Meet the Las Vegas woman who could be Food Network’s next barbecue star

Where there’s smoke — and fire — there’s Christie Vanover.

The competitive pitmaster from Las Vegas, barbecue champion in multiple states (including Nevada), founder of Girls Can Grill brand, and advocate for women in barbecue is one of 12 contestants on Season 4 of “BBQ Brawl,” the hit Food Network show whose winner is crowned the Master of ’Cue. The 10-episode season debuts at 9 p.m. Monday.

The other afternoon, Vanover sat down at her Henderson home — a spread that includes 35 grills and smokers able to accommodate everything from a chicken breast to an ox — to discuss her appearance on “BBQ Brawl” (there’s a lot she can’t reveal), her journey to professional barbecue and the secret to grilling great chicken.

“It was an amazing experience,” Vanover said of the competition. “It was a run of emotions. It was more exhausting than I expected it to be, both physically and mentally, but overall, I’m super glad I did it.”

How she got picked for the show

Vanover applied for the first three seasons of “BBQ Brawl,” finally being chosen for the fourth, which started filming in January in Northern California. Why does the pitmaster think she succeeded this time?

“It’s a TV challenge, so they have to have diversity,” she said. “I don’t just mean ethnicity but also regionally and people with diverse skill sets. I think my skill set has improved a lot since I first applied. I have a much larger reach via social media and my website. I’ve grown personally and professionally as a pitmaster and a chef, and I’ve won numerous competitions.”

The show began with a taco challenge; based on performance, the chef-mentors — Bobby Flay, Anne Burrell, Sunny Anderson — each chose four competitors to be on the teams they would captain. After that, the teams competed episode to episode.

TV is very different from barbecue

And competing on a Food Network show, Vanover said, was very different than competing in professional barbecue.

“When I compete on the circuit, I have timelines and I know my recipes and I have spreadsheets of what’s worked in some states and not in other states. I’m very organized and planned in what I do.”

On “BBQ Brawl,” by contrast, contestants didn’t know what ingredients would be in the pantry. Barbecue typically takes six to 12 hours, but on the show, there was a mix of grilling and barbecue challenges ranging from about 30 minutes to no more than about two hours.

Season 4 also featured several professional chefs, who had far more experience than Vanover in the impromptu use of ingredients. “It was intimidating to a point where I questioned whether I had the chops to keep going,” Vanover said, “and my teammates said, ‘Yes, you do.’

“Every grill we cooked on, I have in my backyard, so when it came to fire and managing heat, I had that down. I realized I had skills they didn’t have.”

Starting out with a bucket and table

Vanover has lived in or traveled to more than 20 countries in her former career as a public information officer for the federal government and with her husband in his Army postings. Beginning in 2012, he was stationed in Texas, and in Texas, “you can’t help but grill. Everything I was cooking indoors, I tried to cook on the grill,” Vanover said.

In 2015, she started her Girls Can Grill website, “for myself, to encourage myself, and hopefully to be an inspiration for other women who wanted to try barbecue.” When the couple moved to Vegas, Vanover received encouragement from folks in the Nevada Barbecue Association.

“My blog was already grilling focused, so entering competitions was just taking it to the next level. When I started, I had a bucket for a hand wash station and some basic grills and a table. Now, I pull up with my trailer, my Hunsaker grills, and I have the $300 brisket. You have to work your way up.”

What’s next in grilling and barbecue

The other afternoon, Vanover basted her tri-tip with a rosemary bunch. She prepared chicken on an Aspire by Hestan grill, and homemade lumpia on one of several counters in her covered grill and barbecue area. Behind her, flames flickered in a Grillworks Santa Maria-style grill that rose 8 feet, in a stone housing with its own chimney. Two large silver wheels could be turned to raise and lower the grates.

Chicken (especially breast) is famously finicky on the grill. Vanover marinates hers in Dasani water, olive oil, garlic, kosher salt, sugar and poultry rub. She flips the chicken regularly, every five minutes or so, until it’s cooked. “By flipping often, the heat causes the juices to rise, and you keep the juices circulating in the meat,” Vanover said.

Besides her Food Network stint and competing on the barbecue circuit, Vanover also reviews products for BBQGuys.com, is an ambassador for the National Cattlemen’s Beef Association, has taken up butchering and runs Zestuous.com, which features approachable recipes inspired by cuisines from around the world.

Vanover, having been to so many countries, loves global flavors, and global flavors, cuts and techniques offer new avenues to explore in smoke and fire, she said. “Americans didn’t invent barbecue.”

Contact Johnathan L. Wright at jwright@reviewjournal.com. Follow @JLWTaste on Instagram and @ItsJLW on Twitter.