Charleston pitmaster and Palmira Barbecue owner, Hector Garate, will be competing on Food Network’s new series, Pitmasters, premiering July 13.
The show brings together barbecue teams from across the country for a week-long live-fire cooking competition judged by Andrew Zimmern, Jess Pryles, Moe Cason, and Ernest Servantes.
Hector has quickly become one of the country’s best known pitmasters, earning a 2026 James Beard Award nomination for Emerging Chef, Southern Living’s “Best New BBQ Joint in the South,” and the #1 spot on Texas Monthly’s “United States of Texas” list. Born in Puerto Rico and now based in Charleston, Hector’s cooking blends Carolina whole-hog traditions, Texas barbecue fundamentals, and Puerto Rican flavors…