Top Chef Recap: This Little Piggy Went to the Cookout

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I’m starting to realize Brandon is a serious contender. I didn’t really like his presentation style at the beginning, and I feel for his twin, Jonathan, who often seems to let Brandon take the lead. But Brandon’s impressive dessert skills – which are rare and great to see on Top Chef – and his leadership in winning the barbecue challenge this week show he’s here to stay. He’s adaptable and clearly knows how to cook meat, which are both huge advantages on this show. I was surprised he didn’t win this week’s challenge, but I now think Laurence, Anthony, and Brandon have a good chance of making it to the finals. I’m also hoping to see Duyen, Jennifer, and Rhoda succeed – I’m really starting to appreciate all of these chefs.

Wow, everyone was really surprised when Rhoda was eliminated at the start of this episode, especially after how well she’d been doing! But we were all thrilled Jennifer was safe. Honestly, I thought we might get a lighter week after last week’s crazy waterpark challenge, but no such luck! Kristen announced it was all about barbecue, and skipped the Quickfire. Instead, we got a lot of mentions of the Wells Fargo Active Cash Credit Card – seriously, it got old fast! The chefs split into two teams, and each one had to smoke a whole hog. Each chef then created a dish using a different cut of the meat – shoulder, loin, belly, ham, or chopped – and presented it to the judges and a bunch of pitmasters. The winning dishes each got $5,000, and the chefs also got 2% of a $25,000 prize pool, which is pretty cool. It meant even if your team lost, you could still win money with a good dish, and vice versa. Not a bad deal considering we didn’t have a Quickfire!

Smoking a whole hog is incredibly difficult, and only two of the ten chefs – Brandon and Sieger – had done it before. Sieger had even worked with famous barbecue expert Rodney Scott. This experience became clear when they formed teams. Anthony, who won the previous challenge, got to be captain of one team and choose the other team’s captain. He also got to pick team members first, with the captains alternating choices. Anthony strategically chose Justin to lead the other team, knowing Justin would definitely pick Jennifer. This meant Anthony would essentially get another player he wanted, as Jennifer was a guaranteed pick for Justin. (It was interesting to learn Anthony enjoys strategy games like Warhammer and Warcraft – good insight from the Top Chef editors!) Anthony’s Red Team ended up with himself, Laurence, Brandon, Sherry, and Duyen, who was a little upset to be picked so late. Justin’s Gray Team included himself, Jennifer, Sieger, Jonathan, and Oscar. The chefs then sampled barbecue from pitmaster Sam Jones and visited Sweet Lew’s BBQ and Lexington Barbecue to understand the differences between Eastern and Western North Carolina barbecue styles.

I’m not entirely sure why the show focused so much on Eastern and Western BBQ styles. The episode explained the difference – Eastern uses the whole pig, while Western focuses on the shoulder – but the teams actually have to use five different cuts of pork, so no one is really limited to just one style. I think the point was to highlight that Eastern sauces are vinegar-based and Western sauces use ketchup, but the chefs weren’t required to pick one or the other. It felt like a lesson for the viewers and the contestants! Now that we’ve learned that, the chefs are starting to plan their menus and heading to Splendor Pond, where their pigs will cook overnight. Each team needs to decide how to build their smoker fires, what wood to use for smoking, how often to check on the meat, and when to pull the different cuts.

Brandon and Sieger confidently stepped up as leaders for their teams, but they had very different ideas about how to cook the pig. While Brandon quickly built a hot fire and even removed the tenderloin early, Sieger preferred a slower, more traditional approach, keeping the entire pig intact. I’m conflicted about Sieger’s strategy. He’s under a lot of pressure and his teammates lack the expertise to help, yet he’s determined to cook the pig a certain way, even if it doesn’t necessarily address the team’s needs. He bravely volunteered to handle the tenderloin and stay up all night monitoring the smoker, sacrificing his chance to win $500 in Tom’s s’mores competition just to focus on the pig.

So, does all this effort actually pay off for Sieger? Unfortunately, no. Here’s a rundown of what the teams present to the judges – including guest judge Michelle Wallace from Top Chef: Wisconsin, and the many other pitmasters, most of whom aren’t named. All the pitmasters together have one vote, and Michelle, Kristen, Tom, and Gail each have their own. Here’s how the judging rounds go:

Round 1: Shoulder, Red Team Sherry vs. Gray Team Justin — Sherry wins

Sherry prepared a Korean-style roast pork called bossam, served with an Eastern vinaigrette, cabbage relish, and a fresh herb salad. Justin made a BBQ sandwich on milkbread, featuring smoked pork shoulder, spicy pickles, Alabama coleslaw, and a side of dipping sauce.

Round 2: Loin, Red Team Laurence vs. Gray Team Sieger — Laurence wins

Laurence’s dish features smoked pork loin with pork floss, served with rice and a unique East meets East sauce. Sieger’s offering includes pork loin alongside a crispy ear terrine, complemented by a mustard-carrot BBQ sauce.

Round 3: Belly, Red Team Brandon vs. Gray Team Jonathan — Brandon wins

Brandon’s meal included smoked BBQ pork belly with classic sides: mac and cheese, collard greens, and mustard onions. Jonathan opted for pork belly paired with chicharron, succotash, and a light, foamy pimento cheese.

Round 4: Ham, Red Team Anthony vs. Gray Team Jennifer — Jennifer wins

Anthony’s meal includes ham with a flavorful sauce, a black bean dip, and hushpuppies. Jennifer’s meal features a seared ham steak, a black-eyed pea dip, hushpuppies, smoked grapes, and pickled collard green stems.

Round 5: Chopped, Red Team Duyen vs. Gray Team Oscar — Oscar wins

Okay, so I’m really excited about the food options! Duyen’s got all my favorites – think amazing chopped BBQ, refreshing papaya salad, light summer rolls, and crispy fried spring rolls. And Oscar’s bringing some incredible Latin flavors with pig face-stuffed tamales, a tangy cabbage slaw called curtido, and this awesome tomato and chili BBQ sauce, salsa ahogada. Seriously, I can’t decide what I want to try first!

The Red Team quickly established themselves as frontrunners, winning the first three rounds. The judges agreed that all the food was good, but the Red Team’s dishes were consistently a little better. Laurence, the winning pitmaster, was humble, giving credit to Sherry for the pork floss on his dish and praising Brandon’s excellent pork smoking. On the Gray Team, Jennifer and Oscar were safe after winning their rounds, leaving Justin, Sieger, and Jonathan facing elimination. Each of these three had a noticeable problem with their dish. Justin’s sandwich, featuring dough made by Jennifer, was delicious, but the pork lacked seasoning and there wasn’t enough of it. Sieger’s dish looked overly styled and had dry tenderloin, plus a strangely flavored and thick carrot BBQ sauce. It reminded the observer of a previous dish criticized for being overly refined. Jonathan’s pimento cheese foam, despite a prior warning from a judge, was greasy and didn’t hold together.

Okay, let me tell you, the judging this week felt…off. They were focusing on whose meat was better, and it just didn’t sit right with me. Justin and Jonathan clearly had better results, but Sieger was stuck with a truly terrible cut and he cooked their meat for them! Shouldn’t that count for something when judging their dishes, while his own suffered from that poor quality? It’s a messy situation, and honestly, Sieger brought it on himself by volunteering for the loin. He even knows he’s on thin ice. When the judges sent him home, he didn’t even seem that surprised – literally shrugged it off! – but then confidently told everyone he’d see them in Last Chance Kitchen, expecting a comeback. Speaking of things Sieger will miss, next week’s challenge is *Southern Charmthemed – seriously, the Bravo cross-promotion is getting ridiculous – and then there’s Jennifer. She seems to be bowing out due to health issues, and it’s really upsetting Justin. Jennifer, I wish you’d accepted the judges’ offer! It’s a lot to unpack.

Leftovers

Honestly, I was really craving Jonathan’s s’mores with the caramel and raspberry, Jennifer’s glazed pecan one, and Oscar’s spicy chili one this episode. I don’t usually eat pork, but I’d happily try all of the hushpuppies. And Duyen’s papaya salad and summer roll looked amazing – I definitely want to try those!

If I were at the campsite, I wouldn’t be near the stove – I’d be happily playing cornhole and skeeball for as long as possible. Seriously, I’m obsessed with those games!

I especially enjoy the middle of the competition when everyone’s true colors start to show. It’s fun seeing things like Duyen become incredibly competitive as ‘Dwayne,’ Anthony and Laurence connecting over their games, and Oscar’s little jokes – like pointing out that the Spanish word for mango is almost identical to the English one, and teasing Anthony about reading The Art of War. I genuinely like these contestants.

The extremely close-up shot of the Wells Fargo credit card was distracting. While I’m glad the chefs earned some money, this episode had far too much advertising.

I have no issue with Sam Jones personally, but when discussing the 1940s South, segregation is unavoidable. It makes me wonder if his family’s BBQ restaurant served everyone equally at that time. The Greensboro sit-ins, which protested segregation, didn’t happen until 1960, so the context of the era is important.

Here’s what happened on the latest episode of Last Chance Kitchen, “Surprise Showdown”: The episode was strange for a couple of reasons. First, Sieger didn’t compete, and Tom wouldn’t say why. Second, Rhoda, Nana, and Brittany had to choose ingredients from a really unpleasant selection, including durian and banana flowers. It seemed like Sieger might have been absent because he helped pick the ingredients this week, giving him an advantage, but Tom’s explanation was confusing. He hinted at something unusual happening, but wouldn’t clarify.

Tom offered the chefs a chance to win $5,000, but they had to choose two ingredients from the difficult spread, plus incorporate two ingredients he selected: duck heads and pickled eggplant (which were pretty gruesome!). Rhoda chose fish sauce and plums, making a hot and sour soup. Nana went with peanuts and dried fish, creating a coconut sauce with fried green tomatoes and salad. Brittany picked shrimp and crab boil concentrate with bitter melon, and made a shrimp and papaya salad.

Rhoda’s dish was too salty, Brittany’s wasn’t salty enough, but Nana’s was perfectly balanced, earning her the $5,000 prize. While Rhoda remains the overall Last Chance Kitchen winner, she didn’t get the extra advantage of choosing the next challenge. Everyone is now wondering why Sieger didn’t compete and if Tom will explain what happened next week.

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2026-04-14 07:56