(ARA) - Competitive eating has long been considered a sport as people race to eat as many hot dogs, meatballs or hamburgers as they can in a short period of time.
But the people who spend hour after hour cooking some of the best barbecue in America prove to be as competitive as the people who try to eat as fast as they can.
TLC's new series "
BBQ Pitmasters," which premiers Dec. 3, takes viewers into the subculture of competitive cooking, where an estimated 10 million people visit each year to get up-close and personal with the leading chefs of America's barbecue circuit. For pit masters, the honor rides on the virtues of one perfectly charred rib, and hundreds of thousands of dollars trade hands after a single, mouth-watering bite of brisket.
"For the competitors we follow, barbecue isn't a hobby - it's a passion. Countless hours of work, hundreds of miles of travel, and years perfecting recipes go into making one perfect bite of food - with the hopes of winning the title and millions of dollars in prizes," says Eileen O'Neill, president and general manager of TLC. "'BBQ Pitmasters' adds to our menu of programming, sharing stories of passionate real-life characters with the wildly popular BBQ backdrop."
The men and women featured are part chef, part athlete, and part five-star general. They talk a big game, but walk it every step of the way with grease on their hands, sweat on their brows, and meat on their minds from sunup to sundown. Production follows the pitmasters as they prepare for and compete at various events across the country, including ones in Alabama, Delaware, Illinois, Missouri and Nevada.
In addition to the pitmasters, viewers will also meet the "supporting characters," like the outrageous customized "pits" themselves. Considered the secret weapons and a pitmaster's best friend, these pits seem to develop their own personalities, with names and sometimes even genders.
See the wild characters and mouthwatering barbecue on TLC's "
BBQ Pitmasters" starting Dec. 3.
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