I was lucky enough to be the winner winner chicken dinner of 2 tickets to this glorious culinary showdown and I loved every minute of it. First off, let me explain what a pitmaster is, because when I told my dad about this event, he thought I was talking about going to a rap concert (I guess he was thinking of Pitbull? Idk).
The Pitmaster Throwdown is all about the barbecue and in this case it’s solely barbecue chicken. In this competition, the competitors brought their own grilling and smoking techniques to the table to create unique dishes with a smoky kick. I can tell you that they did it right because my hair still smells like barbecue a day later and I don’t hate it.
What is Culinary Fight Club?
Culinary Fight Club is a national organization that pits home cooks and professional chefs alike against one another for a good cause. The proceeds from the event support Fight2Feed, which is a non-profit organization on a mission to end hunger across the U.S.
At every Fight Club event, the chefs have 45 seconds to get their ingredients from a very limited pantry (pictured above) and then battle it out in 60 minutes of cooking. The other interesting part about Fight Club is that the chefs have to bring their own tools.
For this Pitmaster Challenge specifically, the chefs got very creative with their choice of grills and smokers. One of the contestants (the wildcard, Chef Jeremy Holst) was specifically bragging about his grill being from Walmart. The photo above is him trying to save his beloved Walmart grill from the torrential downpour.
The Judges
The funniest part of watching the judges in action was seeing them all wipe their beards after they sampled the food. There was no shortage of judging experience or facial hair on this panel.
From the left, we have Jack Waitboer, who is a 10 time Grand Champion Pit Master, co-founder of the Southern Barbecue Network, and co-owner and host for Carolina Pit Masters Barbecue Cooking School. In the middle, we have host and Cheferee Anthony Martorina, who is usually the cheferee for Culinary Fight Club in Chicago, but we were lucky enough to have him here in Charleston for this event.
Next we have Phil Wingo and as his shirt says, he is a proud member of the #porkmafia and is a self-taught pitmaster himself. Last but not least, we have Yelp Charleston’s very own Community Manager, Scott Carpenter. Scott not only boasts over 800 reviews on Yelp, but he also has prior experience judging barbecue competitions. Specifically, he was the judge of the annual Smoke on the Harbor BBQ Throwdown here in Charleston.
The Food
Chef/Owner of Ava’s Lowcountry Cuisine, Ava Evans, created the beautiful dish above. Her mac and cheese was definitely some of the best I’ve ever had. I am pretty sure I had a dream about it last night.
The wildcard contestant, Chef Jeremy Holt from Anson Restaurant, took a creative take on the ingredients by presenting four different parts of the chicken. His Walmart Grill ended up getting a great char on the chicken and the blueberry barbecue sauce added a touch of sweetness and tang to the dish.
Chef Blair Machado (Chef de Cuisine at Indaco) knew the way to everyone’s heart: beer can chicken. Along with the beer can chicken, he served a warm potato salad and some of the best coleslaw I’ve had in my life. Instead of being bland and smothered in mayo, this slaw was crisp and had a kick of spice.
By far the most unique take on the challenge was the barbecue pho from Chef /Owner of Twisted Food, Tripp Rion, and his family. The broth was packed with flavor from the smoky chicken and the veggies added a nice crunch.
Chef Gregg Howard of RightonQue stuck to the tradition of serving barbecue with 2 sides, but of course he had a few twists of his own. The most notable of which was the fried chicken skin on top of his corn succotash. Yeah, you read that right. Fried. Chicken. Skin.
Winner Winner, Chicken Dinner
I bet it was tough for the judges to pick a winner because all of the chefs had their own unique spin on the challenge, and each one was delicious. The chef that I voted for, Blair Machado, was victorious in this Pitmaster Throwdown. I can see why he won because his chicken was juicy, tender, and you could taste the smoke, but it wasn’t overwhelming.
Everything he made was well seasoned and perfectly cooked. I even went back to his table after the contest just to look for any leftovers (guilty). Overall, I am so happy I got to attend this event and I hope to attend an event like this again soon.
