Kitchen tips from Bobby, Giada & Alton of 'Food Network Star'

On Season 8 of Food Network Star, show hosts and coaches Bobby Flay, Giada De Laurentiis and Alton Brown have gone spatula-to-spatula to help one of their team members win a series on the Food Network. So how do the FN hosts impress at home?

Must-have skill for at-home chefs

- Flay: Crush garlic with the side of your knife and use a sprinkle of kosher salt as an abrasive.
- De Laurentiis: Always have one or two recipes you can rely on and do with your eyes closed.
- Brown: Scramble a decent plate of eggs.

Coolest kitchen trick

- Flay: Pick up pizza dough and cook it right on your grill. A little oil and it won’t stick – I promise!
- De Laurentiis: It always impresses my friends when I flip food in my sauté pan or flambé!
- Brown: I roast a fish with my Red Dragon propane super-torch.

Biggest time-saver

- Flay: Buy good-quality chicken broth so you have it on hand when you need a little extra flavor.
- De Laurentiis: Always make a grocery list and finish your shopping ahead of time – a well stocked pantry is also a great help.
- Brown: An electric kettle. It cuts the time to boil water by a factor of 10.

Viewers can vote for the reality show winner at foodnetwork.com/star, from 10 p.m. ET July 15 through 5 p.m. ET July 17. Winner will be announced live on TV July 22.