Cutthroat Kitchen (2013– ) User Reviews

A little bit silly (dumb) sometimes but they cook real everyday food.

[bobhyneman · 7/10 · 17 April 2015]

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.

One of the better cooking shows

[Bryan- · 7/10 · 12 April 2017]

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.

It's a Game Show

[rbkimmell · 9/10 · 16 October 2013]

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.

I love it

[selket9 · 10/10 · 5 May 2014]

I didn't want to watch this show. I thought it was just another stupid

competition program designed to bring out the worst in people. I was appalled that Alton Brown would do something like this. However the crazy commercials and my love of Alton Brown inspired me to give it a try any way. Now I'm hooked. It's actually silly, playful fun. Alton Brown is as wonderful as ever. The sabotages are delightfully deranged. This is what a cooking competition should be. You don't get more original than this. Chefs have had to cook with miniature cooking tools, gardening tools, no tools. They've made meat dishes without meat and bread dishes without bread. I don't know how long they can continue coming up with new ideas but I hope it's a good, long time.

It IS Evilicious

[davidfurlotte · 10/10 · 14 February 2016]

A lot of people are complaining about how this show brings out the worst in people who are competing. It's like those people believe all Chefs and cooks are somehow superior and should never behave like that. Ridiculous! The show is entertaining and nobody forces the contestants to play the game. They do it simply to try and win some money and exercise their culinary skill.

The dishes that Alton makes them create are not rocket science, they're ordinary foods that most of the viewers are familiar with and probably many of us have made at one time or another.

MOST of the fun in the show is seeing some of the ways the chefs actually get around the sabotages because it does show their creativity and in some instances, absolute culinary genius.

I have YET to watch a single episode where I have not laughed out loud and with this show already going for 12 seasons, I only hope it goes for another 12.

just stupid

[allensendiri · 1/10 · 9 September 2013]

This show is just stupid. One Contestant can just take all the ingredients. Like all the bread or all the eggs when he goes to the pantry. That makes this show idiotic, and it has nothing to do with cooking talent. A contestant will have to spend most of there money just to win. So it makes the contest pretty stupid. Its not about how well you cook. It is about how much you screw others over. I don't know where these chefs come from, but every dish looks awful. The winner is the person who puts out the least pathetic dish , but all the dishes are pathetic. This is one of those shows that after watching it ; you will wish you could get that hour of your life back. In summary , this is not a cooking contest; it is simply the worst reality show you will ever see in your life.

Bring it back !

[lvlisap · 9/10 · 25 January 2021]

This was our favorite food network show - so entertaining and clever and challenging.

Horrible, simply horrible - no redeeming value of any kind

[shoolaroon · 1/10 · 8 September 2013]

I forced myself to watch two episodes of this just to be fair....display of naked a..hole-ism. The last one I just watched, which prodded me to write this, which featured a chef named Brian, just simply appalled me. This is not about good cooking or inventiveness or even a real competition - it's about just being a nasty, vicious, spiteful, disgusting A..HOLE. Seriously, if I lost this competition to this really nasty Brian person, I would have spat on him. There are some things one doesn't do for money, even in America, and I'd rather lose one cooking show than live my whole life as a pathetic...well....a..hole.

This show appeals to the absolute WORST in human nature, and I guess I don't enjoy watching that and I won't be watching it again. It is true that the Food Network has too many competition shows, and not enough prime time shows that actually show normal people how to cook. Instead they are wasteful and I'm just sick of the hyper-competitiveness to cook effete and pointless dishes. This show is the absolute worst though. Alton Brown, you should be really ashamed of this.

Hopefully this review will be published as I think this needs to be read - especially by the Food Network. You've hit bottom, guys.

Chopped Extreme

[wandererthelost · 10/10 · 24 September 2013]

If you like Chopped then you should love this show. This takes it to a whole new level by adding in another factor entirely. Everyone starts with the same money and everyone gets to bid on the same items. They all start perfectly even, their plays are what determine if they win or lose. To all those people saying "But the best chef didn't win so I hate it..." that is why bidding is a part of the game. If a chef is good but becomes over confident and allowing themselves to be burdened past their superior ability, then they have failed at the game which is the entire point. That isn't to say that some people don't get targeted but from watching the show, you can usually tell where the punishment is going based on who is winning the bid. It is amazing to see people get debilitating handicaps and triumph through finesse and then to see people crumble who overestimated their ability to handle change. Some players spend to fast and ensure their defeat later while others refuse to spend and pay for it from the get go. It is a show with balance hand in hand with skill and if you can't handle the heat you should stay out of the kitchen. But if you have a love for a show that can actually change at any time, where the balance can be flipped at a moments notice, this is the show for you.

Great show, highly entertaining.

[moonlightrain · 10/10 · 5 September 2013]

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.

Really Fun Show & I Love AB

[eaglefangs · 9/10 · 6 August 2021]

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.

Awful Show That Doesn't Even Test Kitchen Talent

[LeDentalPlaque · 2/10 · 27 December 2014]

I watched one episode of Cutthroat Kitchen and was turned off forever. Ever since it started, I sometimes unfortunately end up hitting an episode of this show here and there if my timing is bad with the Food Network.

The first thing that peeves me about this show is that they make a joke out of cooking, and they make these chefs do ridiculous things. I mean, this is a competition, and how can you judge someone's true ability to cook if they're forced to cook with a lamp and no stove, or to have them hop on stools from one place to another, or to have your ingredients replaced by jelly beans? How can you honestly compare the food cooked by this one poor chef (who's been sabotaged so intensely) to the others who have had the full arsenal of the kitchen at their disposal? It's just wrong, plain and simple.

I think this deserves a 2, a rarity for me, because it makes a joke out of cooking and it makes professionals look like fools.

Fun light hearted game show

[EurekaAlwin · 9/10 · 19 June 2014]

I find this game show to be a gem of a show. It's not, as some claim, about a bunch of jerks being jerky to each other because they like being jerks.

When you watch this show think of classic board games, like Sorry or humorous new fashion games like Munchkin. The point of these games isn't really to get to base first, or be the last Min-Maxer standing, the point is the game play itself, and that game play is Zinging your friends and family and to exchange competitive banter without hurt feelings.

The same is true for Cutthroat Kitchen. The players go into the game knowing that there are going to be be sabotages and the producers tell them to ham it up with the trash talking.

If you enjoy stupid beer and pretzels gaming, then you should enjoy these show, once you realize that this show is TV tapping into that same spirit.

Horrible Show...

[acranford · 1/10 · 24 September 2013]

As the title suggests, this show glorifies backstabbing and general poor gamesmanship. Perhaps, in the right dosage, that could make an interesting show, but on CK this is not the case. It's not funny or entertaining--it is painful to watch. It is actually disturbing to watch these contestants try to sabotage each other for money.

Each contestant tries to produce versions of classic meals like french toast or tacos. The only real challenge is that the person next to you is trying to make your dish horrible.

That means that every contestant is like that bully from high school or that guy who purposefully cuts in front of you in traffic. The contestant who wins is the biggest jerk in the group--the person you would normally hope loses. There is not emotional gratification from this show because the person with the most damaged moral compass wins.

Plus, the contestants must enjoy ruthlessness more than monetary gain. Although they are each given $25,000 at the beginning of the show,they have to use it to bid on ways to sabotage each other.

*Slight Spoiler*

They basically use all their money to do this. I watched 3 episodes and not one winner has walked away with $10,000. One contestants won about $2,000.

If they were smarter, they could have gone on Chopped where the competition is fairer and the winner is guaranteed $10,000. If they were smarter still, they would make a pact before the show that no one bid on anything and let the best, most skillful chef win $25,000.

This isn't some disgruntled complaint about how this show isn't Good Eats or how FN has too many competitions. This show is just plain horrible. It is so bad that Icouldn't just let it go and I had to write a review.

Fun, entertaining, and silly

[karamarika · 10/10 · 12 October 2018]

Many of the reviews on here seem to be from people who miss the point of the show entirely. The sabotages force the chefs to be creative to overcome them. It is fun to watch them try to work around a crazy cooking vessel, a crazy thing to carry around, or a time waster. There is an educational component to the show. We learn how to improvise and make something when the ideal conditions are not there. That is good information. Alton Brown is adorable, as always, and is a key component to the show. Without him it would definitely not be as fun to watch. He is the one that provides a lot of the educational commentary on the show as well. It kills me that there are so many snobs out there that want to watch what would be the most boring cooking show ever - chefs cooking fancy food with no obstacles to overcome. Talk about boring. These are probably the people that watch early morning Food Network fare, which consists entirely of the "here is a chef who will cook a dish and talk about it" shows. I prefer primetime Food Network competition shows. And no, the one with the least amount of money is not always the winner in the end. Not even most of the time.

The naysayers have no imagination!

[ItsJustSlater · 10/10 · 7 October 2022]

This is a fantastic show I love watching over and over. I was so disappointed when it ended.

Chopped is your high class hoity toity cooking competition where everyone is in the same equal footing and the only challenge are the ingredients and the time restrictions. It gets boring after a while.

Cutthroat Kitchen requires a whole different level of creativity, ingenuity, and intelligence! Not only are the ingredient and time challenges present but they throw in some real curve balls. All of the challenges can be beaten and Alton often comments to the camera on how they can be overcome. But are the chefs and cooks smart enough to figure them out? I've learned a lot more about cooking from Cutthroat than from Chopped.

Those leaving grumpy reviews after watching one episode have completely missed the boat. When you watch a contestant get all the challenges in a round and then still come out to beat everyone it's a real treat to see them overcome everything thrown at them.

The naysayers have no imagination and are probably the same people who complain that life isn't fair. No one ever said life is fair. Cutthroat Kitchen mirrors life and the crazy challenges it can throw at you. Will you rise to the challenge and win, or just complain it's unfair that it happened to you?

Awful show

[arjundht22 · 1/10 · 16 March 2014]

It is as simple as that "Contestant having least amount of money will be the winner". No need to judge the food. I watched each show each week, almost all the times this is the case.

Mr. Alton brown, this is totally unfair!!!!! I don't like the show. It is a waste of time. The show show should be fair, and should be improved.

On 16th march specially, please see the episode, all the contestant who cooked the best food, was discarded, because they had more money.

The simple rule to win in this show is to spend as much money as possible. Otherwise you will be out of the show.

It only took one viewing to say "Never again!"

[Mike_Wiggins · 4/10 · 24 April 2014]

The summary pretty much says it all. I had been avoiding the show as I was pretty sure I wouldn't like it. But one evening, when there wasn't much on, I chose to commit to watching one full episode. And I did.

I just wish I had listened to my inner alarm bells. Even though it was hosted by Alton Brown, who I admire a lot, the premise for the show was just mean and unsportsmanlike. What fun is there in stacking the deck so that ANY other opponents can't really perform. Forcing a cook to use a hockey skate instead of his knives (in the episode I watched) was not what I would call entertainment.

But there ARE moments where you might see a chef shine with their knowledge. In this episode, one chef was allowed to "steal" cheese from another chef. The "thief" thought he had mortally wounded his victim. But he was unaware that his victim was very smart and had wisely brought out enough ingredients from the pantry to make her OWN cheese. Clever.

In the end, I don't like this type of gaming. It's like watching a game of high school football players going against an NFL team (to me, at least). And that's why I say "Never again!"

Completely useless 'pseudo cooking' show that's about (1) game show (2) stupid dialogue (3) oh yeah, a little bit about food

[daniel_lalla · 1/10 · 6 September 2014]

Completely useless 'cooking' show that puts so much emphasis on trying to incorporate challenges, sabotages, handicaps and the like that the cooking takes third fiddle. Second fiddle is all the dumb cutaway shots of the 'chefs' trash talking their components and trying to pretend how much they know. Like I care. And the quality of the chef is very low. What does cooking a meal in a kiddy kitchen or with being forced to wear oven mitts have to do with anything. Somebody here said it's a lighthearted game show. What a coincidence! I'll never watch those again either! Food Network has totally jumped the shark featuring 'visit and live everything you eat at restaurant' shows (Guy Fieri) or dumb game shows like this and Fieri's supermarket thing. Or challenges ad nauseam. How many times do I have to see Booby Flay prove he's better than everyone else? This show is just the awful icing on the awful cake that is now Food Network.

Stupid. Not Instructive,

[jonnytwoode · 2/10 · 8 February 2014]

I used to like Alton Brown, the "get your nerd on guy" who was great and likable in Good Eats. I can't stand him in this show. He has become utterly repulsive. Does he really think he looks cool with that ugly facial hair? It looks fine on some people, but not him. And his behavior and approach has become arrogant and overbearing. Not to mention, this show teaches the viewer nothing. I respect the chefs/contestants who compete on this show and admire their skills, but it is impractical in terms of educating the home cook. Food Network is rapidly approaching the bottom of the barrel if this is the best they can come up with in terms of new shows.

More Cut Throat or Kitchen?

[slimmichaellay · 2/10 · 1 July 2014]

The show's title "Cut Throat" reveals a focus less on cooking and more about creative sabotage, including surprise auctions while cooking in the "Kitchen." The auctioning and bidding seems to bring out the best/worst in contestants as well as the host, in that the host has his favorite chef in each show which is natural. Thankfully the judging is done by another chef to lend fairness. Perhaps blind judging of not knowing which chef did which dish might increase objectivity. If anything, the auctioning that seems to interrupt food preparation does emulate the unexpected situations that occur in restaurant or catering businesses. I'd like to see focused (meaning fewer)auctions, and a greater variety of foods used in the competition. I like the variety of chef contestants who have been featured on the show.

I Like Alton Brown - But...

[brooklynshades · 5/10 · 31 January 2014]

Please Alton, say it isn't so!!!

It appears that Cutthroat Kitchen is edit - filmed multiple times and pieced together. I have noticed a chef starts out with one bandaged finger a scene or two later two fingers, then back to one and even none.

Disappointing.

I watch anyway because of the challenges - too funny sometimes - but to know it takes more than one filming of a challenge removes some of the excitement - especially when the chef that brags so much and ends up cut before the 3rd challenge.

AtrocioIus

[Maedhros35 · 2/10 · 29 April 2018]

I can't really tell to which target audience the show's creators are trying to appeal - either game shows or cooking competitions, but in my case they missed the mark in both cases by miles.

The cooking element is severly hindered by whatever sabotages the contestants throw at each other, meaning that the biggest jerk will probably win The cooking itself seems to be only secondary. Given the crippling effect of the different sabotages it's surprising anything palatable leaves the kitchen.

For a cookin competetion: watch Gordon Ramsey or Master Chef; for a Game Show: watch anything you like. But don't watch this pile of crap.