‘The Food Surgeon’ Is YouTube’s Most Strangely Satisfying New Channel

In addition to reporting on YouTube’s biggest channels, we also like to keep tabs on the creators who are on the up-and-up, and this month, the hottest new channel is The Food Surgeon. Run by an anonymous creator from Seattle, The Food Surgeon combines two strange bedfellows–cooking and surgery–to create an odd, satisfying mix.

The “doctor” behind The Food Surgeon is an unassuming man who has only revealed his first name, Jeff. In each episode, Jeff dons his scrubs, puts on his surgical gloves, opens up his medical kit, and performs a invasive procedure on a food item. In his first month on YouTube, Jeff has dissected a bulb of garlic, fertilized an avocado in vitro, and, in perhaps his most audacious performance so far, performed an Oreo cream transplant on a Reese’s cup (after first giving it a Peanut-Butter-Ectomy).

Since Jeff has not said a single word in any of his videos, The Food Surgeon has been compared to HowToBasic

, another “culinary” channel that came out of nowhere to become a wordless hit on YouTube. The two channels are indeed foils; while HowToBasic approaches his projects with chaos in mind, The Food Surgeon takes on his appointments with utmost precision and care.

As for his own influences, Jeff told NPR he is a fan of cooking channels like Food Wishes, as well as YouTube’s ASMR community. “These videos create a hypnotic state in people,” he said of ASMR. “That was part of why I wanted to do this.”

Inspired by those who came before him, Jeff has created something wholly unique and worthwhile. The Food Surgeon, which has accrued 29,000 subscribers and more than 1.5 million views in its first month, is growing rapidly, and given our frankenfood-obsessed culture, Jeff’s operation could soon become an even bigger hit. Oh, and here’s the best part — he’s not even a chef or a doctor. You go, guy.