My favorite judges are Marcus Samuelsson, and Maneet Chauhan. I find that their critiques are generally the most insightful, and their judging to be the best. The other judges I like, after those two, are Geoffrey Zakarian, Scott Conant, Amanda Freitag, and Aarón Sanchez. I don't like Alex Guarnaschelli, Marc Murphy, Mark Bittman, or Chris Santos.

Marcus is definitely my favorite judge. Really understands cooking and as you said, he has extremely insightful critiques.

To be honest, I think it's moderately entertaining, but not necessarily a good "cooking show". That's not to say that there aren't plenty of times when I find myself watching it (particularly when I'm not happy with anything else on tv), but depending on the episode, it sometimes bugs me a fair amount:

 

1) In general, you only get to see very very brief snippets whatever the dishes are being cooked. I like to learn from cooking shows, and it's tough to do that watching Chopped.

2) The basket contents are often crazy enough that they're never things that anyone would cook with. (I realize that that's kind of the point of the show...but that goes back to my statement about liking to learn and wanting to take things I see on the show and use them in my cooking.)

3) The judges are far from impartial. Chris Santos, for example, doesn't like raw onions...so anyone using raw onions in their recipe gets low markings from him. Also, the judges frequently are making part of their decision based on things that happened while they were watching the chefs cook the dish, rather than just basing their decision on the dish that was placed in front of them at the end of the alotted time.

4) I.CAN'T.STAND.ALEX.GUARNASCHELLI - and she's about the most regular judge they have on the show.

5) The judges are never happy with the dish they are given. I understand constructive criticism, but I'm literally yet to see anyone have a dish that the judges say, "You did this right. It was good." I think when people are given surprise ingredients, and a very abbreviated amount of time to turn those ingredients into an appetizer, entree, or dessert, then the judges need to be at least a little less critical of some things about the dish.

I think Chopped is a different kind of learning than what you get from other shows. But I do feel you can learn from it. With Chopped you have a better idea of how to meld different types of acids and bases to get a good dish/sauces/etc. For instance when they get one of those really fruity candies you can see the contestants looking for ways to balance that out. Also, I think it's a crash course on various cooking techniques and the general principles behind those.

 

Now, are you going to go out and make a dish with lamb fries and orange candy? Probably not, but you can get valuable insight on creative ways to prepare certain "types" of foods and good ways to meld the flavors together.

I'm sure I'm in the minority but I can't stand 30 seconds of DDD...

^I do agree about the "not showing you how" part.

 

One thing I really like about Diners, Drive-In's, and Dives is they have cookbooks with receipes from most of the places they visit, that allow you to try your hand at some of the dishes.

 

I watched an episode of Chopped last night where they said a guy's dish was perfect. He forgot an ingredient and they kept him around because what he made was so good.

That perfect dish looked REALLY good.

I'm sure I'm in the minority but I can't stand 30 seconds of DDD...

 

Well...Guy Fieri drives me kind of insane, admittedly, but I like the show all the same.

DDD may actually be my favorite show on the Food Network. I guess as far as the "perfect dish" is concerned, I must have just not caught an episode with one yet.

 

I'm gonna correct myself...my favorite show on the Food Network is The Best Thing I Ever Ate. It USED to be Good Eats, but seeing as that one finally ended its run in 2011, I've moved on to DDD and The Best Thing I Ever Ate.

I'm gonna correct myself...my favorite show on the Food Network is The Best Thing I Ever Ate. It USED to be Good Eats, but seeing as that one finally ended its run in 2011, I've moved on to DDD and The Best Thing I Ever Ate.

 

LOVED that show! My wife thought I was soooo into it, that she actually got me one of his books.

Met Guy Fieri a few times with my work. Nicest guy you can ever meet. He truly acts the same way in real life as he does on TV. Love chopped as well. dont go out of my way to watch it, but if its on TV while im scrolling through the channels Ill watch.

I'm sure I'm in the minority but I can't stand 30 seconds of DDD...

 

I have tried a few of the restaurants that he has visited. Anytime we are on vacation I always check to see if there is a restaurant that we can stop at that has been on the show.