Chopped 2018

[mlp]

At least the chopsticks were nowhere in sight.  

What  bothers me most of all is that awful, horrible, grating rap commercial about Martha Stewart being the new judge on Chopped which seems to come on every 10 minutes.  Anyone interested knows that by now.  Enough already.

[stormy]

Well at least no chopsticks for Martha but Jeffrey was sporting them.

Plus he was extra obnoxious in last night's episode.

[nitrofishblue]

At least this time just one chef did the Martha gushing. How many more episode are we going to be forced to watch her?

[cooksdelight]

I’ll say one thing for Martha. She’s surpassed Alex at giving the stinkeye.

[LazyToaster]

Here's what I don't like about Geoffrey - his many personalities.  On chopped he's so professional and serious and critical - very judge-like.  On Cooks vs. Cons he's zany and crazy and jokey.  On The Kitchen he's the solid, tie & jacket guy who acts like the grown-up vs. Jeff Mauro's crazy kid act.  Who  is the real Geoffrey?  I'm sure he's a great chef (Iron Chef after all) - but, even acknowledging he's on TV and producers tell you what to do, I don't trust or like someone who is SO different depending on where they are.

If I were the other chef judges I would resent like crazy all the attention and automatic street cred given to Martha.  Why does Martha get to spout off facts like they came from above ALL the damn time?  

Chopped - I know you could do better...

[jcbrown]

I wanted to see Martha try to eat that veal with chopsticks.

[Rammchick]

Tell me Zakarian wasn't really eating cheesecake with chopsticks?!?!  Geez, how pretentious can you get?

[cooksdelight]

I think he secretly wants to get it on with Martha.

[meowmommy]

22 hours ago, cooksdelight said:

I think he secretly wants to get it on with Martha.

You need to pass the brain bleach, now!

On 7/17/2018 at 9:49 AM, LazyToaster said:

If I were the other chef judges I would resent like crazy all the attention and automatic street cred given to Martha.  Why does Martha get to spout off facts like they came from above ALL the damn time?  

Isn't that the truth?  They are actual chefs, while Martha's an ex-caterer, ostentatious purveyor of lifestyle, and convicted felon.

I don't usually like Very Special episodes, but at least Martha wasn't there for the firefighters.  Ted's all, I've got such a wonderful surprise for you, but it turns out the corporate sponsor donating $25K to the corporate sponsor's own charity, which will go somewhere, but not necessarily to the competitors or their firehouses.  That's a Very Food Network type of surprise.

[LazyToaster]

4 minutes ago, meowmommy said:

I don't usually like Very Special episodes, but at least Martha wasn't there for the firefighters.  Ted's all, I've got such a wonderful surprise for you, but it turns out the corporate sponsor donating $25K to the corporate sponsor's own charity, which will go somewhere, but not necessarily to the competitors or their firehouses.  That's a Very Food Network type of surprise.

I know - right?  It would have been more meaningful if those 4 firehouses were getting new equipment (and sorry, but more believable too).   

[awaken]

Chef David scared me a bit.  Maybe he's a perfectly sweet guy, but he seemed filled with supressed rage.  "I am what all chefs should aspire to be." 

That was awkward with him proposing at the end of the appetizer round- the camera paused for a moment and then they all just turned around and walked away.  Wah, wah, wah.  I was thinking he'd get chopped, or otherwise there would be no chance for him to do his proposal!  I wonder how that went over with his (hopefully now) fiancee!  

[jcbrown]

I was disappointed that this year's Grillmaster tournament evidently does not include the use of grills.

[Westiepeach]

1 hour ago, jcbrown said:

I was disappointed that this year's Grillmaster tournament evidently does not include the use of grills.

Wait, what? No grills?

[jcbrown]

43 minutes ago, Westiepeach said:

Wait, what? No grills?

Grill pans on the stovetop, at least for the first episode and I would expect they'd be consistent. That's a rather different skill set than cooking using live fire.

Edited August 4, 2018 by jcbrown

[mlp]

I'm even more disappointed that they aren't holding the grilling competition in beautiful wine country as they've done in the past.  The scenery was one of the best things in the episodes.  I suppose it was a lot cheaper to do it in NYC.  And shill for Bush's Beans.

[Rammchick]

I suspect they had too many problems with that location.  It was always cold and windy.  But despite the new setup of choosing one winner from 4 different barbeque styles to go head to head in the finale, one thing is for certain.  No matter how much they may say otherwise, the overall winner will be someone with a fine dining background.

[cooksdelight]

They should have the grilling contests in Kent Rollins’ camp. He has chuckwagon cooking classes, and you get to sleep in a real teepee. His beagle Bonehead is there, Bertha the honest-to-God chuckwagon is there also. And Kent’s wonderful wife, Shannon. To me... that would be an ideal setting.

[Rammchick]

Ok, totally shocked that the restaurant chef from North Carolina was chopped.  

[nitrofishblue]

The Memphis competition was one of the dullest,, uninspired shows. None of the dishes looked appetizing. Dull and flat would be the best description.. All the judges were fawning over the Memphis flavor but it was hard to see any seasonings on the food. This was supposed to be grilling competition. All it has turned into a grill pan competition. Put a few grill marks on the food and BAM and it qualifies as grilled. Sad

[meowmommy]

10 hours ago, nitrofishblue said:

All it has turned into a grill pan competition. Put a few grill marks on the food and BAM and it qualifies as grilled. Sad

ITA.  I know they had logistical issues (like weather) when they did the grilling competition in the great outdoors, but it added so much to the atmosphere.  This feels like a pretend grillmaster contest, especially in the Chopped kitchen that on a good day looks like a damn dungeon (about time to bring in the Chopped Canada set).  By these standards, anyone could be a griller.  With the focus on regional competitors, each semi-final might have been held somewhere in that region, maybe in a BBQ restaurant.

When Chris went on about the mole sauce, it reminded me that Aaaarrrrroooon's not there any more.  It was always his job to bitch about someone's mole sauce.

I was skeptical of Ernie's claim to have invented BBQ nachos, but apparently it's true.

[OrchidThief]

If one more female contestant whines "no one takes me seriously because I'm soooo preeettttttttty...(or small, or have pigtails; subtext, did you notice I'm soooo preeeetttttty...yet? Apparently not, so lemme tell you 12 more times...)" First, you may not be preeettttty at all. Second, I will projectile barf. 

If you're afraid of being dissed, Rule #1 is to avoid bringing attention to that imaginary feature. And inevitably, delightfully, the delicate snowflakes get chopped. 'Cause they're just toooooo preeeeetttttttty! The told ya so up front!

[cooksdelight]

16 hours ago, OrchidThief said:

If you're afraid of being dissed

Don’t go on a television show where your talents, or lack thereof, will be displayed to millions.

[GaT]

Just watched the Texas Grill Masters episode, & these people were woefully unprepared for Chopped. After the first round Chris Santos told them all that he was there for the Memphis & North Carolina rounds & that they would get smoked if they didn't raise their game. They just all seem lost.

[nitrofishblue]

That Texas group was one of the worst I have ever watched on Chopped. That first round was so sad. Not one of them knew how to think out of the box. They all wanted to SHOW OFF their grill skills and they all failed. It sort was which one was the worst out of four really bad dishes. I was happy to see Joe win over Stephen. Stephen grated on every nerve I have with his attitude. Don't think Joe will go far in the finals if he doesn't step up his game.

[mlp]

I agree with both comments above.  I think the highlight of the show was the guy in the hat getting chopped.  Ernest has really cleaned up well.  He was an ugly, sweaty mess when he won his championship.  I don't usually like beards but he looked a lot better.

Love Chris Santos.  He tells it like it is.

[spiderpig]

mlp speaks for me.  Texas is a B-I-G state, and this is the best they could come up with?  Even without the revolting mealy worms, nothing they made was remotely appetizing.

[Rammchick]

I was pleasantly surprised to see that the judges' deliberations after each round, not just at the end, were added back to the show.  Not sure when that happened but I just noticed.  Even though they're reiterating a lot of what they said when they tasted the dishes, I found that I missed this aspect of the judging.

ETA:  Apparently the sweets episode I was referencing was from 2015, despite being shown now as a new one.  Oh well.  

Edited August 29, 2018 by Rammchick

[sharifa70]

Texas isn’t the “biggest state,” Leonard.

[nitrofishblue]

My, that finale was one of the most uninspired episode I have ever watched. The appetizer and entree rounds consisted of a slab of meat "grilled" on stovetop metal grill pan with some sort of side. Where was the originality? For a championship round I was left with a very blah feeling. Maybe I have been spoiled because I watch the show regularly. The entire show format needs a facelift. Please lighten up the set. Right now it is so dark and depressing. I really liked the set of Chopped Canada.

[ZoqFotPik]

On 8/28/2018 at 8:14 AM, Rammchick said:

I was pleasantly surprised to see that the judges' deliberations after each round, not just at the end, were added back to the show.  Not sure when that happened but I just noticed.  Even though they're reiterating a lot of what they said when they tasted the dishes, I found that I missed this aspect of the judging.

ETA:  Apparently the sweets episode I was referencing was from 2015, despite being shown now as a new one.  Oh well.  

Yeah, they have been retitling old episodes as "Chopped: Sweets" for a little while now.

 

It always amazes me when people put these giant slabs of meat on the grill and then are shocked that it doesn't cook all the way through in 20-30 minutes. Not surprised that the Texas guy went first. It was very clear in the preliminaries that none of the Texas chefs were that great. Not at all surprised the New York restaurant chef won.

[mlp]

Quote

Not at all surprised the New York restaurant chef won.

New York?  I thought he was a BBQ guy from Memphis.  What did I miss?  Wherever he was from, I'm glad he won.  He did very well in his preliminary round and I thought he was easily the best of the bunch.  

I must say that I enjoyed the grilling specials a lot more when they filmed outdoors in wine country.  Cooking on stovetop grills in that dingy Chopped kitchen isn't the same at all.

[ZoqFotPik]

I think he grew up in Memphis, but currently works in a restaurant in New York.

[nitrofishblue]

I rewatched the Texas episode before the finale. My hubby watched also. He even commented on bad that overall group was.  I really got tired of the chefs in all four preliminary battles going on and on and on and on about how  great their bbq was. Yet, you couldn't convince me of that from the plates they put out. This was the worst grillmaster competition they have had. I saw very little imagination in their dishes. The chefs in the Texas group had so much trouble thinking outside the box during the appetizer round. They all just threw that hunk of meat on the grill plate then where so surprised when it didn't cook all the way through.

[meowmommy]

9 hours ago, ZoqFotPik said:

Yeah, they have been retitling old episodes as "Chopped: Sweets" for a little while now.

I started to watch it, and then I recognized the towering cake of fondant, and deleted it.

13 hours ago, nitrofishblue said:

Please lighten up the set. Right now it is so dark and depressing. I really liked the set of Chopped Canada.

Yes, yes, and yes.  They've spent so much effort gimmicking up the baskets and the format and nothing to make the set interesting.  The worst things they've done are cheaping out on the prizes, refusing to make sure there's enough equipment for everyone (no, getting to make ice cream shouldn't be a blood sport), keeping the same dungeon set after 40 seasons (who remembers when a season meant one year!), and cutting the judges' commentary after each round in favor of the cheftestants' banal remarks/more commercials.  I understand that they have to pay their bills, but half the commercials are just promos for other shows.  

9 hours ago, mlp said:

I thought he was a BBQ guy from Memphis.  What did I miss?  Wherever he was from, I'm glad he won.

They gave so much talking head time to Stephanie, both during her initial competition and here, that it seemed a sure bet she would win.  

[luvapickle]

10 hours ago, meowmommy said:

I started to watch it, and then I recognized the towering cake of fondant, and deleted it.

Yes, yes, and yes.  They've spent so much effort gimmicking up the baskets and the format and nothing to make the set interesting.  The worst things they've done are cheaping out on the prizes, refusing to make sure there's enough equipment for everyone (no, getting to make ice cream shouldn't be a blood sport), keeping the same dungeon set after 40 seasons (who remembers when a season meant one year!), and cutting the judges' commentary after each round in favor of the cheftestants' banal remarks/more commercials.  I understand that they have to pay their bills, but half the commercials are just promos for other shows.  

They gave so much talking head time to Stephanie, both during her initial competition and here, that it seemed a sure bet she would win.  

Yea, the 1 ice cream machine gets me every time. Even on the baking competitions, they each have their own ice cream machine. It's all food network, couldn't they move Chopped into that big space???

[luvapickle]

I don't know if I miss it at the beginning or if it was in the rules, that they don't air but: was there at any time a rule, that just because they were from a particular area(Memphis, TX, KC etc) that the chefs HAD to stick to that style of grilling/BBQ? Because inevitably one of the judges would say, this doesn't represent the ? style of BBQ.  And I get that they brought in a special judge for each one. But I went back, & they never specifically say it has to. The basket ingredients & grilling were the only specifications.

[mlp]

I wondered about that  ^^^^^^^  myself.  I never heard Ted say anything about style during his rules comments.  I suppose the chefs could have been told behind the scenes but, if so, that should have been clarified for viewers.

[jcbrown]

59 minutes ago, mlp said:

I wondered about that  ^^^^^^^  myself.  I never heard Ted say anything about style during his rules comments.  I suppose the chefs could have been told behind the scenes but, if so, that should have been clarified for viewers.

And there was that one female guest judge that had a total stick up her arse about how all the dishes had to represent her particular style of barbecue. If it's a rule, say so. If it's not, shut up. Another reason that this particular "grilling" series was a total fail.

[luvapickle]

5 minutes ago, jcbrown said:

And there was that one female guest judge that had a total stick up her arse about how all the dishes had to represent her particular style of barbecue. If it's a rule, say so. If it's not, shut up. Another reason that this particular "grilling" series was a total fail.

Yes! That one annoyed me the most, because she kept saying it. 

[nitrofishblue]

OH NO, the new show tonight is a kid chef event. Sorry, I really don't enjoy watching kids cook. I think it is their attitude that turns me off.

[Rammchick]

What happened to Chopped Jr?  Why were there kids on the adult Chopped?

[MajorWoody]

On 8/22/2018 at 2:12 AM, GaT said:

Just watched the Texas Grill Masters episode, & these people were woefully unprepared for Chopped. After the first round Chris Santos told them all that he was there for the Memphis & North Carolina rounds & that they would get smoked if they didn't raise their game. They just all seem lost.

 

Very interesting in hindsight, as the Texas dude was the first to go (and rightly so) in the finale. 

 

Also interesting that a BBQ challenge based on four regional different styles, with 15 of the contestants from the specific regions, featured a winner who was from NYC. 

[mlp]

Quote

 I really don't enjoy watching kids cook. I think it is their attitude that turns me off.

For me, it depends on the kid (and I'm not automatically crazy about kids in the first place).  I pretty much wanted to slap little miss smug and superior last night.  I was tickled that she lost to the Jewish girl who keeps kosher and seemed like a nice kid.  When she (the girl who came in second) said she doesn't like anyone in the kitchen when she's cooking and asks anyone there to leave, that told me everything I needed to know about how she's spoiled and indulged.  I was hoping one of the judges would point out that she's kind of missing the point about cooking.

[spiderpig]

OK, BBQ competitions are alright for an occasional special and a chance for Ted (whom I love to death) to put on his cowboy duds.  But how can you continue to make this interesting?  It's meat and a grill.

[sharifa70]

10 hours ago, mlp said:

When she (the girl who came in second) said she doesn't like anyone in the kitchen when she's cooking and asks anyone there to leave, that told me everything I needed to know about how she's spoiled and indulged. 

I wasn’t crazy about her as a competitor, but I didn’t read that as spoiled. I generally don’t like other people in the kitchen when I cook, either. With me it’s not about being a diva - I just have all the steps and timings in my head and I find other people to be a distraction (though they’re welcome to hang out and chat while I cook).

...Then again, I don’t aspire to cook for a living where I’d have to cook with other people.

[mlp]

Quote

I wasn’t crazy about her as a competitor, but I didn’t read that as spoiled. I generally don’t like other people in the kitchen when I cook, either. 

Yes, but I'm assuming that you're an adult and it's your kitchen.  She's 12.  That implies that she's telling adults what to do in their own home and that they're complying.  That's the way I interpreted her comment anyway. 

[cooksdelight]

I don’t watch the kid versions. Please tell me they don’t call the kids “chef”?

[spiderpig]

2 hours ago, cooksdelight said:

I don’t watch the kid versions. Please tell me they don’t call the kids “chef”?

Thank you, cooks.  I don't either.  The positive aspect is it frees up more time to walk the dog.

[RealityCheck]

Food Network October 2018 Highlight

Quote

Past Chopped winners re-enter the kitchen for another chance at the ultimate title on the tournament premiere of Chopped Champions on Tuesday, October 9th at 9pm.

[Colleenna]

So... is Mahhhhtha still a judge? I haven't watched since she became one of the judges and won't watch until SHE. GOES. AWAY.