The Big Family Cooking Showdown

The first season of the series, The Cooking Showdown kitchen is located in the main barn at the Quadrangle Trust, near Shoreham in Kent. Each heat featured two teams, while each semi-final and the final feature three teams. There were 12 episodes in total which aired one per week.

Season one featured two judges, Giorgio Locatelli and Rosemary Shrager, and two presenters Nadiya Hussain and Zoe Ball. Only one of the presenters would travel to the home visit challenge, taking place in the contestants' homes. However both presenters were present in the barn, except for the final episode which didn't feature Zoe Ball.

In each episode, two teams comprising three family members competed in three time-limited rounds. At the end of the three rounds, a winner was selected, who moved on to one of a series of semi-final rounds.

• Round 1: The £10 Challenge (1 hour and 15 minutes): In the £10 Challenge, the teams must prepare two courses for four on a budget.
• Round 2: Home Visits Challenge (1 hour and 30 minutes): Each team cooks and serves a main course and a dessert for the judges in their own home kitchen.
• Round 3: Impress the Neighbours Challenge (2 hours and 15 minutes): The teams returne to the barn to create their finest starter and a main course, with no budget.[3]

• What's in the Fridge? tests the families creativity as home cooks. The judges provide a limited range of ingredients. Each team has 1 hour to cook a main course for 4 people.
• For the Perfect Puddings challenge, each judge "carefully select a firm family favourite" for the teams to make in 1 hour and 20 minutes.
• The Nation's Favourite With a Twist challenge asks families "for their unique take on a British classic." The teams have 2 hours for this challenge.[4]

All three challenges were staged in the Cooking Showdown barn.

For the final, the teams faced "one long, continuous challenge." Each family was challenged to "prepare food for a big family get-together, including nibbles, main courses, and desserts."[5]

The second season was filmed in Wales. [6] All elements of show were shot in a studio kitchen and did not feature a challenge in the contestants' own homes. A total of 16 families took part in the competition. There were 14 episodes in total of the second season, which were aired across three weeks. Up to five episodes would air per week on the weeknights.

In each episode, the teams are given two tasks - one they have had time to practise at home, the other a complete surprise, testing their collective ability to work together and think on their feet.[7]

This season didn't see a return of the quartet of two judges and two presenters, but rather the duo consisting of judge Tommy Banks and Angellica Bell, who also judged the contestants' cooking, as well as narrating the show.

In contrast to just two families in the first season, four families take part in each of the four heats. However, each heat runs across two episodes. At the end of the first episode of the heat, one of the four families would be eliminated. The remaining three families returned the following day, which concluded with one more family being sent out of the competition. The remaining two families would compete against each other along with two other heat-winning families in one of two the play-offs. The winners of the play-offs proceeded to the finals.

• Round 1: The £10 Challenge: In season one this was a pre-prepared challenge. However in season two, the contestants have to make a £10 meal for a family of four with a surprise selection of ingredients 'purchased' in studio, if teams exceeded their budget they had to return ingredients.
• Round 2: Nation's Favourite with a Twist: Each team cooks a popular dish with their own personal take. Families are aware of this dish in advance of the challenge.
• Round 3: The Head-to-Head Challenge: in which families have to nominate one member to cook on their own. The dish is a surprise to the contestant, however the have the option of following an easy, medium or hard recipe, or alternatively they can go off-recipe using a 'smörgåsbord' of extra ingredients. The non-participating family members secretly watch from another room, commenting of their family member's progress.
• Round 4: Two Key Ingredients Challenge: Families cook a meal around two star ingredients selected by the judges. They have knowledge of these ingredients prior to appearing on the show.[8]

After Channel 4's announcement that they will broadcast The Great British Bake Off on Tuesdays opposite The Big Family Cooking Show, the BBC moved the show to Thursday to avoid a scheduling conflict. The BBC said, "Channel 4's decision to move Bake Off from its long-term traditional Wednesday slot will be a surprise to many viewers who may see this as a cynical move. We never intended for our new cookery show to clash with theirs. There is room for both and we don't, in this instance, see any public value in two public service broadcasters going head-to-head in this way."