who won the chopped grill masters finale

Some undercooked turnips sank North Carolina’s pitmaster on Tuesday’s finale of Food Network’s “Chopped Grill Masters.”

In this score-settling battle among the four proud barbecue regions, Memphis beat out Texas, Kansas City and North Carolina.

North Carolina was represented by Adam Hughes, an East Carolina grad and competitive pitmaster from Edenton who cooks under the name “Old Colony Smokehouse.”

Johnson was crowned the champion and believes the “Chopped” win puts Memphis on top of the other ‘cues.

Hughes advanced through the appetizer round, impressing the judges with a grilled pork chop served alongside pimento cheese grits with corn shoots tossed in for texture. Texas’ Botello got chopped in the first round.

“Pork and grits together like peanut butter and jelly,” Hughes said, hamming it up for the camera. “No one knows how to cook a pork chop better than me.”

In the entree round, Hughes grilled a ribeye and made a chimichurri sauce of turnip greens, but, pressed for time, his grilled turnips ended up on the crunchy side, keeping him out of the money.

To get to the finale, each contestant first battled three other pitmasters from his or her respective barbecue region for a shot of winning $50,000 — and major bragging rights.

The North Carolina pitmaster episode aired this month, featuring other heavy hitters on the competition circuit and the chef of one of the state’s best-known barbecue joints.

They were Melanie Dunia, the executive chef at The Pit in Raleigh; Chris Prieto of Prime Barbecue; and Jerry Stephenson of the Redneck BBQ Lab. Dunia finished as the runner-up.

SU: Just, you know, it’s Grill Masters, and I kind of, you know …. My meat was a little bit undergrilled, so to speak, but yeah.

Host Ted Allen watches Chef Sophina Uong preparing her Round 2 dish, Grilled Porterhouse with Lemongrass Smoked Razor Clam & Grilled Artichoke Salsa, as seen on Food Networks Chopped, Grill Masters Special.

SU: Well, besides overcaramelizing the chocolate, I think I did fairly well to keep the moisture in.

Sophina came into the finale talking the talk, but she didnt always walk the walk. She put out a strong appetizer of a pig’s head salad over grilled escarole, but the judges found her portion size too large for a first course. In her entree she started out just as confidently, but after her blender filled with garlic sauce tipped over, she got off track and dropped her pot of artichokes too. The judges liked how she worked her steak, and they enjoyed the sauce and side dish despite there not being enough of both on the plate. Going into the final round, desserts, Sophina regained her composure, and her confidence came back. She completely reimagined the babka and turned it into brownies, using the goat cheese as a binder, but the judges felt the cheese got a little lost. Although the judges loved Daniels dessert just as much, Sophinas three courses were found to be the strongest. She leaves the Grand Champion with an additional $50,000 to add to the $10,000 she earned in her preliminary round.

SU: I definitely agreed with the porterhouse, for sure, and you find yourself second-guessing as you’re going through, but I made that decision to, you know, take a risk, and I sure did.

“I was a nervous wreck the entire time I was there, but once the clock started and I was cooking, I was doing what I like to do and it was fun,” Hughes said. “When I watched (‘Chopped’), I thought surely they have more than 20 minutes. But the time is the time. There’s no second take.”

To get to the finale, each contestant first battled three other pitmasters from his or her respective barbecue region for a shot of winning $50,000 — and major bragging rights.

In the entree round, Hughes grilled a ribeye and made a chimichurri sauce of turnip greens, but, pressed for time, his grilled turnips ended up on the crunchy side, keeping him out of the money.

The North Carolina pitmaster episode aired this month, featuring other heavy hitters on the competition circuit and the chef of one of the state’s best-known barbecue joints.

In this score-settling battle among the four proud barbecue regions, Memphis beat out Texas, Kansas City and North Carolina.

Chopped Grill Masters Ep. 4: Kent Rollins Highlights

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