Seasons & episodes

While some challenge dishes on Cutthroat Kitchen are straightforward, like apple pie, a burrito and grilled cheese, the Round 1 plate on tonight’s brand-new episode left some room for interpretation. The task was to create an all-American breakfast in 30 minutes — Alton gave no other instructions and simply let the chefs prepare their own definitions of that morning meal. “Usually it would feature eggs, bread, perhaps a smoked pork product — bacon, ham,” judge Jet Tila said on the latest installment of Alton’s After-Show of his idea of an all-American breakfast. It turns out that nearly all of the competitors held similar beliefs, as three attempted to turn out egg-focused dishes and another offered two takes on toast. Within these plates, however, there existed strong disparities, and each highlighted unique inspirations, including California flair, Southern ingredients and a love of hash.

It’s no secret that success on Cutthroat Kitchen often entails strategy; it’s not enough to show up and cook on this evilicious competition, as at its heart the contest is a game that requires careful manipulation in order to win. While catching up with judge Antonia Lofaso on tonight’s all-new installment of Alton’s After-Show, the host explained that in Round 2′s quiche challenge, two of the remaining chefs could have potentially bettered their own outlooks had they joined forces to sabotage and outcook one rival in particular. “If I’d been playing the game,” Alton said, “and I was Chef Gregory, I would [have] wanted to preserve Chef Bryan, so then I could have killed him in the end.” He mused of Chef Emmanuel, who likely had vast experience in cooking quiche on account of heritage: “Who wants a French guy to be able to fight a quiche battle?” Antonia agreed and suggested later, “They should have all actually ganged up on [Chef Emmanuel].” She added that it was “lights out” once Chef Emmanuel presented a quiche with Gruyere and bacon on account of these naturally rich, flavorful ingredients. ”Everything else could be bad because I put Gruyere and bacon together,” Antonia imagined as Chef Gregory. Read more at: http://blog.foodnetwork.com/fn-dish/2014/03/cutthroat-kitchen-altons-after-show-213/?oc=linkback

While many Cutthroat Kitchen sabotages may be downright evilicious, most are, at least in some way, related to the challenge dish in any given round, and they are often inspired by common ingredients, tools and processes used to make that plate. On tonight’s all-new episode, Alton took that idea one step further during the Round 3 souffle battle when he auctioned off what he deemed “a souffle suit,” an oversize, puffed-up outfit that would force a contestant to match the general qualities of a souffle: rounded and inflated. Chef Millie ultimately found herself victim of the getup, and when judge Simon Majumdar learned of her unfortunate apparel, he told Alton on the host’s After-Show, “The fact that she was able to deliver anything is really remarkable.” Although he was impressed by her ability to cook while dressed up, he couldn’t excuse her dish, which was a sorry attempt at a souffle, as it was wholly without egg whites. “Chef Milly’s was so far away from being a souffle that I just couldn’t make the call any other way,” he explained to Alton of his decision to eliminate Chef Millie. Alton admitted, however, that no matter the outcome, “Chef Millie was an incredible sport” in the face of the sabotage. Read more at: http://blog.foodnetwork.com/fn-dish/2014/03/dressed-to-souffle-altons-after-show/?oc=linkback

For the first time in Cutthroat Kitchen history, Alton Brown welcomed four of the “wickedest winners” back to the contest to see who among them could uphold their victorious records and outcook their competition yet again. After claiming wins in Season 1, Chefs Brian, Charles, Frankie and Gwen took their places at their workstations, confident that they would be able to keep up with their newest culinary rivals — but ultimately only one proved his or her staying power. After three hard-fought rounds that found him making impromptu drinks for Alton, cooking in bed and deep-frying bread pudding, Chef Brian claimed a second Cutthroat win. Jet told Alton on the host’s After-Show that Chef Brian’s cocktail-concoction sabotage was “a giant time killer,” but it was surely not as wow-worthy as his Round 2 challenge, which forced him to prepare a breakfast burrito in bed atop a small cook station. “Are you kidding me?” Jet asked Alton with a smile when he saw the bed rolled in the kitchen. In true Cutthroat fashion, however, Chef Brian recovered from this doozy of a sabotage and survived to offer a deep-fried bread pudding in Round 3 that Jet said “totally worked.” He told Alton, “I questioned [Chef Brian] on ingredients, and he says, ‘Look, everything that’s in a bread pudding is in there.’ … Even if he fried it, [his dish] still was a bread pudding,” Jet added.

From makeshift potato-masher arms and aluminum foil utensils to flavored jelly beans acting as seasonings, Cutthroat Kitchen sabotages are notoriously trying, so much so that many fans have asked if they’re indeed possible to pull off successfully. After more than two seasons of competition, the word is finally out, and the answer is yes: All Cutthroat challenges have been tested by Food Network’s culinary team and deemed doable within the rounds’ 30 minutes of cooking. Beginning with tonight’s all-new episode, you’ll be able to see how some of those assessments are made in a series of Testing the Sabotage videos, which showcase the decision-making process. Read more at: http://blog.foodnetwork.com/fn-dish/2014/03/testing-the-sabotages-309/?oc=linkback

Alton reveals sabotages of pesto pasta and muffins to judge Lofaso

Just last week FN Dish introduced fans to the first in a series of Testing the Sabotage videos that highlight exactly how Cutthroat Kitchen sabotages come to be. So many have questioned whether or not the challenges are indeed possible for competitors to conquer within their time constraints, and with these all-new videos, it’s now clear that the answer is yes; every sabotage Alton auctions off has been vetted by Food Network’s culinary team, and now you have the chance to watch those tests unfold.

Alton reveals sabotages of pea soup, lamb chop dinner and chocolate mousse.

Alton reveals sabotages of cobb salad, enchiladas and layer cake.

With one swift auction and a bit of bad luck, Cutthroat Kitchen competitors could have all of their seemingly necessary tools and food products taken away from them and replaced with inferior items. From salt and knives to the stove and pans, nothing is safe in Cutthroat Kitchen, including the chefs’ workstations. On tonight’s all-new episode, contestants bid on a game-changing sabotage in Round 2′s enchilada challenge that forces one person to abandon his or her standard setup and fashion another one using a stocked toolbox. The catch? The workspace, heat source and cooktop must be built in and confined to a shopping cart. Was this challenge taking the competition too far and asking too much of one person during a 30-minute challenge? It turns out that the answer is no, as Food Network’s culinary team vetted and approved this sabotage prior to air.

Chicken has a storied past on Cutthroat Kitchen: Just last season when Giada De Laurentiis stopped by for a special episode, one rival was gifted a whole chicken in a can, which she was forced to turn into chicken and waffles for the guest judge. And on tonight’s all-new episode, subpar chicken — or something like it — once again appeared on the auction table, this time during a General Tso’s Chicken challenge. After being gifted a sabotage of MREs, which Alton deemed “meals ready to eat,” one chef was forced to pick through the innards of such prepared and packaged dishes as “a chicken stew [and] a chicken fajita,” according to Alton. For Antonia, these products were “mushy,” and on the host’s After-Show, Alton told her with a smile, “It’s the best kind of sick that you could possibly imagine.” It turns out, however, that for the competitor who worked with this sabotage, the inferior meat wasn’t a hindrance at all. “She really didn’t have any choice but to make a fritter,” Alton explained to Antonia. “And it looked just like General Tso’s chicken.”

Since Cutthroat Kitchen judges are sequestered from the kitchen while the chefs are cooking, they’re not privy to the evilicious sabotages that unfold during each round. This means that when they first lay eyes on the dish before them, they have no information other than how it’s presented; then once they’ve tasted it, of course, they can take its flavor and texture into consideration. Tonight’s judge, Simon Majumdar, explained what that feeling is like as he approaches the kitchen and sees contestants’ plates for the first time. “Sometimes as you come down the stairs,” he told Alton Brown on the host’s After-Show, “and you look at the dishes as they’re laid, and you go, ‘Uh, I think I know the way this is going to go.’ And often I’m wrong because they taste great.” It turns out, however, that Simon’s worst suspicions were confirmed when it came to tonight’s Round-2 Reuben sandwich challenge. For this round, one chef was forced to harvest matzo balls out of matzo ball soup to use in place of the bread in the Reuben. Alton revealed that “Chef Sammy gave it to Michael, who ended up serving you a sandwich on sliced matzo balls.” Simon replied, “The moment I saw two good-looking sandwiches and that, I knew.” He added, “It would have [had] to taste like Christmas laced with diamonds for him to have won, and it didn’t.“ Read more at: http://blog.foodnetwork.com/fn-dish/2014/04/cutthroat-kitchen-altons-after-show-304/?oc=linkback

From ingredient swaps and time-sucks to inferior utensils and makeshift workstations, Cutthroat Kitchen sabotages are notoriously evilicious and designed to keep the competitors guessing at all times. On tonight’s all-new episode, the chefs were wowed when host Alton Brown introduced a never-before-seen challenge, what he deemed the Wheel of Heat. Labeled with multiple heat sources like oven, microwave, stove and broiler, this sabotage would forced the rival who was gifted this challenge to spin the wheel while cooking and switch his or her cooking method to whichever heat source was landed upon. It turns out that the wheel offered no beginner’s luck, as Chef Renae found out when she was forced to work with it during the Round 2 blackened-fish test. “Every time she spun it, it came up ‘microwave,’” Alton explained to judge Simon Majumdar during the After-Show. “This, I think, was the end for Chef Renae because she had to do her entire blackened dish with a microwave,” he added. Simon admitted, “The fish was dry. It lacked that crust, which you expect from blackened fish.” But he noted that had other elements of her dish been executed better, he may have been more likely to excuse her microwave seafood. “There were too many things wrong,” Simon said, “whereas I could have forgiven her if she’d served that fish that wasn’t perfect with a really good accompaniment.” Read more at: http://blog.foodnetwork.com/fn-dish/2014/05/cutthroat-kitchen-altons-after-show-305/?oc=linkback

Cutthroat Kitchen competitors know that when they begin their time in the contest, they’re agreeing to as many as three rounds of unforeseeable problems; chances are high that no matter what dish host Alton Brown asks for, the chefs won’t be able to execute their dream versions of it, be that on account of sabotage, poor planning or simply bad luck. Adapting to challenges is the name of the game on Cutthroat Kitchen, and a contestant’s inability to do that may ultimately do him or her in. That’s precisely what happened on tonight’s all-new episode when Chef Kristina was gifted a can of spiced ham to use in place of fresh meat in her sloppy joes dish. “I think she wasn’t willing to embrace an ingredient,” Alton told judge Jet Tila on the After-Show. “She saw something that she knew came out of a can, and it was, like, checkout,” he added. Instead of sticking with a traditional approach of ground protein in sloppy joes, Chef Kristina simply sliced the canned product, and Jet wasn’t willing to pardon her for that. “It was slop on a plate,” Jet admitted, and Alton reminded fans, “You’ve got to embrace the ingredient, regardless of its origin.”

No episode summary available yet.

In this unpredictable episode of Cutthroat Kitchen, pocketknives and thievery turn this turkey dinner into a not so "Thanksgiving." Then we'll see which chef gets burned when they're forced to make an edible French toast with burnt bread. And finally, one chef gets their hands dirty when they have to make a lobster roll without utensils.

In this sadistic episode of savory sabotage, we'll find out if the chefs can make a winning pork chops and applesauce dish ... without the use of pork chops or apples! Then we'll see a literal meltdown, as the chefs compete to make the perfect mac and cheese. And finally, one chef has to swim upstream as they're forced to whip up fish and chips without use of a fryer.

In this episode full of culinary curveballs, we'll see if one chef can tempt the judge when they're forced to make tacos with bologna. Then we'll find out who the real traitors are as the chefs try to derail each other's Eggs Benedict. And finally we'll see if one chef can hold it together while they try to keep their crab cake from falling apart.

One chef is forced to use mystery meat in their cheesesteak, while another has to make cupcakes in a microwave oven. Also: Pie crust is substituted for pizza dough.

A chef is tasked with turning snack foods from a gas station into gourmet ravioli. Other challenges include making burgers on a camp stove; and pairing fried chicken with giblets.

In this devilishly fun episode of Cutthroat Kitchen, we'll see which chef is the most cold blooded as they bid on a chance to freeze an opponent for 10 whole minutes. Then, one of the chefs will have to wing it when they're forced to use some strange ingredients in their chicken wing plate. And in an exciting climax, we'll see which chef will take home the dough with their superior gourmet doughnuts.

Things really heat up in the kitchen as one chef forces an opponent to create a perfect grilled cheese with a hand torch. Then, one chef might come off like a big jerk as they make an opponent fill their shepherd's pie with beef jerky. Finally, we'll find out how a fortune cookie actually changes one chef's fortune in a climactic egg roll showdown.

In this episode full of culinary combat, the stakes are raised when one chef earns the exclusive right to salt their steak. Then one chef's world is turned upside down as they're challenged to make a perfect omelet on the underside of a pan. And finally, one chef sticks it to another as they force them to serve their bananas foster on a stick.

All of the competitors throw their chips into the pot in a cutthroat auction, for the right to force a rival to make nachos without utensils. Then, we'll see how one chef deals with a flavorful dilemma as they must hand in their herbs and spices and use savory jelly beans to flavor their sausage and peppers dish. Finally, one chef shows true grit as they attempt to make shrimp and grits without grits.