Iceblossom

We watch a lot of "reality based" tv shows, including probably far too many competition shows of various types.

We are currently binging on season 1 of Dessert Masters from Australia. I think we are watching through Prime and it is available through other sources as well.

It is cohosted by Amaury Guichon, who fascinates me. If you don't recognize the name, you might have heard of the "french chocolate guy" or that he had the most viewed Tiktok Video of 2022 with his chocolate giraffe.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Amaury_Guichon

I am so amazed by the skills of high end dessert artists of whatever skills they have in both the taste and the visual.

Of course, we do the British Baking Show (and Canadian version). Stateside/Food network I am a sucker for the Championship shows hosted by Jesse Palmer no matter the theme or guest judges. I'm not so into "Is it Cake?" but again, I am amazed at what people can do!

Do you have a favorite show or specific genre of cooking show?

Onebyone

I really liked the show How is it Made that use to be on Food Network. The cooking show I like are Great British Baking Show . American Test Kitchen, Cooks Kitchen, and Milk Street. The shows now on Food Network seem to be game shows of sort.

GingerK

I've been (sort of) watching Masterchef Australia. It's from a couple of years ago and run back to back on the weekends. By 'sort of' I mean it is on in my sewing room. I find it interesting, that the contestants are sometimes given recipes to follow and I have often wondered if that is also part of the American version that we just don't 'see'.

The kids' cooking and baking shows seem very fake--possibly with 'unseen helpers'? And I have to say that I am soooo tired of Gordon Ramsey throwing under-cooked meat in every single team challenge. It has become a stale scripted moment to me.

I loved the Chopped series but at the moment, we can't get the current series. I found lots of inspiration in how the contestants approached the basket items.

tropit

My dau is totally addicted to all of those competitive cooking shows. I like The Great British Baking Show. I also like Chef's Table (not competitive.)

Three Dog Night

I love the Baking Championship shows with Jesse Palmer and always record the series in case I'm not able to watch at time of showing. The British Baking show I've only watched a few times mostly because its not on my cable service but the few times I have been able to watch I like it. Always amazes me that contestants are given ingredients/challenges and they come up with something that is edible and beautiul.

Onebyone

Most of the cooking shows are on Netflix, Roku, Prime, and other streaming channels. It doesn't have to be on your cable line up.

Iceblossom

For a very different cooking show, I really enjoy everything put out by Steven Raichlen. I first found him on the PBS Creates channel (part of my cable line up). He specializes in "live fire" and goes way beyond burgers and basic and into some pretty fine dining.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Steven_Raichlen
https://barbecuebible.com/

Is a "how to" cooking show, not a competition. He is more of a Bob Ross than a Gordon Ramsey

b.zang

I ran into Chopped a few years ago but now that I have streaming, I've started from Season 1 to watch my way through. It falls off my watch list for a while, then I start up again. It's the kind of show that I can stop anywhere and when I come back to it there's no sense of missing information. Honestly, Chopped has inspired me to be more adventurous with my own cooking as they combine ingredients that don't seem to work simply because they have to use the basket things. My favourite episodes have been with the lunch ladies.

tropit

Did you know that there is a Martha Channel? I just discovered that. My son has a streaming subscription that now includes some offbeat channels and live streaming services. I watched one or two episodes, but it kept having to update. Martha, love her, or hate her, or both...LOL.