Here's why I believe the Tournament of Champions needs to introduce new categories in the infamous Randomizer

Tournament of Champions
Tournament of Champions host Guy Fieri | Image Source: Instagram/ @foodnetwork

Disclaimer: This Tournament of Champions article is based on the writer's opinion. Reader discretion is advised.


Food Network's Tournament of Champions features a unique machine, which Guy Fieri refers to as the Randomizer. It is the source that decides what ingredients participants are supposed to use for the challenge. Along with it, major decisions such as equipment, protein, produce, cooking style, and cooking time are determined by the Randomizer.

For the fans who have not been following the legendary culinary show, this is going to be refreshing. Before any challenge, show host Guy Fieri spins the Randomizer to determine essential aspects. Depending on the information chosen by the Randomizer, as its name suggests, "randomly," chefs are given their challenges.

I think, if the Food Network producers decide to introduce new categories on Randomizer, it would open a whole lot of possibilities for the challenges. Undoubtedly, there are different categories, and sometimes viewers also get to see the "Wild card ingredient" category on the Randomizer, but adding more categories might be even more exciting for upcoming seasons of Tournament of Champions.


Tournament of Champions: The star of the show - Randomizer

Throughout the Tournament of Champions, the challenges start with the show host spinning the wheels of the Randomizer. Mainly, there are five categories, including Protein, Produce, Equipment, Style, and Time. Sometimes, there is a Wild Card Ingredient added.

The first category, protein, determines what kind of meat would be used during the challenge. It includes meat, fish, flanken short ribs, frog legs, goat, octopus, whole duck, rabbit, wild boar, crab, and more. Produce is generally vegetables/fruits, which chefs would be using in their dish, such as yuca, bitter melon, artichokes, kohlrabi, lotus root, passion fruit, and more.

Next is equipment. It is one of the important categories as chefs are supposed to use it to cook their dish. It consists of traditional cooking equipment as well as some rarely used equipment. Crepe Pan, Bamboo steamer, tagine pot, smoke gun, spiralizer, pressure cooker, lava rocks, and more.

Up next is style. Depending on the round/ challenge, there are cooking styles in this category. It can vary from Latin American, Middle Eastern, Caribbean to dry rubbed and glazed, hot and cold, fresh and fried, char, smoked, fiery, and more.

The last category, time, shows the time duration under which chefs are supposed to prepare their dish. Additionally, sometimes, there is another category, a Wild card ingredient. It can vary from time to time, depending on the cuisine, challenge, and more.

Each of these categories is exciting, as every time they are randomly chosen, they give a bit of a surprise element for the challenges. Not just for the participating chefs, but also for the viewers, it keeps everyone on the edge as to what chefs would decide to prepare.

After the Randomizer reveals the ingredients and other things, chefs have to come up with what they are going to cook, quickly. They have to use all the things chosen by the Ranzomizer while preparing the said type of dish/ cuisine. Having such an undecided factor makes everything more exciting, and challenges turn into a game.

While Tournament of Champions participants have the idea of what they want to prepare, they do not have time to see what their opponents are going to do. And since everything, including ingredients and equipment, is revealed at the last moment, there is little time to think about what they are going to prepare.

Adding a few more categories to Randomizer, depending on the rounds/ phases of the show, might turn out to be surprisingly enjoyable and interesting.


Food Network is streaming Tournament of Champions Season 6 episodes.

Edited by Gira Rathod