The way to success for Tyler Viars, Auburn alumus, is cooking.
Tyler Viars competed on season 5 of FOX's MasterChef in August 2013 and is one of the country's top 30 home chefs.
In October 2013, Viars attended an open audition for FOX's "MasterChef" where home cooks brought their signature dish to present to a panel of food experts.
Being an Auburn man, Viars went with a barbecued pork butt that he smoked for 13 hours before the audition.
Viars moved on to the next round and competed for nine weeks among other prospective Master Chefs behind camera.
During these nine weeks, Viars and the other competitors completed a series of cooking challenges including creating a three-course meal for a wedding; working in groups to prepare a meal to serve 500 service people on an army base, and creating a game day meal for football fans.
"MasterChef" host, Gordon Ramsey has been known to have an intensity similar to a football coach.
"He's like a coach, he pulls you by your facemask and screams at you until you do it right," Viars said. "He is so passionate about cooking."
Viars' love for cooking began when he was a boy.
"I was the fat kid. My nickname was Tank," Viars said. "One of my first cooking memories was helping my mom make cookies. I stood on a chair and poured the chocolate chips into the batter, then of course, I ate the batter."
Viars soon came to realize that he could use his ability to cook in a positive way.
"I realized that no one is gonna fix it for me," Viars said.
Viars then began to cook healthy meals for him and his roommates here at Auburn.
"Auburn is really what kick started my passion for cooking," Viars said.
Viars graduated from Auburn in 2010 with a bachelor of science degree in kinesiology, and then took his health to the next level by training for body building competitions.
"I was weighing all my food out to the gram. During my periods of training I would know the exact amount of food that I was eating. I figured if I can give up sweets and bourbon for a period of time, I can show some real dedication," Viars said.
Body building and cooking are not Viars' only avocations. His true passion is hunting. "I would take fall semesters off to hunt and create video blogs." After traveling to Kenya and witnessing locals eat the entirety of the animals that were hunted, Viars' view on the sport changed. He began a "nose-to-tail" approach to his hunting and began using every possible part of the animal.
One of Viars goals in life is to encourage this "nose-to-tail" approach to as many chefs and farmers as possible. "There is something about going out, hunting the animal, killing it and cooking it. It is the perfect trifecta."
The premiere of MasterChef is on May 26, 2014, 8 p.m. on FOX
You can follow Viars on Twitter and Instagram: @viarstm
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