Roger does some island-hopping for the best eats in Hawaii. He heats up an imu in a traditional underground oven in Oahu and barrel smokes chicken, ribs and fresh fish in Kauai.
Roger Mooking is going from the west coast to the east coast to check out crazy custom contraptions. First, he gets to play with a one-of-a-kind "meat swing set" in West Sacramento, Calif. Custom-built for Chef Beau Fairbairn, it can cook a whole animal or two, and still have room left over. Roger and Beau slow-cook a whole hog and an entire garden's worth of vegetables over a 12-foot-long wood fire. Then, Roger heads to school in farm country, New Jersey, where cooking-school founder, Ian Knauer, teaches open-fire cooking. Today's lessons: whole lamb roasted over a wood fire on a 5-foot hand-powered rotisserie, accompanied by salsa verde made with herbs from the farm and vegetables roasted in a wood-fired oven.
Roger Mooking gets blown away by not one but two of the biggest metal-clad rigs he's ever seen. In Algoma, Wis., he meets brothers Brad and Aric Schmiling who use a giant cinder block pit and massive metal grates to roast a whole steer. Then Roger heads to Atascadero, Calif. where he meets Jason Elvis Heard, a brilliant engineering consultant who built a record-breaking rig called Mega Pit. Roger and Jason load, it up with 600 pounds of dry-rubbed chicken, beef and pork ribs, and the region's signature meat. If that wasn't enough, Jason shares his take on mac-n-cheese, made with tender chunks of tri-tip and all the BBQ flavors we know and love.
Roger puts the pedal to the metal on a 'Rotisserie Bike' in Great Barrington, MA, and cooks up a Filipino-Mexican feast on a lean mean chicken machine in San Francisco.
Roger spends time in Palatine, IL, and Brooklyn, NY, where restaurants are serving up meaty marvels like tomahawk steaks and roasted whole hog with scrumptious sweet potato waffles.
Roger checks out some of the most delicious sausages, pork ribs, crawfish, spice-rubbed chicken and meaty baked beans at barbecue smokehouses in Nashville.
Roger is in Ridgefield, CT, and Nashville trying monster-sized meaty masterpieces that include towering sandwiches, a massive hanging rib roast and a cocktail garnished with smoked meat.
Roger Mooking heads to San Antonio, TX, where he learns how Chef Jason Dady makes paella flavored with Thai ingredients. Then, Roger meets Chef Ted Prater in Austin, TX, to see how he roasts a goat in a Cajun microwave.
Roger Mooking is led back to Texas where he learns how Grant Pinkerton creates his outside-the-box cuts in Houston. Then, Roger meets up with Andrew Wiseheart in Austin to see his one-of-a-kind rig.
Roger Mooking heads to Louisiana to meet Howard, an engineer by day and a pit master by night. Howard shows Roger how he preserves his family's traditions and digs a pit where he cooks the hogs low and slow.
Roger heads to two family-run institutions to see how they've done it for decades. First, he learns the ropes at Burns Original BBQ in Texas, then he samples the legendary barbecue at Poche's Market and Restaurant in Louisiana.
Roger Mooking heads to the Liberty Kitchen in Houston, Texas, where he and Chef Lance Fegen prepare a traditional Balinese pig roast. Then, Roger visits Chef Nate Sloan in Fairview, NC, and gets a fire-roasted farm feast.
Roger Mooking gets schooled by pit masters changing the barbecue game in Charleston, SC. He visits Rodney Scott to see how he cooks hogs low and slow. Then, Roger talks to John Lewis who is beefing up the city's Tex-Mex options.
