Chef Bobby Flay is the host of BBQ Brawl, a respected barbecue challenge where pitmasters from all over America compete for the title of Master of ‘Cue and the opportunity to be featured in a new series on Food Network digital.

BBQ Brawl is returning to Food Network on Monday, May 11, with 12 pitmasters, and one of them is Tim McLaughlin, the pitmaster of Crossbuck BBQ in Farmers Branch.

McLaughlin is a former fine-dining chef turned pitmaster who made a name for himself as the lead pitmaster at Lockhart Smokehouse for 15 years. 

His barbecue joint, Crossbuck, uses chef-driven approaches that blend traditional Central Texas barbecue with flavors from across the country. Everything is made in-house, all the way down to the pickles. 

McLaughlin’s mix of refinement and barbecue that breaks rules is a shoo-in for a competition like this one. The only other competitor from Texas is out of San Antonio. 

Each competitor is divided into teams of four. Each judge serves as a team captain: chefs Brooke Williamson, Maneet Chauhan, or Bobby Flay. McLaughlin is on Flay’s team.

Williamson, Chauhan and Flay will lead their own team of brawlers through a series of culinary challenges where judges Adrienne Cheatham, Rashad Jones and Carson Kressley will determine the best and least successful dishes. 

This season’s competitors are:

Dakari Akorede (Atlanta, Georgia)
Morgan Bolling (Boston, Massachusetts)
Chris Farella (Fort Lee, New Jersey)
Raquel Fleetwood (Long Beach, California)
Torrece “T” Gregoire (Bristol, Virginia)
Vinny Mangual (Brooklyn, New York)
Edith Mattiuzzo (Udine, Italy)
Tim McLaughlin (Dallas, Texas)
Tung Nguyen (Oklahoma City, Oklahoma)
Braunda Smith (San Antonio, Texas)
Blake Stoker (Martin, Tennessee)
Bob Trudnak (Philadelphia, Pennsylvania).

They’re all headed to Star Hill Ranch in Austin, Texas, where they will serve up each of their signature barbecue flavors in a bowl for the season premiere. The winner will choose their team captain. 

Every episode will feature new elements and ingredients that will challenge the pitmasters like grills, smokers, vertical fires and raw wood. 

This season of BBQ Brawl is nine episodes long and will premiere on Food Network on Monday, May 11 at 9p.m. ET. All episodes will stream the next day on HBO Max. The season finale will premiere on Monday, July 6, 9 p.m. ET. The three most successful brawlers from the season will have a mega showdown for the title of Master of ‘Cue