What cooking competition shows do you enjoy?

asp3

asp3

Senior Member
Location
Silicon Valley, CA
I'm a big fan of cooking competition shows. My interest was started when Top Chef came on and I've expanded the shows I love since then. My current favorite is Tournament of Champions. I'm loving the All-Star Christmas edition of the show so far.

We live close enough to where it's filmed that we've been in the audience for some of the tapings since season six (filmed in 2024 and shown in 2025.) My wife and I were at two of the tapings of the All-Star Christmas show including the finale and we're still enjoying watching the earlier rounds even though we know who the winners are. We also went to three of the tapings for season seven which will be shown in 2026. My wife was away during the quarter finals, semi finals and final competitions but I got to see one of the quarter final competitions and the final competition.

My next favorite show is 24 in 24. Even though I find Michael Simon somewhat annoying, it's a great show with a great premise and lots of fun to watch. I like Bobby's Triple Threat, Wildcard Kitchen, Alex vs America, Guy's Grocery Games, Top Chef, Beat Bobby Flay, Chopped, Master Chef and Next Level Chef.
 

I used to love to watch cooking shows not so much competition cooking shows. I watched a few series of Top Chefs but I don't seem to enjoy it any longer.
My favorite cooking shows were with Sara Moulton, Ina Garten, Nigella Lawson, Marcus Samuelsson, Curtis Stone, Ming Tsai. They might even be a few more!
Now, I watch YouTube cooking videos preferably made by dietitian or other professionals.
 
OneEyedDiva said:
I hate to cook, so am not interested in watching cooking shows. Exception is I used to check out Rachel Ray, but only when she had a guest that I really liked. I haven't watched her show in several years. In fact, don't know if she's still on. It amazes me that these shows have become so popular.
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It seems reasonable that if you don't like cooking, you won't enjoy watching cooking shows.

For those of us who enjoy cooking, many of these chefs are ingenious. What they do takes not just creativity and innovation, but also a great deal of precise technique and skill. Observing them prepare a meal is not only entertaining but also frequently enlightening. That's what keeps these shows so popular. :)

Rossana said:
I used to love to watch cooking shows not so much competition cooking shows. I watched a few series of Top Chefs but I don't seem to enjoy it any longer.
My favorite cooking shows were with Sara Moulton, Ina Garten, Nigella Lawson, Marcus Samuelsson, Curtis Stone, Ming Tsai. They might even be a few more!
Now, I watch YouTube cooking videos preferably made by dietitian or other professionals.
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I also enjoy watching America's Test Kitchen, Christopher Kimball's Milk Street, and Lidia Bastianich.
 
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Crime Scene Kitchen: A funny show where contestants have to figure out the dessert that was made by guessing the clues in a "kitchen crime scene".
 
OneEyedDiva said:
I hate to cook, so am not interested in watching cooking shows. Exception is I used to check out Rachel Ray, but only when she had a guest that I really liked. I haven't watched her show in several years. In fact, don't know if she's still on. It amazes me that these shows have become so popular.
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I hate to cook too, but I still love the cooking competition shows because they open up so many interesting avenues for things I might want to try in the future if I see them on a menu. Once when we were on a cruise on Celebrity, they had some of the winning dishes (appetizers, entrees and desserts) modified by the original chefs so they could be made and served on the ship. That was a great experience because I was finally able to taste things similar to what I saw prepared on TV.
 
In the 90s I was a big fan of Gordon Elliot’s Door Knock Dinners.

Gordon Elliot and a chef would go to a home and prepare dinner for the family using whatever they had in the pantry and refrigerator.

I used to enjoy the food network programming but now when I need inspiration I Google a few ideas and read a few recipes.
 
There used to be a Canadian cooking competition show that I never watched. A young woman was telling me about her experiences on it. They had decided that she would be the bad guy on it. Some of her complaints on how things were handled seemed legit. She didn’t like to take instructions from her boss. Fortunately she was lucky that she knew everything. (that’s sarcasm)

My DD remembered her and said she came across as a know-it-all and *itchy. Maybe they cast her perfectly.
 
I like top chef.
Hell’s Kitchen is far too aggressive for me. I witness yelling and screaming, things getting thrown and well as f bombs dropped here and there with kids in the audience. I’m not ok with that.

I also like watching kids make some amazing things, incudes cakes and desserts . Yes quite impressive.
 
PeppermintPatty said:
I like top chef.
Hell’s Kitchen is far too aggressive for me. I witness yelling and screaming, things getting thrown and well as f bombs dropped here and there with kids in the audience. I’m not ok with that.
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Me, too, @PeppermintPatty! I mentioned in a different thread how I used to get stressed out during talk shows that result in people shouting over one another. It would trigger awful memories. And I'm not OK with the F bomb getting dropped all over the place, either.
 
Bella said:
It seems reasonable that if you don't like cooking, you won't enjoy watching cooking shows.

For those of us who enjoy cooking, many of these chefs are ingenious. What they do takes not just creativity and innovation, but also a great deal of precise technique and skill. Observing them prepare a meal is not only entertaining but also frequently enlightening. That's what keeps these shows so popular. :)



I also enjoy watching America's Test Kitchen, Christopher Kimball's Milk Street, and Lidia Bastianich.
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Makes sense that those of you who enjoy cooking would like those shows. Honestly, I'm amazed at all the reality shows that have become so popular. My weakness is the beachfront home buying shows and certain remodeling shows. My DIL loved to cook...and she was a wonderful cook. She liked watching the cooking shows too. May she R.I.P.

asp3 said:
I hate to cook too, but I still love the cooking competition shows because they open up so many interesting avenues for things I might want to try in the future if I see them on a menu. Once when we were on a cruise on Celebrity, they had some of the winning dishes (appetizers, entrees and desserts) modified by the original chefs so they could be made and served on the ship. That was a great experience because I was finally able to taste things similar to what I saw prepared on TV.
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Good for you for being adventurous in the kitchen ASP3. :) I took a Celebrity cruise in 2019 and loved it. I enjoyed the food too and the service in the dining room was excellent.
 
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Since they finally showed the finale of TOC All-Star Christmas I can share about my experience there. I will put it in a spoiler so you can skip it if you haven't seen the finale.

It was amazing to be in the audience for the finale. It was the first time there was a male winner (two of them since they were teams of two) in TOC history. It was also wonderful because this was the first major food competition Bryan Voltagio has won. He's come in second so many times. They were even more emotional at the finale than what was shown in the episode. His brother Michael was very emotional as well having been part of the team that helped his brother get is first major victory.

At the same time it was sad to see Jet Tila not win. He at least got to the final this time rather than being eliminated in the semi-finals as he has four times in TOC history.

We also saw both teams in the finals in the quarter finals when they won those competitions. The aromas in the TOC arena when they were cooking their lobster dinners were amazing! Also seeing Jet cooking with two woks was lots of fun.
 
"The Great British Baking Show" on Netflix. The competitors are genuinely nice people. And Paul Hollywood, one of the hosts, is so darn good-looking!
 

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