Man v. Food Season 3 Episode 10: Kansas City
Adam is on an eating adventure in Kansas City, the barbecue capital of the world, where they cook every kind of meat barbecue and slather it in a sweet sauce. This episode Adam will take on Papa Bob’s Bar-B-Que Ultimate Destroyer Challenge. Adam must eat six pounds of meat sandwich and french fries in forty five minutes order to win the challenge. No challengers have ever won this competition, clearing the way for Adam to be the first challenge winner. If Adam wins the challenge he receives a “I survived the Ultimate Destroyer” button and his picture posted on Papa Bob’s Wall of Fame.
First Adam hits Oklahoma Joe’s BBQ, a combination gas station and diner. They are known for their succulent pulled pork and meaty spare ribs. Oklahoma Joe’s BBQ does barbecue right, but their most requested meat on the menu is their slow cooked brisket. One of the diners tells Adam that the pulled pork is the best around. Adam goes back to the kitchen where he meets up with Joe the owner, who shows him how they do their brisket. Joe seasons the brisket with beef powder, sugar, worcestershire sauce, and a special blend of spices. Joe slow smokes the brisket over wood for twelve to fourteen hours. Adam watches a brisket come out of the smoker and his eyes light up at the dark crust on the meat. Joe cuts a piece of the brisket for Adam to taste and he is in heaven. Joe cuts off the meat to cook for burnt ends and puts it back in the smoker for another six to eight hours. As Joe brings out the finished brisket burnt ends, Adam jokingly grabs the tray and runs away with it. When Adam tastes the burnt ends he proclaims “It’s sweet, super savory” meat, saying of the burnt ends “That was awesome, soft like a meat smore, one of the best pieces of barbecue I’ve ever come across!”
Next Adam visits Stroud’s Oak Ridge Manor, where they do home cooking right. Their pan fried chicken in a cast iron skillet is legendary, and he can’t wait for the meal. The restaurant serves up huge platters of chicken and big bowls of potatoes with thick gravy and tasty sides family style, along with their popular cinnamon rolls.
Adam meets Chef Chris back in the kitchen to see how they pan fry their famous chicken. The chef dredges the pieces of chicken simply, in flour, salt and pepper. The oil they use to fry in is soybean instead of peanut oil. The chef tells Adam they fry their chicken in a cast iron skillet, which he says makes a difference in the flavor. Adam eyes the cast iron skillet as the chef makes thick country gravy using the leftover fry bits from the fried chicken. Adam tries the gravy and remarks how smooth and delicious it is. Adam can’t wait any longer, he joins manager Tammy for a fried chicken meal. As they bite into the chicken it crunches and Adam is impressed, telling the audience “Oh my gosh, that’s like whole body licking good” (as opposed to finger licking good), “It’s really crispy but so savory, substantial and juicy!”
Adam arrives at Papa Bob’s Bar-B-Que Ultimate Destroyer to take on the Ultimate Destroyer Challenge, a mammoth sandwich of smoked meats served with a one and a half pound mountain of fries, a total of six pounds of sandwich and spuds. The challenge must be completed in forty five minutes or less. If Adam wins the challenge he becomes the first challenger to defeat the sandwich, and receives a “I survived the Ultimate Destroyer” button and his picture posted on Papa Bob’s Wall of Fame.
Adam heads back to the kitchen to see how his Ultimate Destroyer sandwich is created. Owner Bob puts the sandwich together with generous portions of six kinds of hickory smoked meats: pulled pork, sliced pork, ham, turkey, hamburger patties and brisket layered into a huge hoagie. Each layer of meat gets a layer of two pieces of white bread and a coating of barbecue sauce to help stabilize the sandwich, making this one meaty, bready sandwich. After all the layers are completed, the six pound monster is served up with one and a half pounds of hot crispy fries.
Adam runs into the restaurant and high fives the crowd as they cheer him on with chants of “Adam, Adam.” He sits at the table and Bob places the platter of Ultimate Destroyer sandwich in front of him. Adam has forty five minutes to annihilate this giant mountain of food. Owner Bob sets the pink pig timer on the table and tells Adam “Let the pigout begin!”
Adam dives into the sandwich, after his first bite he tells the audience “That’s very, very good, delicious!” Adam decides to strategize, dividing the sandwich into equal sections to make it easier to eat. Five minutes into the challenge, Adam has destroyed a third of the sandwich. As he keeps eating he realizes the amount of starch in the sandwich is daunting. After ten minutes Adam has made a real dent in the mound of food having eaten half of the sandwich and some of the fries. Adam hits the hamburger layer of the sandwich and he tells the crowd it is very dry, much harder to eat than the starch, and decides to pile on the condiments. As Adam devours more of the sandwich, reality hits him as the timer and the crowd counts down to the final minutes.
Adam makes a noble effort but the timer goes off with at least a third of the sandwich and fries left to eat. Adam admits defeat from his starch and hamburger foes. Bob the owner awards Adam an “I failed miserably at the Ultimate Destroyer Challenge” button. Adam grins as he accepts his button, thanks Kansas, and announces to the audience that in the Ultimate Destroyer Challenge of Man vs Food, today, food won.
