ash, you hit a home run on the ribs in the first challenge.

-Them ribs is off the chain. -Thank you.

-I'm lovin' everythin' on your plate. -Thank you.

How are these ribs different from those?

The, uh, beef rib, I wanted to go with a more spicy sauce,

so you should be pickin' up a little bit more heat on the back end of it.

As much as I loved the sauce on the first rib that you gave me...

I did not care for this sauce.

Okay.

All right, Georgia, you had spicy.

Tell us about your ribs, your two sides and your dessert.

I made a dry beef rib, wet pork ribs,

jalapeño poppers, spicy cornbread,

and spicy chocolate ganache pudding, uh, with some smoked chipotles.

I'm not one for spicy puddings and messin' with my desserts,

but I could eat that, okay?

Your jalapeños...

Excellent. Excellent.

Now, those beef ribs...

You lost 'em early in the game.

You know what I mean? But, uh...

the flavor is there, just dropped the ball on the tenderness.

If you would have got 'em tender, got 'em to where they needed to be,

this would have been a excellent beef rib.

I think you recovered pretty well,

because I didn't taste any of that dirty smoke from earlier.

You got over the flavor...

-...so, nice job fixin' those ribs.

Thank you.

Sylvie.

I have for you Memphis-style beef ribs,

and the pork ribs is more Kansas City oriented.

The corn salad is where I used the yuzu from my sour basket.

And then the spicy coleslaw, I've used the kumquat,

and on the apple crisp, Greek yogurt with a little bit of honey and vanilla.

This apple crisp is one of the best things I've ever had.

Thank you.

The dry-rub Memphis ribs...

they were tough.

-Also, the pork ribs were not tender.

The sauce was fantastic on the top,

but they-- They were just not tender enough for me.

Okay.

And I know how you a stickler on certain things,

so I know, if you taste both these ribs,

the beef and the pork, they wasn't on point as you usually are.

If I go home after cooking something

that I am so experienced at cooking...

that would just be embarrassing.

I'm going home.

All right, Rasheed.

I made a mango Scotch bonnet barbecue sauce on my pork ribs.

That's my wet.

For my beef ribs, kept it simple and dry.

I was given the bitter basket.

So I decided to pickle the radicchio to make a nice, refreshing slaw.

I used coffee to make the pitmaster potato

and the dessert is my Aunt Jen's brownies made with cacao topped with white fudge

and pork belly bits on top.

I love your dessert.

-Thank you. - I think it's fantastic.

This is a great use of the radicchio.

I love, love, love your flavors and what you do.

I appreciate that. Thank you.

Rasheed, this is what I'm talkin' about.

That beef rib right there, baby, that melts in your mouth.

I know some vets can't get it this good.

Thank you so much.

All right, Grubbs.

- My basket was "sweet."

I got beef ribs with salt, pepper and garlic.

Sweet and spicy pork ribs.

My side dishes, butternut squash has honey from the basket.

The coleslaw has sugarcane instead of sugar in it.

And the dessert is s'mores in a cone

with milk chocolate and a fig rum drizzle over the top.

-What is that? -Reduction with figs and rum sauce.

You get down after the top, it's marshmallows and chocolate.

I got down... somethin'.

-What chocolate did you use there? -Milk chocolate.

All it is, you take the cone, fill it with miniature marshmallows

and milk chocolate.

-Did you, uh... did you taste that? -I didn't taste the inside of it.

Can we let him taste it?

- Yeah, you should try that. - Get a spoon.

- What do you think? -I taste rum...

and... dark chocolate.

-Let me just give you one word of advice. - Yes, ma'am.

Don't ever turn anything in that you haven't tasted yourself.

Yes, ma'am.

You can sit down before I say about this rib.

-I don't want you this close. -Okay.

- Thank you.

I didn't want you this close 'cause I don't wanna have to grab you

and try to kiss your ass.

-This is a good-ass rib.

Tender, tasty, good sauce.

-Thank you. - Grubbs, thank you very much.

Y'all have a ton to be proud of. Way to go. Congratulations.

-Thank you. -Good job.

All right, y'all go hang for a few minutes. Judges will deliberate.

-We'll call you when we're ready. -All right.

My pork rib, according to the judges, came out great.

But after that chocolate mess-up,

I'm thinkin' of a concession speech to give at the end.

For us, one of your dishes really, really impressed us.

These were ribs that had great flavor,

great texture, good smoke,

and most everything that we asked for.

Today's best barbecue was cooked by...

-Tina, congratulations.

- Tina! -Hey!

-Yes!

I didn't want that basket.

Once again, you have shown

that flavor and texture are your thing, no matter what you say.

- We don't believe you anymore.

I wanna send out a card and let everybody know.

"Hey! Melissa and Kevin liked my ribs. Hey!"

So, as much as we loved everybody's food,

unfortunately, somebody has to go home.

Judges, whose flavors fell a little under the mark?

Grubbs.

And Sylvie.

I'm sorry to say I think you both had a hard time today.

Oh, I agree.

When I saw Sylvie next to me in the bottom,

and knowin' her culinary experience and what she's done,

I was extremely worried about it.

I don't wanna go home.

Sylvie, your sides are so good,

but tonight, both of your proteins were undercooked.

The anxiety that I'm feeling right now is just overwhelming.

My heart is just going, "Boom! Boom! Boom!"

So, Grubbs, those pork ribs were excellent,

but that dessert, I don't know what was happenin' with that.

Kevin and I are really split on our decision.

It has not been easy.

So tonight, our final decision is...

...we're givin' both of you a second chance,

-you're stayin'. -Oh!

-Yes! Oh!

Sylvie, Grubbs, we wanna see what else you can do.

I just know we can get so much more out of 'em.

I think it would be a shame to send either one of them home,

and it was close for both of 'em,

but I think tonight they got saved by the barbecue gods.

- Ms. Sylvie! -Well done! That's so great!

Oh, my God!

This competition means the world to me.

I want to be able to show other people that I can potentially win.

-Thank y'all so much. -You look like you're cuttin' onions.

-You all right? -Yeah! Oh, man!

The feeling was like winnin' the lottery.

Sylvie!

Both of us. It was like we both hit a two-dollar scratch-off,

you know? Just so happy.

The fact the two of you got saved tonight

and the first thing you do is wanna hug each other?

Somethin' special's happenin' here. So here's to all of you! And to ribs!

- Ribs!

On the next episode,

it's time to embrace your inner carb cravings.

It's sandwich time.

You need a bib for that one.