Pressure Cooker (game show)

"Pressure Cooker" was a game show about cooking hosted by Chris Durham. It aired on the Food Network in 1998.

The Main Game

Round 1 (Meal Ticket)

In round one, three contestants face a game board called the "Meal Mixer". The Meal Mixer always contains four meals: "Breakfast", "Lunch", "Dinner" & "Snack". These act as categories. One additional spot, called "Pot Luck," is also on the Meal Mixer. The first category is always selected by the host; after that, a correct answer gives that player control of the Meal Mixer. The player in control presses a button to start the Meal Mixer, randomly selecting a category. A toss-up question is then read and the first player to buzz-in gets a chance to answer. Answering the question correctly takes control of the Meal Mixer, but an incorrect answer gives the other player(s) a chance to answer.

The Meal Tickets

The player with a correct answer not only takes control of the Meal Mixer but also puts up a meal ticket (corresponding to the category that the question came from) on his/her podium, hence the title. For example, a correct answer in the lunch category puts up a lunch meal ticket.

Each meal ticket is represented by a food item:

Breakfast - egg
Lunch - hamburger
Dinner - turkey
Snack - bag of popcorn

The object of the game is get five meal tickets which include one breakfast, one lunch, one dinner, and two snacks.

Note: If a contestant answers a question in a category from which he/she already has a meal ticket, that player has a chance to steal a meal ticket from one of his/her opponents. However, if neither of the opponents has a meal ticket that the contestant doesn't have, that contestant gets a free unclaimed meal ticket of his/her choice, aka "stealing from the house."

Don't Play with your Food

Midway into round one, all three contestants play a stunt that allows them to build or make things from food. The stunt lasts for 30, 45, or 60 seconds, and when time runs out, the results are judged. The player with the best performance (judged either by audience applause or by a quantitative measurement) gets a meal ticket of his/her choice & control of the Meal Mixer. If there's a tie, the players involved in a tie each get a meal ticket of their choice, but the host takes control of the Meal Mixer.

Potluck

Potluck is always played one time per show. The contestant plays a solo stunt involving food. For example, the contestant may be given 20 seconds to load one pound of tea bags onto a scale, and must be within two ounces either way in order to win. If successful, the contestant earns a meal ticket of his/her choice.

Winning the Round

The first two players to get all five meal tickets, or, failing that, the two contestants with the most meal tickets when time is called (signified by a saxophone riff), win the round and advance to round two. If there's a tie for second place at the end of the round, a tie-breaker question is read to the players involved in the tie for advancement to round two. Regardless of the outcome, the third place player is eliminated, but wins parting gifts.

Round 2 (Taste-Off)

In round two (referred to on the air as "The Taste-Off Round"), the two remaining players face a dish that was made by a Food Network chef. Their job while going back & forth is to identify what ingredients are included in the dish. While identifying, they can take as much of that dish as they want. There are 11 ingredients (sometimes 9) and the first player to identify 6 of the ingredients (5 if there's 9) wins the game. An incorrect ingredient or failure to respond in time gives the player a strike. Any player accumulating a total of three strikes is out of the game, and the other player wins, regardless of score. The winning player goes on to the bonus round, and the other player goes home with parting gifts.

Bonus Round ("Pressure Cooker")

The winning player plays a bonus round called "The Pressure Cooker Round". This is where host Durham & the winning contestant stands inside a giant pressure cooker to play. To start, host Durham shows 15 food words & phrases. Each one is part of a list of foods and/or other things, all of them relate to specific subject. The contestant's job is to call out a word and the host reads off the list; the contestant can make as many guesses as he/she can, and if he/she gets stumped he/she can pass & move to the next list by calling out another word or wait until the list is complete. If the winning player gets six subjects correct in 60 seconds (sometimes 75 seconds), he/she wins a grand prize (usually a trip). But if he/she can not do that, he/she still wins a consolation prize.

Notes

A similar show called "Taste Test" which was hosted by celebrity chef David Rosengarten premiered after "Pressure Cooker" got canceled.

The buzz-in sound was similar to that used on the PBS game shows Where in the World is Carmen Sandiego? and Where in Time is Carmen Sandiego?