Original subtitles

It has all come down to this, ladies and gentlemen.

Tina and Rasheed, you have endured the toughest barbecue competition

this country has ever seen.

Eight straight days, cooking just about every animal and using every technique.

Now one of you will earn the title of America's Barbecue Champion.

I'm ready to compete to be the best smoker.

I don't know what to expect, but I do know this is not gonna be an easy challenge.

There is one more exceptionally difficult challenge ahead of you.

It's the finale. It's the big one.

I'm excited and nervous and anxious.

I made it here. I'm in the final two.

Today, we celebrate the oldest, the truest…

the most primal and the most difficult American barbecue tradition.

I bet you can guess what it might be

by lookin' at your little friends over there.

Whole hog cookin'!

The whole hog! The whole dang thing.

- Whoo!

You say that with such excitement.

The first whole hog that I'll ever make

is for seven-time worldwide champion Melissa Cookston.

That's what she's known for the most.

Like, there's no pressure.

None at all.

In order to truly call yourself a pitmaster,

you've gotta be able to barbecue a whole hog.

Okay.

I've never cooked a whole hog.

I've ate it several times.

I've helped one team cook a hog.

And, now, if I can't get this hog done perfectly…

stick a fork in me.

Done.

Uh-- Oh!

Of course, there's more.

-Okay.

Tonight, we celebrate the two pillars of the barbecue world.

Whole hog…

and…

…brisket!

That's right. For your final smoke…

each of you will have to cook one whole hog, one brisket,

four sides, two sauces and a dessert!

It's a feast!

Yum.

Whole hog and brisket

-are notoriously long cooks… -For sure.

…and will take you all night long to get done.

Oh, God.

So we've decided to split shifts with the judges

so they can be here

-during the cook tonight. -All right.

Like the many great pitmasters before you…

not only will you be smoking in the pits, you'll be buildin' 'em, y'all.

- Yes.

Okay.

Y'all have 14 hours to build your pits and smoke it all.

Building pits…

splitting hogs, tending a fire all night.

It's a lot to manage.

So we've decided to give you guys a little help.

Hey, you guys!

- Hey! -Bet you didn't expect us.

So, Rasheed, your helper tonight is Sylvie.

And, Tina, your helper tonight is Ashley.

-Ashley! Ashley! -Hey!

Now, they're only here to help you with your pit build

and to get you through the overnight smoke.

All right, one last time.

Get smokin'!

-Let's go. - All right, let's roll.

-All right. -Let's see what we got here, Ms. Tina.

Well, I was just lookin' at the lay of the land here.

Have you ever done this before?

Uh, raked sand? Yes.

-Make a whole hog?

-No. -No.

Whole hog is the ultimate when it comes to barbecue, period.

It is the most difficult and challenging barbecue to cook.

We gotta hustle some block.

I really want these barbecuers to think of this

as not a test, but an opportunity to prove to the world

that they are the best barbecue cook in America.

Oh, Rasheed over there is already ahead of us. Of course!

Mr. Hasn't Done This Before.

In this American Barbecue Showdown,

it comes down to the barbecue rookie versus the seasoned veteran.

Sorry, I can only get one.

Oh, you're fine.

I've won three challenges now.

Things I didn't even know about.

Oh, my God, he's lookin' at me.

So I've killed animals, served 'em to first responders.

I've cooked roadkill and lizards.

The iguana stew is fantastic.

Had to cook with a partner that now I'm fixin' to compete against.

And I know how good he is.

At least I got to cook with him, so I know his secrets.

There's literally no holding back anything at this point.

As a barbecuer, I've grown immensely,

using different, uh, techniques and smokers I haven't used before.

Makin' lamb on an asado cross.

One dish really stood out.

Rasheed.

- Yeah!

I came in winning the first challenge.

The best International dishes were cooked by Rasheed.

Congratulations.

Winning the last two challenges, it feels amazing.

I'm on a really great emotional streak right now.

I believe I want it more.

I have to want it more if I wanna come out on top in this competition.

-Can we start the fire now? -I don't think we can,

but we can probably get logs.

-Thank you, Ms. Sylvie. -Okay.

When you're cooking on a cinder block pit,

there's not a scientific method that will tell you

exactly how many hours that will take.

You need that pit to be at a constant state of 250 degrees.

To do that, you gotta constantly shovel in the hot coals for fuel,

and control air flow, and know where to adjust your fire.

It's as primitive of cooking as you could possibly get.

This is all hickory. Where you want it?

Just dump it right over near that burn barrel.

Thank you, ma'am.

Whole hog requires a ton of heat,

so I'm building some of the biggest fires I've ever built for this challenge.

But I have to be able to manage that heat,

because the whole hog has to be cooked to perfection.

Still moist, not overdone.

This is real important. No smoke.

Just heat. So a nice clean burn.

What I'm thinkin' is…

…now we have a shovel hole.

I see what you did there, Ashley. That was genius.

We gotta haul some you-know-what right now.

Haul some butt!

Hey, I guessed right.

Oh, my God!

All right. I think we're in good shape.

All right!

Looks pretty good. I feel like y'all made a great team over here.

She's no prize beauty, but she'll get the work done.

- Where is your air source? - We got plenty of air sources.

Oh, wow. Look at this monster.

Okay, so you wanted to be able to reach everything.

Everything. So we've got two up front, one in the back.

- Okay. -And we've got a little opening here.

- Okay. -I can easily dig down a trench

and build a fire…

-to force a draft through it. - Cool.

I've never built a pit before,

but I understand how fire and air flow works,

so I'm making sure I have actually four points for air to come in that I control,

because there's gonna be parts that can easily cook faster.

I may have cooler temperatures on the belly

and warmer spots on-on the hindquarters.

It's-- There's a lot that can go wrong here.

I'm sure Rasheed's, like, measured his out.

Oh, he's probably got

-a oven door on his. -Uh-huh. Probably.

Yeah, he's got somethin' all engineered.

I think Rasheed might've got me a little bit in his pits,

with all his little openings and things.

He had more access to put charcoal in.

So we were havin' to kind of get down and dirty in the dirt…

to get and see where the charcoal was.

I mean, it's much more difficult than I thought.

The vent hole was working,

but to keep it at the temperature I wanted to keep it at, at 250, was very hard.

I'm second-guessing the pit that I built, totally.

Okay, I got one more shovel.

-Be careful. -Just watch my head.

I am.

-Ten hours!

Wake up.

I think we're gonna cook it with the head off,

so I'm gonna have to figure out how to remove the head.

Want me to do it?

-No, no... -I've just gotta get past

bein' afraid of a whole animal and just get in there and do it.

I've killed a lobster. At least this is already dead.

-Okay. Should we name her? I don't-- - Priscilla?

No, I can't do this to Priscilla. I was thinkin' Pearl.

-Pearl?

It's a thing to name your whole hog, yes.

So, you know, if I'm gonna cook a hog, what's appropriate?

Pearl.

-You know how to work that thing? -No, but I'm…

-It's like a gun. -Push… uh…

-Oh, there we go. -Just like that.

Okay.

-Ohhh! -Oh, oh…

-She's takin' the head off.

To take the Sawzall and cut it down the backbone,

and then to push it apart,

it was hard.

You gotta be strong to handle a hog, that's for sure.

Halloween.

Oh, Lord, I can't believe that. Whoo!

-I mean… -That's definitely something

I never thought I would see.

-…name her Charlotte. -Charlotte.

Thank you for your sacrifice, Charlotte.

It will not be in vain.

- All right, y'all. - Everybody.

We'd love to stay, but we gotta get our beauty sleep.

Mom and Dad will be here soon, so we'll see y'all in the mornin'.

You got nine and a half hours left.

So what are you plannin' on doin' on your, uh, whole menu there, Ms. Tina?

I'm just gonna stick with things that my family would have

if they were comin' over to eat tomorrow when this pig is ready.

What I'm gonna cook is gonna be me.

So we've got hog, brisket…

I'm gonna make my brisket with a coffee cowboy sauce,

and then kind of a sweet sauce to go with the hog.

Hoecakes, pinto beans, creamed corn,

macaroni cheese, peach cobbler.

Yeah. That's Georgia right there.

That's my family…

on a plate.

That's what brought me here. So maybe it'll win it for me.

Oh, my God, the pig's eyes are open.

That was grossin' me out.

Just writin' out the menu right now so I have a visual list.

It's the final cook.

It's the last time I'll be able to present food for the judges,

so I wanna go all out and present my crowd favorites.

My whole menu that I'm thinkin' right now is, of course,

the whole hog, the brisket, but I wanna make more than that.

I'm gonna make some pork belly smoked mac and cheese.

I'm gonna make some purple Parmesan mashed potatoes.

I'm gonna make pork and beans. Some mozzarella cheese cornbread.

Spicy mustard sauce that I think will work really well with both meats.

I'm gonna make an amazing hot sauce.

And on top of all of that, my dessert,

which is gonna be what I call the "poor man's cobbler."

It's just a nice apple cobbler, a really simple, fluffy crust.

I think it will work out really well.

I know, all together, it's gonna look very visually appealing.

People eat with their eyes first, so I want pops of color.

This is what I would make if I were at home,

so I figure, make it for the judges, see if they like it.

I'm actually gonna season this brisket pretty simply

with kosher salt, black pepper, granulated onion and granulated garlic.

Pretty simple.

I don't wanna mask too much of the beef flavor.

I just want the meat to…

as Melissa says, sing!

Yup!

Done.

-I am…

mixing up a four-peppercorn blend…

for my brisket.

I like to keep it simple.

Salt, pepper.

Nothing fancy. Let the meat speak for itself.

This is some really high-quality meat.

Man, you're pumpin' that up good.

Hello!

- Hey, guys! -Hey.

How are y'all?

- I'm good. - We're great.

What injection are you using?

Apple cider vinegar, a bunch of apple juice,

a little bit of sugar and salt.

After you inject it, what's your plan?

Uh, we're gonna make a malt vinegar onion powder,

some paprika, sliced onions.

And I like a little red pepper.

More simple to enhance the pork, not change the flavor of the pork.

So how are you feelin' about your time management on this?

-Well… -And your brisket?

Well, my brisket I've pretty much got trimmed and ready to roll.

So I just-- This is-- I am worried about how to access the loin,

because I think y'all are gonna wanna taste the loin.

- I would hope.

You're doin' two things you never did before.

-A hot and fast brisket and a whole hog. -Yeah.

-So… -Keep in mind, Tina, this is your hog.

This needs to be…

screamin' "Tina…"

and you need to own it.

- Yes. - Good luck.

Tina did not know where the loin was on the hog.

Knowin' the anatomy of whole hog…

is very important.

I'm worried about Tina on this one.

If she's smart, she'd flip that hog over and know exactly where that loin is.

Yeah. Yeah. Hope she got plenty of coffee.

The thing about smokin' whole hog is

you have a little bitty loin that is very lean

that you have to have completed at the same time as the big hams

and the medium-sized shoulders that have so much marbling.

And it has to be…

the utopia…

at the minute that it's judged.

- Rasheed the Dream. - Hello!

-Hello, judges. -How are you?

I am not rested. How are you?

-We're here all night with you, baby. -I couldn't ask for better company.

That's kinda what whole hog cookin's all about.

-Stayin' up. -Exactly.

-Good company. - Lovin' on it.

-So-- -So what's your plan, Rasheed?

Right now, Ms. Sylvie is getting our injection ready.

Charlotte's a big girl.

I've gotta make sure that there's flavor all throughout.

In the injection is some, uh, apple juice, white vinegar, some salt,

a little bit of onion powder to keep it moist throughout the cook.

What-- Are you gonna rub it with anything on the inside of the skin?

I'm just gonna rub the exterior and interior

with just a little bit of table salt to help really dry it out.

I want to have a nice crispy skin.

I'm hopin' to form some cracklin' around the skin.

I don't wanna put too much flavor early on.

I'm really gonna rely on the mop to do that.

Then the mop is where I can really start bringin' stuff out

with some red wine or apple cider vinegar,

uh, some chili peppers, some chili flakes.

The pit's already burnt out.

Ideally, I want to run it at about 225, 250.

I've got it dying back down to around the cook temp for the brisket.

The brisket, I'm gonna toss it on the, uh, bottom portion of the Lang

and let it ride throughout the night.

What temperature are you plannin' on cookin' at?

Gonna run it at about 250.

I don't plan on doin' a hot and fast cook.

And, uh…

-250 degrees? -Yes, ma'am.

-On a 17-pound brisket? -Yes, ma'am.

We might have to bump the temp up.

Ms. Sylvie says you might have to bump the temp up a bit.

-We just gotta see what happens. - Okay.

They're so worried about the whole hog

that they forgot the brisket.

It's eight hours left, neither one of 'em got their briskets on yet.

And brisket takes longer.

And we got 'em some big ol' 17-pound packers.

Takes me 14 hours to cook 'em.

Tina said she's gonna do a hot and fast. Okay, show me.

But Rasheed said he's still gonna do it slow and low at 240.

If you can cook a 17-pound brisket low and slow at 240 in eight hours…

I'mma call his ass Superman.

We are about to get Charlotte on for her big night.

Now I am just cutting some strips of smoked bacon

to cover up some of the more tender portions.

I wanna make sure that they're not burnt.

- Or dry. -Or dry. Pork protects pork.

-Okay, right here. Uh… -She tight enough?

Doin' this is keepin' the pork controllable,

'cause, as it cooks, it's gonna hopefully…

become tender.

And as it becomes tender, the meat's gonna wanna fall here and there,

and I don't want it ending up in the fire.

Doing this will also…

um, give us a handle so we don't have to grab onto the meat itself.

-Feel good about it? -Yeah, I'm good.

Let's set it on the brick.

-All right, now… for the flip.

-Oof. - Good.

All righty, let's put her on.

Ooh!

One, two, three!

My God. It's so wide!

-Can you get it? -Yeah.

Okay.

Oh!

I see Rasheed and them wrap theirs in a blanket of chicken wire.

Well, ours is already on.

You can't very well do that now. So I'm really worried about that.

-My main concern for Tina…

is how is she going to get that hog out of that cinder block pit?

Because she did not put anything underneath it to be able to lift it out.

- Careful, this one might be hot. - Yeah.

It is a little bit.

So I'm gettin' Ms. Tina's brisket on for her.

We're gonna do these hot and fast

so I wanna get this thing up to at least 300, 325 degrees.

Brisket's in my forte.

That's a gimme, except for the time.

I'm gonna use a hot and fast method.

At least, hot and fast to me.

Not ten hours. I'm gonna do, like, six, seven hours.

Has it went up at all?

Maybe ten degrees?

- Are we good? - I think so.

Just load up on some more wood,

keep that burn barrel burnin' and, uh, leave it alone.

So, Rasheed, I will tell you, with his hog…

I noticed, when he butterflied it, and he did this on purpose,

he cut all the way through the backbone into the loin.

- Yeah. -Which… I've already told them,

I wanna be served loin,

and it's gonna be shot if he's not careful.

I'm concerned about Tina. Tina doesn't know where the loin is.

Yeah.

Come on, you gotta know the anatomy of a hog in order to cook whole hog,

-number one. -Yeah. Yeah.

In this whole hog, I'm looking for very moist loins.

That tends to be the easiest muscle to overcook,

simply because it's the smallest.

But it is a wonderful piece of meat to have properly seasoned.

So I wanna have a flavorful loin that has lots of moisture.

The secret to cookin' whole hog

is getting the shoulders done, keeping the ham from dryin' out,

-because it's so lean. - Yeah.

But maintainin' the integrity of the loin,

-because it is such a small piece of meat. -Yes. Yes.

-Oh, they're lookin' good. - Talk to me about this brisket.

-What's your secret? -Oh, my God. I mean, a brisket, for me,

it has to be tender, smoked good, seasoned good.

My brisket has to have that jiggle, more bounce to the ounce.

Good smoke ring on it.

You know what I mean? Tender. You can just pull it apart.

Need no teeth to eat my beef, pardner.

Brisket's on, butt's on, belly's on.

I feel accomplished.

My concern with Rasheed is that brisket.

I think the brisket is a second thought for him right now.

But we did put it on a bit later.

I lost track of time, so I don't know where we are.

He got it on way late.

He's tryin' to cook low and slow. That will not work.

-Tina is smart. - That's what I'm sayin'.

She's cookin' hot and fast at a high temperature

and Rasheed is cookin' at 245, 250.

-Oh… -Argh!

I think one of them might lose this challenge because of the brisket.

-I don't think this is hot enough.

I think I need to put some coals on there. I really do.

I'm tryin' to cook the hog evenly and it's not. It dipped 25 degrees.

I-- I wasn't gone five minutes.

Twenty-five degrees!

I was tryin' to keep it at 250. It dipped down to, like, 210.

Then it would go up to 300.

What's my temp?

Oh, man, it's too frickin' hot. Great.

It was-- It was like a roller-coaster. It was very difficult. Just not workin'.

And now this one has adjusted from 190-somethin' to 179.

Pork has a lotta intramuscular fat,

so rendering that fat is the key.

Tina's gonna have a tough time rendering that fat

if she doesn't keep a constant temperature on that hog.

Hmm. We might have some chewy pork.

I'mma try my best to get this side caught up for you.

I'm thankful Ashley's here.

I'm not gonna get any of these sides done. You gotta stay out here and manage it.

No sleepin'.

Getting wood, feeding wood. Getting wood, feeding wood.

Mop, get wood, feed wood, mop. Over and over and over.

Oh, my God.

Whew!

I hope Tina and Rasheed remain energetic,

and they don't crash…

-Yeah. -…and lose track of the four sides.

Yeah.

Pork belly mac and cheese.

Pulled pork and beans.

Um… There's somethin' else we wrote out there. I just don't remember it.

-It was potatoes. -Ah!

-That's what it was!

I still got a lot to do.

I'm gonna get my sauces done and my, uh, beans goin'.

Still got time to panic.

Let's see if it's time to flip this hog over.

It's lookin' good.

I'm tryin' to think. The best way to flip this…

-Hello. How are y'all? - Hello.

- About to flip your hog? - Yes, ma'am.

It's very tricky to flip a whole hog.

It could easily start falling apart, and that's not what I want.

This is my official first whole hog flippin'.

One, two, three!

I did it!

The hog did not fall apart.

I don't think that looks bad at all.

And seeing the charred bacon makes me feel good,

'cause it means it did its job of protecting what it should have protected.

So what are the temperatures right now when you flipped it?

Ham, 125.

-And the shoulder, 116. - They're hard to read.

All right.

Is that where you feel like the temperature should be?

Instead of 116, I want it at 120,

but I feel like we can still make it happen

without rushing too, too much.

Don't leave this uncovered any longer than you have to.

-Good luck. -Thank you, ma'am.

Uh-oh.

The thermometer's readin' 116, but it needs to be at 185.

He needs to put more coals under the shoulder

than he does the ham, and he doesn't have it there.

There we go.

Still not there.

- Close, but not… - Not there yet.

It's got jiggle. Not a lot of wiggle.

For Rasheed,

-my main concern is his brisket. -Yeah.

He got it on late.

He's gonna have to pull every trick out of the book

-in order to get that brisket done… -Yes!

…in the time that he has remaining.

I don't mind cheating it…

tossing it in foil.

-I mean, what we got? Five hours? -Oh, Lord.

Rasheed's runnin' behind on his brisket.

I see him wrappin' it in butcher paper and foil.

Uh, that could be a horrible error. Foil stings it.

That could dry it out and make that meat rubbery.

- Top is reading 225? - Yeah.

All right. I'mma put one more load in there, 'cause I wanna get it to 275.

Our big boy Rasheed might be in a little trouble.

I've got the alarm set to go off at 1:20. We're gettin' close.

Time to flip, 'cause if you wait too late to flip a hog, it's too hot.

Even just, like, a pot roast, it's gonna fall apart.

-This is very heavy. - And it's hot.

And it's hot, yeah.

You gonna flip it this way?

-Little bit--

- Oh--

- Uh-oh. We lost a trotter. - A trotter.

-Don't worry. - All right.

It's not somethin we'll eat, anyway.

- You gonna catch it? - Yeah.

- Okay. - Grab it.

- Mm-hm! - I'll just flip it.

- Okay. Oh-- - Oh, God.

So we lost two trotters. Okay.

Rookie mistake when cookin' on a cinder block pit.

You have to place something over the grate, underneath the hog,

in order to be able to…

flip it or to get it off.

Didn't think that one through.

-We got enough? - Yep.

I'm already tired. I've been up I don't know how many hours.

- Don't that look pretty? -Yeah. They're not jigglin', though.

-Not yet. -Oh, they'll be jiggly.

I haven't even sat down.

I've laid down to feed the fire.

I haven't even had any coffee.

Can I-- Can I request another one of those Starbucks things?

This final challenge takes a lot of mental fortitude.

It's been a long night. I've faced all types of challenges,

from fluctuating temperatures, coal sources…

Everything's going on.

It can play tricks on your mind.

I'm just tryin' to remember…

my whole dish.

I'm not firing on all cylinders at this exact moment, I'm sorry.

I'm makin' mac and cheese.

Nothin' melts like Velveeta.

I'm delirious.

I've been up all night. I'm exhausted.

I'm hot. I haven't had a cup of coffee.

I needed to get my energy back, 'cause it wasn't over yet.

I need to get these sides done.

This, uh, hoecake recipe, my paw-paw used to make.

It's kinda like a pancake made out of cornbread,

but it's not sweet.

And I'mma put okra and onions in it.

I'm about to make my sauce for the hog.

Starts with ketchup.

I think a lot of barbecue sauces start with ketchup.

Don't tell anybody.

As part of the challenge, we have to have two varying sauces,

so I'm doing a mustard sauce that's gonna have a little bit of heat.

I just thought doin' a mustard-based sauce would be different.

I know Melissa isn't very fond of vinegar-type sauces,

so I'm tryin' to get as close to vinegar without it being directly vinegar.

And I hope me takin' a chance will allow me to stand out.

The sweet sauce is done. Elbows for the macaroni's boiled.

Purple potatoes. Why not?

They look cool.

Hog's comin' to temp.

Sun's startin' to break, so I know my time with Ms. Sylvie's runnin' low.

Let's taste these never-ending, not-getting-done hard beans.

It's, uh… takin' forever.

And I don't know why!

Too much salt on the pork.

I'm adding tomato paste to the pork in the pot

to see if it knocks down that saltiness.

Last thing I wanna do is serve something extra salty.

I'm runnin' about ten minutes behind on my peach cobbler.

I'm prayin'…

that this is done.

There's no tomorrow after this. All this ends today.

Good mornin' to you two!

- Good morning. - Morning.

Y'all look great for stayin' up all night. How was it?

Last night was incredible.

You should have seen 'em workin'.

-They've burned more wood down to coal… -Yes.

…than any full-on barbecue contest I have been to in years.

We're just gonna-- We're just gonna take it off.

That way, we can see what it looks like.

See, look how it's bubblin'. Oh, no, my skin.

It's burnt, and I'm sad, because I wanted

this beautiful presentation for Melissa,

because she knows…

pork.

-I know the skin ain't where you want it. -No.

Don't worry about that skin.

Worry about the meat.

Oh, they're not tender. 168.

169, risin'.

You have to cook meat at a constant temperature and my pit…

is not maintaining a temperature at all.

I mean, I'm second-guessin' myself on everything,

'cause, uh… Rasheed doesn't seem worried over there.

-You wanna tent it? -Have I got time?

Let's do it.

Get to 195, we're good. It's comin' up. Don't worry. That's gonna work.

If I can't keep this hog temperature even

and get it done perfectly,

I'm outta here.

-We got wood-- -You got this. Don't go cryin' on me.

-Okay?

-Oh! -Come here.

-I'm just gettin' tired. -You got this, okay?

-Yeah. -You-- You hear me?

Yeah.

I wanna see you come home with a big trophy and a big smile, okay?

-I got this. -You got it. I know you do.

-No doubt in my mind.

I appreciate you bossin' me around.

I need it. I hate to see you leave.

-Thank you for all your help, Ms. Sylvie. -You're welcome. You're welcome.

-Thirty minutes, cookers!

I have been so excited for this moment.

I have been a kid in a candy store. I've been wantin' to run over there.

I've been wantin' to see. I've been wantin' to feel. You have no idea.

I am so happy for these guys.

I am so proud of them.

I haven't seen Rasheed's. It's not as pretty as I'd hoped, y'all.

I'm just praying that it tastes good, 'cause it does smell good.

-Fifteen minutes, Rasheed! - Yes, ma'am.

This whole competition is kind of culminating

into this one moment of utopia.

Mm!

What an honor to judge this.

The part I was worried about bein' done.

My hams…

…taste really good.

Oh! Yes, sir.

I'm okay with that.

Oh, yeah. I got jiggle.

I'm gonna try to identify a loin.

I don't know where the loin is. Oh…

Shoulders.

I think this is it. Okay.

Found the loin!

-Hot! -You okay?

Yep, just hot!

-Don't burn yourself. -Ah!

I feel really good about the brisket.

The whole hog pulled really well.

Loin.

Depending on what the judges say,

I may be able to start calling myself a pitmaster.

I'm feelin' good about this.

One minute, everybody.

Boy, when this is over, I could use a cup of coffee!

-A cup of coffee? I could use a drink.

-45 seconds. -Aah!

It-- It smells good and it looks good.

Ten, nine, eight, seven…

six, five, four, three…

two, one…

Show me the meat!

Whoo!

- Oh!

Aah…

- All right! -Morning!

- Hi, guys. - Yay!

I have been anticipating this with great expectations…

and it looks fantastic.

Everything looks good. This is the finale.

This is it. I'm so impressed by y'all.

-Thank you. - So impressed.

A little over 12 hours ago, you started with a pallet of cinder blocks…

and look at everything you have created here for us.

Just lookin' at everything you accomplished, I'm in awe.

I don't know about the rest of y'all, but I'm ready to dig in.

Yeah, I'm ready to grub.

Tina, why don't you tell us about your food that you have here?

I'll start with my hog I named Pearl,

and y'all probably know why.

I injected my hog with apple cider vinegar, apple juice,

-pineapple juice, salt, sugar.

And then my brisket, I made up a rub that was pretty simple,

and then I smoked it with pecan and hickory

and, uh… made a sauce that's like a coffee cowboy sauce.

I made hoecakes with okra,

pinto beans, some creamed corn with a little bit of spice,

and then, uh, macaroni and cheese with Ritz crackers

and peach cobbler with buttermilk for the crust.

Tina…

the hardest part of cookin' a hog is maintainin' the integrity of the loin.

And you nailed it, girl.

Wow. You know, I could hardly even find it. I was…

Last minute, I think, "Oh, here it is!" I finally found it.

I'm glad you found it.

The shoulder, as well, has really good texture.

The ham, for me, is just a hair dry.

Now, that brisket…

Now, see, somethin' lookin' like this is not good for asparagus.

-But it's damn good for brisket.

Yeah. Has to look like crap.

I mean, look at that.

It's like tearin' paper.

I thought the flavor could have been just a bit more,

but this is good brisket.

But the cowboy coffee sauce, I could have totally did without that.

Your hoecakes with okra and onion, just a little bland for me.

The beans were real good.

The macaroni and cheese, I mean, I'm a mac and cheese addict

and the Ritz cracker crust, for me, is, you know…

um, um... mac crack, so…

But, girl, this peach cobbler.

Mm. I'll see y'all later.

And I've never had peach cobbler with buttermilk crust.

That made your peach cobbler really, really stand out,

-Okay? - Oh, gosh. Thank you.

- Delicious. -What are you doin'?

So if-if this was somebody's first time bein' here,

they would know why you're in the finale.

Well, I did say a prayer when I was in the ladies room this morning.

I was happy that Melissa loved my pork,

and I'm very happy that Kevin likes my brisket.

But they were not real thrilled with one of my sauces.

They thought maybe a little more seasoning on this.

And then I'm lookin' at Rasheed's. His stuff looked great.

I'm really thinkin' this can go either way.

Rasheed, your final barbecue spread looks amazing.

I call this "Philip's final feast."

Starting with the whole hog, which I've never done before,

using a nice simple rub, and then just mopped throughout the cook.

My brisket, four-peppercorn, salt and garlic rub.

And then some smoked pulled pork mac and cheese,

my purple potatoes, pork and beans,

and cheesy, creamy cornbread with mozzarella drops.

And my sauces actually go-- Intermingle.

You can use them on either one of the meats.

I have my own version of a mustard sauce

as well as my "sweet heat."

And my dessert is my poor man's apple cobbler.

So I'm really excited to see what you guys think about it.

- Rasheed… -Ma'am?

Your hog, when I saw you flip it…

had the most beautiful color.

I knew right then and there that I was gonna get some great pork,

and I wasn't disappointed.

The Dijon mustard sauce…

was brilliant.

Totally not barbecue.

But it is very complementary to the pork.

The pork is a little dry.

A little overcooked.

But the flavors that you gave me are outstanding.

For me, it's a lot of dry mixed in with a lot of moist.

But the flavors-- You got good flavor on it.

Your brisket is spot on, baby. I-- I was really worried about it at first.

You know, specially when you double wrapped it.

I would've liked a little bit more bark on it, but this…

Once again, I'll eat this brisket anywhere.

-Thank you. -You know? This is good.

It's juicy, flavorful. It still has beautiful smoke.

But it just lost all bark.

But the purple potatoes were a genius move.

- Thank you. -Beautiful.

People eat with their eyes, and if it looks good, it tastes better.

Thank you.

Yeah, your pork belly mac and cheese, you know, I mean, that's excellent.

-Thank you. -Excellent.

Your poor man cobbler,

a rich man'd eat this and be happy about it.

Ahem!

-Get off my stuff. -I'm gonna have that.

Rasheed, while I'm gettin' gangstered up, you should be proud, son.

-Thank you, sir. -Good job, man.

I had a few missteps, it seems,

but they seemed to really enjoy the flavors for the meats.

I feel like Ms. Tina's-- We're both pretty neck-and-neck at this moment.

Y'all know what time this is.

It's been a long night. Why don't you two head over to the pits?

Sit back, relax for a few minutes one last time…

while the judges make their decision.

- Good job. - Thank you for all of this.

- Thank you. - Thanks.

Thank you for a wonderful ride.

Aah!

So here we are.

Tina and Rasheed…

it has been one amazing journey.

And one of you is about to be crowned the Best Barbecuer in America.

Overall, we threw so much at you.

You had to build your own pit.

You had to cook a whole hog, which you had never done,

thrown in with a brisket, four sides, two sauces and the dessert.

The techniques that it takes in order to do those things…

are things that veterans of 25 years do not know.

We watched both of you from day one.

Tina, we watched you…

just as elegant and as beautiful…

and full of I don't know what,

-with-with the drama every single day.

You try your best to get as much out of me and Melissa--

"What d'you think? What d'you think?"

But what got you here is that you are an incredible cook.

-Thank you. - And my boy Rasheed,

if I had to give you a name, I would call you the Gentleman Smoker.

-Yes. - Because you have been a gentleman

throughout this whole process, you know.

And I-- I can't say it enough. We are such fans of y'all.

I mean, you got some of the barbecue ghosts in heaven just dancin' right now.

All I can say is thank you, guys.

-Thank you. -Thank you for allowin' us

to be part of such a great journey.

-Thank you. -Thank you.

Kevin and I were very, very impressed by both of you today.

It really is neck-and-neck.

But what it ultimately came down to was brisket.

The Best Barbecuer in America is…

Congratulations…

Tina!

- All right!

Well done.

- Good job, Tina. -…my lucky pearl!

I'm America's barbecue champion!

Whoo!

I did it!

- I'm so proud of you.

I came here to prove that women can barbecue, just like the guys.

They can compete, just like the guys.

I'm walkin' away a winner.

I'm about to cry.

-Rasheed. -Sir.

Let me tell you somethin'. There are no losers today.

You have a whole future ahead of you.

Thank you, sir.

Good job, buddy.

Comin' in second to Ms. Tina is…

…what should happen.

She's done far more competitions.

She has this experience.

The fact that I came in second to a barbecuer like Ms. Tina is an honor.

To two barbecue addicts like me,

who have barbecue sauce runnin' through their veins…

whom I deeply, deeply admire.

You are truly welcome at my pit any time.

-To barbecue! - To barbecue!

Whoo!