Melissa Cookston is a 52-year-old American chef who has won seven World BBQ Championships. The Greenville, Miss., native is the owner of Memphis Barbecue Company, a popular restaurant with locations in Horn Lake, Miss., and Dunwoody, Ga. She is also the author of two southern-style cookbooks — Smokin in the Boy’s Room and Smokin’ Hot in the South.

Prior to American Barbecue Showdown, Melissa served as a judge on the fourth season of Destination America’s BBQ Pitmasters. She is no stranger to success, and was even named as one of America’s most influential BBQ pitmasters and personalities by Fox News. When cooking for a competition, Melissa has been vocal about the importance of flavor.

“When you're cooking for a competition, you're cooking a lot less meat,” she said in a 2013 interview with Bon Appétit. “You can give it the TLC that you just can't when you're cooking 8,000 pounds of meat a week. For the restaurant, you kind of have to dummy things down.”

“In a restaurant, people don't understand that ribs are not supposed to fall off the bone,” the chef continued. “They think that's what a good rib does. Side dishes — simple things like coleslaw and beans — they're used to what their grandmama or their mama made, and if it's not just like that, it's not perfect.”

You can keep up with Melissa and the rest of the chefs on American Barbecue Showdown now on Netflix. The show’s popularity will be the deciding factor in whether or not the streaming service will renew it for a second season, but for now, you can enjoy all eight mouthwatering episodes.