The Surprising Number Of People That Think They Could Beat Rachael Ray In A Cook-Off

Celebrity chefs are all the rage these days. Take Rachael Ray, for instance. The TV show personality, chef, and cookbook author is one of the biggest names in the culinary industry. Still, according to the Food Network, the star is actually pretty low-key in life and would always prioritize her family over fame. Here's a solid example: when Ray was asked about her dream dinner guests, two of her candidates were not even famous public figures. She named her first dog, Boo, and her grandad.  "If there is a heaven, that's who I'd be partying with," she explained. "My grandpa would want spaghetti with a lot of sardines or anchovies and Boo would want butternut squash."

When it comes to cooking, Rachael Ray is one of the most popular names around but she still likes to call herself a home chef (via Insider.) Seems like many members of the public feel the same way about her. Mashed conducted a survey of 555 people in the US and asked them which celebrity chef they think they could beat in a cook-off. Many respondents chose Ray. Here is the lowdown.

According to the survey, 19.10 percent of respondents believe that Rachael Ray would be easy to beat in a cook-off. Sandra Lee ranked slightly higher at 20.18 percent, while respondents were less confident about their odds against Gordon Ramsay, Bobby Flay, and Paula Deen. Ray doesn't actually think of herself as a real chef. It's worth noting that she first began working in the industry with a stint at a grocery shop in New York where she guided others through "30-minute meals." This gig somehow got her noticed by a local news channel and she soon landed a weekly spot. 

Eventually, Rachael Ray got popular enough to be considered by the Food Network, which kickstarted her career. One Redditor described how they feel about Ray's cooking, "I used to like her, her new platform is not working for me. And it's every day," they wrote. "It's like her presentation of technique just got worse or maybe I thought it used to be better than it was. Also, she scrapes her knife on her cutting board."