Ernest Servantes already knows what it takes to win $50,000 from Food Network; now the Seguin pitmaster is the one handing it out. The Burnt Bean Co. pitmaster, who won a big check on Chopped Grill Masters in 2012 and took the No. 1 spot on Texas Monthly's 2025 list of the state's top 50 barbecue joints, is one of four judges on Pitmasters, a new series that puts elite barbecue teams through a week of live-fire competition.

The series puts the teams through the wringer with a breakneck schedule of challenges ranging from whole-hog cooking to a four-protein showdown. The premiere episode drops the contestants straight into a "Big Burn" challenge, giving the pitmaster pairs nine hours to build a family-style platter of two meats and a side that defines their style.

But it wouldn’t be a Food Network show without a twist. This time, Servantes and his fellow judges — Andrew Zimmern, competition barbecue great Moe Cason, and Austin-based barbecue personality Jess Pryles — throw the cast a 60-minute "Flash Burn" curveball that asks them to create the perfect barbecue bite.San Antonio talent won’t just be behind the judges' table. Three teams will feature well-known names in the local smoked meat scene.

Grecia and Esaul Ramos, the proprietors of San Antonio’s 2M Smokehouse, might have an advantage. After all, the duo is not only married; they work together in the kitchen every day. But they’ll face stiff competition from two other locals with their own live-fire superpowers.

Boerne’s Al Frugoni, paired with Louisville, Kentucky influencer Jeremy Yoder, is known for his Argentine asado-style cooking and self-named line of seasonings sold at Walmart and H-E-B. Also representing Boerne will be Ruben Santana, paired with Palmira Barbecue pitmaster Hector Garate from Charleston, South Carolina.

That Santana is listed as a hometown pitmaster may raise a few eyebrows. He’s best known as the founder of Brooklyn’s Bark Barbecue, a project that has gained him national recognition for fusing Dominican and Texas styles. We’ll have to wait to see if he is firing something new in Texas.

Pitmasters premieres July 13 on Food Network. Episodes will air on Mondays and be available to stream on HBO Max the following day.