Plot Synopsis

Host Roger Mooking travels across the United States to discover the inventive ways Americans cook with fire -- from small campfires to creative custom-made grills and smokers. In the first season, Mooking visited 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.

In Season 2, which debuted on the Cooking Channel on Monday, June 3, 2013 at 9:30pm ET/6:30pm PT, Mooking traveled to: South Carolina; Honolulu; Hawaii's Oahu (outside of Honolulu); Napa Valley for pig roasts and a second time for Mediterranean seafood feasts; Northern California for South American grilling; and Central Texas.

MAN FIRE FOOD returned for its third season on Tuesday, June 3, 2014 at 8pm ET/5pm PT on Cooking Channel. In the Season 3 premiere, "BBQ Sandwiches," Roger heads to The Barbecue Exchange for two sinfully delicious sandwiches -- one is called Heaven and the other Hell -- that are both packed with pulled pork and bacon. Then it's off to Papa KayJoe's BBQ in Centerville, TN, where pork, pickles, slaw and hot sauce are sandwiched between crispy corn cakes.

On Tuesday, July 14, 2015 at 8pm ET/5pm PT, Cooking Channel premiered the fourth season of MAN FIRE FOOD. In the season opener, "Pigging Out on Pork," Roger first heads to Grand Rapids, Michigan to visit the Pit Stop, a barbecue take-out famous for their unconventional, yet scrumptious, sandwich called the Green Menace Wrap, filled with pork chili and pulled pork, cilantro cream and barbecue sauce. Then, it is over to the barbecue institution, Top Hat Barbecue in Blount Springs, Alabama for a classic Southern-style pork sandwich that has been served the same exact way for 50 years. Low and slow and on a bun is the best way to devour this succulent cut of meat. Later in the season, Roger heads to Alabama for BBQ, travels to South Carolina for two spectacular low country cookouts, loads up on the best brisket, pork steaks and sausages the Lone Star state has to offer, visits two chefs in Texas who created the craziest cooking contraptions, hunts America for lip-smacking barbecue ribs, and journey to Southern California for two unbelievable backyard blowouts.

Season 5 of MAN FIRE FOOD premiered on Tuesday, July 5, 2016 at 9pm ET/6pm PT on Cooking Channel. On the 13 half-hour long new episodes, Roger follows the smoke signals across the country learning how pitmasters and local chefs use inventive methods and techniques to create sizzling hot, flavorful dishes. In the season opener, "Too Hot To Handle," Roger meets a chef in Miami who celebrates Latin Flavors with a unique coal-fueled contraption called the Cross Table used to roast butterflied pork marinated in bold achiote paste, and simmer a bountiful seafood paella in an unbelievably massive pan. Roger then makes his way to Birmingham, Alabama to visit OvenBird, known for its wood-fired kitchen. The chef there has created a one-of-a-kind portable oven that delivers a double dose of heat used to cook up a meat lover's feast of lamb, rabbit and beef along with the season's best vegetables.

MAN FIRE FOOD returned for its 13-episode sixth season on Tuesday, May 30, 2017 at 9pm ET/6pm PT on Cooking Channel. Chef Roger Mooking continues his search for the most fascinating ways to cook with flames. From cooking over open fire, to grilling over charcoal, or barbecuing low and slow, to smoking in the pit, Roger discovers all the inventive ways pitmasters and local chefs create sizzling hot, flavorful dishes. Come along as Roger follows the smoke signals across the country learning how to play with fire. In the season opener, "Old School, New School," Roger gets schooled by two pit masters changing the barbecue game in Charleston, S.C. Carolina-style barbecue is all about pork and Rodney Scott is the whole hog boss. Roger checks out Rodney's impressive new pit room where whole hogs get cooked low and slow. Rodney then hits the hogs with his secret "come back" seasoning and splashes of tangy vinegar sauce. Next, Roger heads to Lewis Barbecue where Texas pit master John Lewis is beefing up Charleston's Tex-Mex options. Roger and John pile up a plate of brisket nachos. Then they roll up a loaded pulled pork burrito smothered and smothered in green chili and peppers blasted in a roaster with shooting flames.

Cooking Channel premiered the seventh season of MAN FIRE FOOD on Wednesday, May 30, 2018 at 9pm ET/6pm PT. In the season opener, "Roadside 'cue," while road-tripping through Texas, Roger Mooking pulls the car over for some seriously delicious barbecue. In San Antonio, he makes a pit stop at The Box Street Social food truck to hang chickens and racks of ribs over a live fire. He also gets a taste of roasted pumpkins topped with goat cheese and arugula. In Santa Fe, Texas, Roger finds another food truck with a penchant for central Texas-style 'cue with a twist. At Smokin D's BBQ Fusion, he loads up a smoker with brisket for a mac and cheese-filled quesadilla, and he also tries the specialty Smoke Dog, a beef jalapeno sausage wrapped in bacon.

On Wednesday, November 28, 2018 at 9pm ET/6pm PT, Cooking Channel premiered the eighth season of MAN FIRE FOOD. In the season opener, "Southwest Smoke Signals," the smoke signals of fiery feasts lure Roger Mooking to the Southwest, where his first stop is West Alley BBQ and Smokehouse in Chandler, Ariz. The hot spot specializes in Tennessee-style barbecue, and Roger helps founder Bardo Brantley and Pit Boss Robert "Jim Dandy" Spann load brick pits with over 300 pounds of pork. The pork butts are piled high in their signature sandwich, The Big Jim Dandy, and their fan-favorite ribs are tossed in a barbecue sauce with a heavy hit of cayenne. For his second stop, Roger gets lucky in Las Vegas, where he meets Chef Justin Kingsley Hall of The Kitchen at Atomic. His portable rig known as "The Swing Set" is anything but child's play. To build this winning jackpot of meat, Roger and Justin suspend Mediterranean spice-rubbed legs of lambs, nestle butternut squash into a bed of coals and grill carrots in a swinging basket. After a five-month break, MAN FIRE FOOD returned with new episodes on Wednesday, May 22, 2019 at 9pm ET/6pm PT on Cooking Channel. In the mid-season premiere, "Raising the Heat," Roger visits the Lone Star State, where they're taking open-fire cooking to new culinary heights with unique rigs. In Fort Worth, Texas, chef and restaurateur Lou Lambert invites Roger to his ranch to slow-roast whole hogs over oak coals in a massive, custom-built metal rig. Dessert is a sweet treat inspired by Lou's chuck wagon cooking days -- pear and blackberry cobbler crisps baked in Dutch ovens using hot coals from burn barrels. Then Roger heads south to Houston, Texas, to meet up with Eight Row Flint's chef Marcelo Garcia, who gets customers fired up for the Trompo Wagon parked out back. Roger helps him load ten vertical spits with marinated pork butts and chicken thighs to spin slowly next to a triple tier of fire, smoke and heat. While the wheels are turning and the fires are burning, Roger and Marcelo make corn tortillas for tacos.

MAN FIRE FOOD returned for its ninth season on Wednesday, May 20, 2020 at 9pm ET/6pm PT on Cooking Channel. On the season premiere, "Southern Sizzle and Smoke," Roger heads to Comfort Farms in Milledgeville, Georgia, a nonprofit organization where retire a retired veteran helps fellow vets adjust to civilian life by teaching them how to farm, raise animals and cook. There, Roger helps cook a whole mutton seasoned with garlicky rosemary and farm-fresh ingredients for a live fire feast cooked on a unique rig. Then, he heads to Bob Sykes Bar-B-Q in Bessemer, Alabama, for classic, open brick-pit barbecue, where he learns the tricks of the trade from a seasoned pitmaster, who has been stoking coals since he was 8 years old. Together they season 250 pounds of picnic pork and load it into a 15-foot pit heated with hickory wood. Whether it is smoked, grilled or barbecued, each bite is a mouthful of flaming bold flavors. Throughout the season Roger follows the smoke signals to destinations across the country. From an ancient Peruvian-style pit roast in Saint Augustine, Florida, to authentic Thai rotisserie chicken in Austin, Texas, and to charred steak empanadas in Chattanooga, Tennessee, each delicious dish shares the common ingredient - fire!
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On Wednesday, June 24, 2020 at 9pm ET/6pm PT, Cooking Channel premiered "BBQ for Breakfast," the Season 9 finale of MAN FIRE FOOD. Roger visits two Texas pitmasters who give breakfast a wake-up call by adding barbecue. Reid Guess' custom-built rigs and smoked meats are on full display at Guess Family Barbecue in Waco, Texas. Reid and Roger fire up a 1,000-gallon offset smoker and fill it with seasoned pork butts and tri-tip steaks. They pull the pork, add it to fluffy pancakes and top with whiskey butter and maple syrup. The steak is seared on hot coals, dressed with chimichurri sauce and served with fried eggs. Then Roger heads to Derek Allan's Texas Barbecue in Fort Worth, Texas, for the signature Brisket Kolaches. Helming the unique upright smokers is Derek Crudgington, an IT systems engineer and self-taught pitmaster. Derek and Roger smoke wagyu beef brisket and stuff the melt-in-your-mouth meat inside soft, pillowy dough with cheese and hashbrowns. They also smoke housemade wagyu beef sausages made from a blend of chuck and brisket and serve the legendary links in breakfast tacos with scrambled eggs, cheese and salsa.