Man Fire Food features the inventive ways Americans cook with fire. From small campfires to creative custom-made grills and smokers, we visit home cooks, pitmasters, and chefs who are fascinated by fire and food. The smoke signals take host Roger Mooking across the country, including the American South for different styles of regional barbecue, the Pacific Northwest for a tribal salmon bake, and New England for a unique seafood feast. Man Fire Food celebrates the passion for building and cooking with fire.

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Season 4, Episode 1

Pigging Out on Pork

Roger Mooking's favorite way to devour smoked pork shoulder is in a sandwich. In Grand Rapids, Roger visits the Pit Stop, a barbecue take-out famous for their unconventional yet scrumptious sandwich featuring pork chili, pulled pork, cilantro cream and barbecue sauce wrapped up in a flour tortilla and then cooked on a griddle until golden brown and crispy. For a classic Southern-style pork sandwich, Roger visits Top Hat Barbecue in Blount Springs, Ala. This barbecue institution has been serving their best-selling sandwich the same exact way for almost 50 years. The smoked pork is chopped, dressed with a little barbecue sauce and then piled in a bun.

Wednesday
Mar 20
4:30pm | 3:30c
Season 5, Episode 11

One-of-a-Kind Rigs

Chef Roger Mooking is on the lookout for some truly unique rigs. In Colorado, Roger meets Josh Pollack, owner of Rosenberg's Bagels & Delicatessen in Denver, who created an eight-foot steel contraption that can cook up to 1,000 pounds of food. Roger then goes to 44 Farms in Cameron, Texas, where Jason Schimmels shows off their impressive barbecue trailer, but also introduces Roger to their unique 10-foot "tripod grills" where huge rib eye roasts are cooked in rotating metal cages.

Wednesday
Mar 20
10pm | 9c
Season 6, Episode 3

Generations of Smoke

Barbecue is in the blood at two family-run institutions where the dedication for perfecting smoked meats spans decades. Burns Original BBQ in Houston, Texas, is the definition of a family business. Grandpa Roy Burns started cooking barbecue in 1973 on the side to help support his NINE children. Four decades later, over a dozen family members continue to keep the flames burning and the meat smoking. Roger is welcomed into the family and the pit room with open arms. He learns the ropes of East Texas style 'cue - tender chopped brisket, pork ribs that fall off the bone, and football-sized loaded bbq baked potatoes. Next, Roger heads to Poche's Market and Restaurant, which has been a one-stop shop for smoked meats in Breaux Bridge L.A. since 1962. Owner Floyd Poche gives Roger a sampling of their legendary 'cue. Pork ribs, pork steaks, sausages and whole chickens get rubbed down with spicy cajun seasoning before getting loaded into their 40 year old wood-fired smoker.

Wednesday
Mar 20
10:30pm | 9:30c
Season 5, Episode 11

One-of-a-Kind Rigs

Chef Roger Mooking is on the lookout for some truly unique rigs. In Colorado, Roger meets Josh Pollack, owner of Rosenberg's Bagels & Delicatessen in Denver, who created an eight-foot steel contraption that can cook up to 1,000 pounds of food. Roger then goes to 44 Farms in Cameron, Texas, where Jason Schimmels shows off their impressive barbecue trailer, but also introduces Roger to their unique 10-foot "tripod grills" where huge rib eye roasts are cooked in rotating metal cages.

Thursday
Mar 21
2am | 1c
Season 6, Episode 3

Generations of Smoke

Barbecue is in the blood at two family-run institutions where the dedication for perfecting smoked meats spans decades. Burns Original BBQ in Houston, Texas, is the definition of a family business. Grandpa Roy Burns started cooking barbecue in 1973 on the side to help support his NINE children. Four decades later, over a dozen family members continue to keep the flames burning and the meat smoking. Roger is welcomed into the family and the pit room with open arms. He learns the ropes of East Texas style 'cue - tender chopped brisket, pork ribs that fall off the bone, and football-sized loaded bbq baked potatoes. Next, Roger heads to Poche's Market and Restaurant, which has been a one-stop shop for smoked meats in Breaux Bridge L.A. since 1962. Owner Floyd Poche gives Roger a sampling of their legendary 'cue. Pork ribs, pork steaks, sausages and whole chickens get rubbed down with spicy cajun seasoning before getting loaded into their 40 year old wood-fired smoker.

Thursday
Mar 21
2:30am | 1:30c
Season 1, Episode 6

Monster Rigs

Smokers and grills come in all shapes and sizes, but Roger Mooking has found two extreme examples. In Grain Valley, Miss., mechanic Bill Rousseau transformed a retired Cessna airplane into a smoker and transports this impressive rig to a local airport and smokes pork butts and ribs and serves them with grilled chicken for guests, including skydivers who "drop in." In Ridgecrest, Calif., Ed McBride Sr. and Ed McBride Jr. weld salvaged metal into pieces of art, including dragons that are working barbecues. They cook up juicy rib eye roasts in the belly of this metal beast.

Saturday
Mar 23
12pm | 11c
Season 2, Episode 1

Feasts Over Fire in Hawaii

Roger Mooking's first visit to the 50th state promises big fires and big feasts. Right off of Nimitz Highway in Honolulu is family-run restaurant Koala Moa, famous for whole chickens roasted over fire. Roger and owner Chris Shimabukuro burn wood pallets and unopened bags of charcoal in a thirty-five foot rotisserie trailer and cook up over 100 seasoned chickens. At Ma'O Organic Farms in Wai-anae, Roger meets local chef Bob McGee who roasts half a cow over a custom-built metal grill.

Saturday
Mar 23
12:30pm | 11:30c
Season 2, Episode 6

South American Grilling

Roger Mooking meets two chefs celebrating South American grilling styles in northern California. At Farmstead Restaurant in St. Helena, Chef Stephen Barber built a "live fire" cook area, for Argentinian Asado, where Roger and Stephen slow cook spring lamb. In Healdsburg, Roger and Mateo Granados, chef of Mateo's Cocina Latina, build an outdoor oven out of bricks and cinder blocks. Marinated whole ducks, pork loins and leg of lamb are placed onto large Brazilian skewers and cooked on top of the oven.

Saturday
Mar 23
1pm | 12c
Season 2, Episode 11

Food Traditions

Roger Mooking visits New England for two unique food traditions that celebrate family, friends and the community. On the first Saturday of June, the Rotary Club of Essex in Connecticut roasts three hundred pounds of fish that are nailed onto oak boards with strips of salt pork and cooked around a ring of coals for the annual Shad Bake. In Western Massachusetts, Roger meets Neftali Duran who dug a giant hole in his backyard and lined it with stones and bricks to cook goat barbacoa, a classic dish from his hometown Oaxaca, Mexico. Whole cuts of goat are rubbed down with spicy Mexican flavors, wrapped in avocado and maguey leaves and steamed over a pot filled with cracked corn and water to create a side dish called Masita.

Saturday
Mar 23
1:30pm | 12:30c
Season 3, Episode 3

Carolina 'Cue

Roger Mooking heads to North and South Carolina to visit a couple of old school restaurants that have upheld a long tradition of mouthwatering barbecue for several generations. At Sweatman's in Holly Hill, S.C., whole hogs are cooked low and slow and then pulled and chopped into juicy, meaty perfection. In North Carolina, Roger visits Stamey's Barbecue in Greensboro for their Lexington-style barbecue. Succulent pork shoulders are chopped and piled high on a bun, kissed with vinegar sauce and crowned with slaw.

Wednesday
Mar 27
3pm | 2c
Season 3, Episode 6

Small Packages, Big Flavors

Roger Mooking searches the Gulf States for tasty artisanal foods kissed with smoke and fire that deliver big flavors. In Austin, a family roasts coffee the old fashioned way -- small batches over a roaring fire. Roger savors a cup and also learns how they use coffee in Texas barbecue. Then it's off to LaPlace, La., for amazing Andouille sausages, smoked sausages and tasso. Roger tastes these Louisiana treats in some New Orleans classics.

Wednesday
Mar 27
3:30pm | 2:30c
Season 3, Episode 10

Wilderness Cooking

Roger Mooking visits the Jack Mountain Bushcraft School in Masardis, Maine, where owner and wilderness guide Tim Smith teaches him how to create a rustic outdoor kitchen. They build a pyramid cooker out of logs and string, and use it to roast whole chickens and fresh-caught Brook Trout. With the help of a reflector oven, they complete their feast with Sourdough Biscuits.

Wednesday
Mar 27
4pm | 3c
Season 4, Episode 2

Alabama BBQ

The American barbecue belt in the South stretches from the Carolinas to Texas, and today Roger Mooking heads to the heart of it, Alabama. Roger meets award-winning pit master Chris Lilly at Big Bob Gibson Bar-B-Q in Decatur, a family-run restaurant serving Alabama-style 'cue for four generations, and Roger's there for the legendary smoked chicken that's dunked in a unique and utterly delicious white sauce. In the coastal town of Mobile, Roger meets Alabama native Bill Armbrecht, owner of The Brick Pit. Locals and visitors from across the country stop in for the chicken and ribs, but the thing everyone talks about is the pulled pork which cooks for almost 30 hours in a smoker called "The Big Red."

Wednesday
Mar 27
4:30pm | 3:30c
Season 5, Episode 12

Sizzling Steaks

In Buffalo Gap, Texas, Roger Mooking meets Tom Perini at his restaurant, Perini Ranch Steakhouse. Roger is put to work lighting up burn barrels for the metal pits, then dessert is baked in a coal-covered cast iron Dutch oven. At Pitchfork Fondue Western Cookout in Pinedale, Wyo., owner Matt David invites Roger to his outdoor kitchen where steaks are skewered onto pitchforks and deep-fried in giant cauldrons.

Wednesday
Mar 27
10pm | 9c
Season 6, Episode 4

Out of This World BBQ

Roger meets a pit master with a PhD who cooks Carolina-style whole hog barbecue in Louisiana. Dr. Howard Conyers is an engineer for NASA by day, but a pit master at night, on weekends, and every moment in between. His family has been cooking whole hogs for generations and he is preserving a time-honored tradition, taking the pig out of the rig and right into the ground. Roger and Howard break out the heavy machinery and flex their muscles to dig out a pit, and build a raging fire in a towering burn barrel.

Wednesday
Mar 27
10:30pm | 9:30c
Season 5, Episode 12

Sizzling Steaks

In Buffalo Gap, Texas, Roger Mooking meets Tom Perini at his restaurant, Perini Ranch Steakhouse. Roger is put to work lighting up burn barrels for the metal pits, then dessert is baked in a coal-covered cast iron Dutch oven. At Pitchfork Fondue Western Cookout in Pinedale, Wyo., owner Matt David invites Roger to his outdoor kitchen where steaks are skewered onto pitchforks and deep-fried in giant cauldrons.

Thursday
Mar 28
2am | 1c
Season 6, Episode 4

Out of This World BBQ

Roger meets a pit master with a PhD who cooks Carolina-style whole hog barbecue in Louisiana. Dr. Howard Conyers is an engineer for NASA by day, but a pit master at night, on weekends, and every moment in between. His family has been cooking whole hogs for generations and he is preserving a time-honored tradition, taking the pig out of the rig and right into the ground. Roger and Howard break out the heavy machinery and flex their muscles to dig out a pit, and build a raging fire in a towering burn barrel.

Thursday
Mar 28
2:30am | 1:30c
Season 1, Episode 7

Coast to Coast Cookout

Roger Mooking is going coast to coast for his cookouts, starting with Seattle chef Renee Erickson, who celebrates summer by smoking meats and seafood in wine barrels that have been transformed into smokers. Fresh lamb, Pacific oysters, spot prawns and Dungeness crabs are quickly cooked in these unique wine barrel smokers for a summertime feast at a beautiful farm just outside the city. In New England, nothing screams summer more than a traditional seafood boil prepared right on the beach. Roger visits Island Creek Oysters in Duxbury, Mass., and digs for the tastiest oysters and clams from the beach and builds the perfect pit for a delicious outdoor seafood boil.

Saturday
Mar 30
12pm | 11c
Season 2, Episode 2

Smoke and Steam

Hawaii island Oahu is known as the "gathering place," and Roger Mooking is invited to two community gatherings abundant with local foods. On the east side of the island, local chef Mark "Gooch" Noguchi teaches Roger how to prepare a traditional Hawaiian imu. At the farmer's market located at Kapiolani Community College, Roger meets Scott Shibuya who smokes meats with guava and kiawe woods, in a smoker he built out of an Air Force cargo container, an airplane food cart and a computer fan.

Saturday
Mar 30
12:30pm | 11:30c
Season 2, Episode 7

Texas BBQ

Roger Mooking visits two legendary barbecue joints in Central Texas where just the right amount of smoke and heat transforms the meat into delicious eats. At Kreuz Market in Lockhart, Texas, they have eight pits for cooking, acres of wood for burning and hundreds of pounds of delicious barbecue for stick-to-your-ribs eating. At Louie Mueller Barbecue in Taylor, Texas, third generation pit master Wayne Mueller gives Roger an experience of a lifetime.

Saturday
Mar 30
1pm | 12c
Season 2, Episode 12

Love for Lobsters in Maine

In Maine, the love for lobsters runs deep. Roger Mooking visits two places where piles of lobsters are cooked in the coolest wood-fired cookers. In Searsport, a campground is home to a magnificent outdoor kitchen where the Maine event is a feast of lobsters, steamers, mussels and corn cooked in seaweed. In Trenton, a family-run lobster pound boils thousands of pounds of lobsters in pots of boiling seawater set over a wood fire. Roger gets a lesson in cracking lobsters like a true Mainer and helps prepare a classic lobster salad sandwich.

Saturday
Mar 30
1:30pm | 12:30c
Season 1, Episode 1

Feast Over Flame

The fires glow bright in the Carolinas. Roger Mooking visits Skylight Inn, a family-run restaurant in North Carolina that has been serving whole hog-style barbecue for 65 years. In South Carolina, five friends create an extravagant two-day, meat-filled feast called "Bovinova, Barn Yard Burn." Six hundred hungry barbecue lovers come for the surf and turf paella, roasted chickens, roasted lamb, pigs and the main attraction, a whole roasted cow!

Wednesday
Apr 3
3pm | 2c
Season 4, Episode 5

Meat on a Stick

Roger Mooking visits two chefs in Texas who created the craziest cooking contraptions and prove that everything's bigger in Texas. Chef Johnny Hernandez designed a massive grill for his restaurant El Machito in San Antonio and it takes fire and food to the extreme. Roger and Johnny skewer every meat imaginable -- chickens, pork and beef sausages, racks of ribs and whole goats. Roger then heads to Vintage Heart Farm in Stockdale to meet Chef John Russ who designed a 7-foot tree made out of stainless steel that can roast food over a wood fire. Roger and John fill the tree with quails and sausages for an outdoor feast.

Wednesday
Apr 3
3:30pm | 2:30c
Season 4, Episode 10

Holy Smokes!

Roger Mooking attends the 100-year anniversary of the St. Mary Magdalene Church Picnic in Owensboro, Kentucky, where several thousand pounds of meat will cook over 100 feet of fire and smoke. Roger helps volunteers load and light three massive barbecue pits with wood planks, pallets and straw, then it's all hands on deck to prep, cook, flip and mop sauce for mutton, pork butts and chickens. Thousands attend this annual fundraiser, which even has a drive-through for folks who prefer to take their 'cue to go!

Wednesday
Apr 3
4pm | 3c
Season 5, Episode 2

Florida Fixins

Roger Mooking is in Florida fanning the flames for something savory and something sweet. Roger heads to Hamaknockers Bar-B-Que in Crawfordville, where a young pitmaster pulls pork with a power tool! Roger comes face-to-face with their signature sandwich, the Hamaburger. In Dade City, Roger meets Steve Melton, a farmer preserving the tradition of making cane syrup in a gigantic 100 year-old kettle over an open fire.

Wednesday
Apr 3
4:30pm | 3:30c
Season 2, Episode 13

Fiery Foods in Jamaica

Roger Mooking's search for fire and food takes him to Jamaica where Roger makes a beeline for Scotchie's Too, a restaurant famous for cooking jerk over logs set over pits filled with coals. Roger also meets up with local fisherman Dennis Abrahams at Alligator Pond, a beach where boats pull in after fishing to sell their goods. Dennis and Roger start a campfire right on the beach and grill the catch of the day.

Wednesday
Apr 3
10pm | 9c

Most Popular Recipes

All Man Fire Food Recipes

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Lau Lau

Standard Meat Rub

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Guava-Smoked Pork Fried Rice

Smoked and Grilled Chicken

Borracho Beans

Guacamole de Taqueria

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About the Host

Roger Mooking

Meet Roger Mooking, award-winning musician and host of Man Fire Food and Man's Greatest Food.

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