What Happens To Cooking Show Food After The Cameras Stop Rolling?

We all love binge-watching our favorite cooking shows and salivating over the delicious masterpieces the contestants whip up in minutes (dishes that – let's face it — would take us hours to even attempt). Watching Bobby Flay grill up some juicy burgers on Throwdown with Bobby Flay or a chef on Chopped making a fabulous-looking dish with fennel, quail, and black truffles gives us serious #foodenvy over their delectable creations.

We know that on many of the shows, judges taste-test the food to determine the winner, but what happens to all of those incredible leftovers? For example, what happens to the two thousand cupcakes the bakers make in Cupcake Wars?

Well, we know that in Cupcake Wars, the winner's cupcakes are used for the event they are competing for. The other 1,000 cupcakes are either delivered to nearby charitable organizations or given to the cast and crew, according to a Food Network and Cooking Channel rep.

Many shows, in fact, donate their food to charitable organizations. For example, The Rachel Ray Show pairs up with City Harvest, an organization that works to feed New York City's nearly 1.4 million people facing hunger each year, and donates a lot of food to them, according to The Rachel Ray Show.

Sometimes, of course, the cast and crew — especially the crew — might end up enjoying the leftovers. One thing that doesn't happen, though: the studio audience, if there is one, never gets to sample what's been cooked on-set; insurance provisions prevent it.

So, if you're dying for that marinara sauce you saw on Pioneer Woman, odds are you're just going to have to attempt the recipe yourself at home to satisfy those cravings!