About this season
Roger Mooking has a fascination with fire. The chef enjoys finding inventive ways to cook with fire, which is exactly what he does in this series that takes him on a journey across the U.S. He visits pit-masters, chefs and home cooks who use fire to create complex, flavorful dishes. The people Mooking visits don't simply turn on a stove and start cooking; their methods include cooking over an open fire in a rustic chuck wagon and smoking meats in a former airplane that a mechanic has transformed into a smoker.
Episodes (14)
1. Too Hot to Handle
Aired 5 July 2016 • 30 min
In the Season 5 premiere, Roger Mooking meets a chef who uses a unique coal-fueled contraption, called the Cross Table, to roast butterflied pork marinated in bold adiote paste; and later, he simmers a seafood paella in a massive pan. Also: a trip to the OverBird in Birmingham features a meat-lover's feast of lamb, rabbit and beef, along with seasonal veggies.
2. Florida Fixins
Aired 12 July 2016 • 30 min
Savory and sweet flavors are found in Florida, where Roger meets a young pit-master who pulls pork with a power tool and digs into a sandwich called the Hamaburger. Later, a farmer presenting the tradition of making cane syrup is visited in Dade City.
3. Queens of 'Cue
Aired 19 July 2016 • 30 min
Two Southern ladies famous in the world of barbecue. Included: smoked ribs at Mary's Old-Fashioned Pit Bar-B-Cue in Nashville; and pork shoulders, pork ribs and a whole stick of bologna cooked by a legendary pit master in Brownsville, Tennessee.
4. Swords and Spits
Aired 26 July 2016 • 30 min
The owner of a butcher shop in Georgia prepares more than one dozen rabbits, rotisserie-style, with bamboo polex; and in Plano, Texas, Roger visits Smoke to take a stab at cooking flank steak and chicken on swords.
5. Hog Heaven
Aired 2 August 2016 • 30 min
Host Roger Mooking cooks up two whole hogs in two different ways. Included: he visits MOPHO restaurant in New Orleans, where chef Michael Gulotta's Southeast Asian spit-roasted pig is a twist on a classic Southern tradition. Also: Mississippi chef Miles McMath hinges two steel troughs together to make a convenient and quick cooking oven; and fries hand pies for dessert over an open fare.
6. Fireside Hangs
Aired 9 August 2016 • 30 min
Roger Mooking hang with two chefs, who are putting a whole new spin on rotisserie cooking in the great outdoors. Included: succulent legs of lamb in Alexander City, Alabama; and a Charleston restaurateur's backyard contraption for roasting whole strings of ducks and chicken.
7. Fiery Fish and Fowl
Aired 16 August 2016 • 30 min
A trip to North Bend, Oregon, finds chef Roger Mooking helping to roast a school of salmon for a traditional tribal feast. Then, in Los Angeles, the owner of "Pok Pok La" shares the secrets to his famous whole roasted chicken.
8. All You Can Feast
Aired 23 August 2016 • 30 min
Chef Roger Mooking travels to Llano Soco Ranch in Chico, California, where he helps stew roast a 30 pound porchetta. Later, he offers a hand to caterers in Sandy, Oregon, preparing to serve roasted mussels and a stew made of white bean, chorizo and clams.
9. The Salt and the Sea
Aired 30 August 2016 • 30 min
Host Roger Mooking tours the facility at Jacobson Salt Co. in Notards Bay, Oregon, and learns how to make sea salt from the owner. Later, he helps a Portland-based chef stuff a 20 pound halibut with lemons and herbs, encrust the whole fish in salt and roast it over a wood-burning fire.
10. Meat Me in Texas
Aired 6 September 2016 • 30 min
Roger learns that everything is bigger in Texas. Included: he meets the pit master at "Armadillo Palace" in Houston and gets to see his custom rotisserie trailer in action, when they roast a 250 pound side of beef. Also: Roger helps the chef/owner at "Cured" restaurant in San Antonio slow roast a 230 pound hog in a large outdoor cinder black pit.
11. One-of-a-Kind Rigs
Aired 13 September 2016 • 30 min
Roger is on the lookout for truly unique rigs, like a steel contraption that can cook up to 1,000 pounds of food in Denver and an impressive barbecue trailer in Texas.
12. Sizzling Steaks
Aired 20 September 2016 • 30 min
Roger is put to work at Perini Ranch Steakhouse in Buffalo Gap, Texas, lighting up burn barrels for the metal pits. Then, dessert is baked in a coal-covered cast-iron Dutch oven. Also: a restaurant in Pinedale, Wyoming, where steaks are skewered on pitch folks and deep-fried in giant cauldrons.
13. Meat Fest in the Midwest
Aired 27 September 2016 • 30 min
Roger visits Popeye's in Lake Geneva, Wisconsin, and Epicure Catering in Omena, Michigan, and lends a hand to the owners of both restaurants.
14. In the Pits
Aired 4 October 2016 • 30 min
Roger travels to Texas, Hawaii and more to celebrate the art of pit cooking.