Cutthroat Kitchen

In many cooking contest shows they do things like have 6 haute- cuisine chefs preparing six haute-cuisine dishes using ingredients I can't even identify, or they pair ridiculously incompatible ingredients (chocolate, sardines and cotton candy). I can't learn anything from such shows.

Despite the fact that some of the sabotages are so silly they detract from the show, the food the contestants cook, on Cutthroat Kitchen is normal everyday food, such a tomato soup made from scratch. THAT, I learn from.

Sometimes when I cook I don't have every last ingredient I want, or don't have proper utensils, or have to used a heat source that is not my first choice. I think that happens to all home chefs. When two chefs have took cook tied together at the waist, well, that's just comic relief and sometimes a lesson in teamwork.

If you're tuning in expecting a cooking competition show, forget it. But if you accept the premise that this is a game show, it is quite entertaining.

Yes, the obstacles are ridiculous - but that's the fun of the game. Unlike "Chopped", where the mystery baskets feature obscure and often incompatible items - and which takes itself far too seriously, with pretension reaching new heights - "Cutthroat" manages to serve up a delicious blend of tongue-in-cheek malice with on-the-fly inventiveness that is fun and satisfying.

Forgive me, but if you take this show with a grain of salt, you could end up finding a new guilty pleasure.

One of the better competitive shows on Food Network. This is definitely more of an entertainment show, not teaching you how to make recipes. Of course Alton occasionally gives suggestions, but it's like watching Chopped or Iron Chef. Just fun entertainment and crazy sabotages.🤣

FYI: Take the negative reviews with a BIG grain of salt. Many of them sound like one or two people that make multiple accts just to be rude.

I've watched the first 6 seasons. At first I really liked it. You have an interesting host and some funny moments. I can't pinpoint why it got stale for me. Maybe it was the same challenges being used in multiple episodes. Maybe the cooking sections weren't that interesting. It's a fine show but if you binge watch shows like I do I think you'll get bored after a while.

This is now one of my favorite shows. Alton Brown is both a culinary genius and a masterful entertainer.

All of the hate for this show seems to stem from people missing Good Eats, which was also a great show. Or people complaining that food Network has "too many" competition shows and not enough old fashioned kitchen cooking shows. To be honest, how many traditional cooking shows can one watch? During the daytime that is all that is on food Network, and the cooking channel also.

As for Cutthroat Kitchen, it is highly entertaining and mildly educating. It is always interesting to see chefs improvise and create alternative ways to navigate their sabotaged kitchens. For cooks like me, who often have to improvise to create my own take on a dish, this is interesting and educational.

The only frustrating aspect of this show is that the best chef does not always win. Some times the best strategist wins. But that is typically the case with any competition.