MasterChef Australia
A few dozen home chefs battle it out in the Masterchef Kitchen to earn the best chef title, judged by top Australian chefs.
Genre: Reality-TV
Cast:Gary Mehigan , George Calombaris , Matt Preston , Andy Allen , Jock Zonfrillo , Melissa Leong , Nick McKay , Callum Hann , Alvin Quah , Julie Goodwin , Poh Ling Yeow , Mindy Woods , Billie McKay , Christina Batista , Reynold Poernomo , Sashi Cheliah , Tommy Pham , Minoli De Silva
S1.E4 ∙ Top 50 Part 1
MasterChef Australia is an Australian competitive cooking game show based on the original British MasterChef. It is produced by Shine Australia and screens on Network 10. Restaurateur and chef Gary Mehigan, chef George Calombaris and food critic Matt Preston served as the show's main judges until 2019.
S1.E5 ∙ Top 50 Part 2
MasterChef Australia is an Australian competitive cooking game show based on the original British MasterChef. It is produced by Shine Australia and screens on Network 10. Restaurateur and chef Gary Mehigan, chef George Calombaris and food critic Matt Preston served as the show's main judges until 2019.
S1.E6 ∙ Top 20 Revealed
MasterChef Australia is an Australian competitive cooking game show based on the original British MasterChef. It is produced by Shine Australia and screens on Network 10. Restaurateur and chef Gary Mehigan, chef George Calombaris and food critic Matt Preston served as the show's main judges until 2019.
S1.E7 ∙ 20 Ways with Chicken
The contestants cook up a storm in the new MasterChef kitchen. Top 20 Cooking Challenge
S1.E10 ∙ Team Elimination
Having lost the challenge, the blue team contemplated who to eliminate. Michelle considered voting out Sam as a strategic move, but chose to vote out Kate, and Kate chose to vote out Michelle, and Melissa chose to vote out Nic for their lack of assistance, but the majority of the team decided to vote out Melissa as she "can't even chop."
S1.E11 ∙ Masterclass 1: Cooking with the Masters
Lamb Rack with Pomme Puree, Pain Perdu with Chocolate Olive Oil Mousse.
S1.E12 ∙ Invention Test
In an emotional invention test, the remaining five contestants are surprised to learn that there are no rules or restraints: they can cook whatever they choose with full access to the pantry.
S1.E13 ∙ Pressure Test Elimination
Julie, Aaron and Linda landed in the Bottom 3 for their disasters in the invention test. They were asked to make a tarte tatin (apple tart) using a basic recipe with Julie's being deemed the best. The judges criticized Aaron for "running before he could walk" but ultimately chose Linda to be eliminated as besides her poor dish, she proved too inconsistent.
S1.E14 ∙ Celebrity Chef Challenge 2
Martin Boetz beat Brent cooking the signature Longrain dish of Eggnet, Pork, Prawns, and Cucumber Relish, Brent receiving 1 hour 15 minutes to make it while Boetz had 45 minutes and spent the first half-hour of Brent's allotted time helping Brent because he "hates to see someone stressing when it's unnecessary." The judges gave Brent's dish 6/6/5 and Boetz's dish 8/8/9 out of ten.
S1.E15 ∙ Seafood Banquet Team Challenge
Brent was given captainship of the Blue Team for winning the Invention Test and chose Geni as the captain of the Red Team. Brent chose Sam, Trevor, Josh, Lucas, Kate, Julia, Michelle, and Aaron, and Geni chose Chris, Tom, Justine, Andre, Poh, Julie, and Sandra. Winner: Red Team.
S1.E16 ∙ Team Elimination 1
The Blue Team, headed by Brent, faced elimination. Chris was criticised by Curtis Stone for overcooking the salmon and Brent for lacking organisation. In the end, while Brent voting Aaron out, the Blue Team decided to vote out their leader Brent, as they believed his poor direction let them down.
S1.E17 ∙ Masterclass 2: Class Is In
Poached Egg Salad with Tomato Tea (consommé), Roast Saddle of Rabbit with White Bean Puree, Ricotta Tortellini, Eton Mess. The chefs expressed surprise that Brent had been voted off. Calombaris said, "Interesting. Really interesting."
S1.E18 ∙ Invention Test 2
Mystery Box Challenge: Chocolate, oranges, eggs, sugar, coconut, flour. Top three: Trevor's Coconut Dumplings Baked in Custard, Geni's Intense Orange and Chocolate Pudding, and Poh's Chocolate Pikelets with Orange Sauce. Winner: Poh. Invention Test 2 - Chinese theme, using mixed mushrooms chosen by Poh as her reward for winning the Mystery Box Challenge. Poh gets five minutes in the pantry; everyone else gets 2 minutes. Top three: Poh, Julia, Lucas. Bottom three: Sam, Michelle, Kate. Winner: Julia for her Mushroom and Vegetable Dumplings with Broth.
S1.E19 ∙ Pressure Test Elimination 2
Michelle, Sam and Kate had to follow a basic recipe to cook chargrilled, stuffed squid in their challenge. Despite not having the time to cook her squid, Kate managed to produce the best of the three. Michelle's was deemed worse than Sam's and she was sent packing.
S1.E20 ∙ Celebrity Chef Challenge 3
Julia beats Peter Evans preparing Tea-Smoked Duck Breast with Ravioli with Water Chestnut, Pear, and Duck Liver with Blood Orange Sauce, Spinach, and Crispy Fried Ginger. The judges give Julia 9/9/9 and Peter 8/8/8 out of 10 and Julia leaves the competition, guaranteed of a spot in finals week, and Peter Evans offers her mentoring in his kitchen while the rest of the competition continues.
S1.E21 ∙ Food Critics Team Challenge
Judges choose the team captains: Red team Chris and Blue team Kate. Kate picks Sam, Trevor, Justine, Tom, Lucas, Sandra, and Chris picks Josh, Andre, Poh, Julie, Aaron, and Geni. Challenge is a three-course meal in one hour using a limited pantry and with extra team members George and Gary, to be served to Matt Preston and fellow food critics Simon Thomsen and Larissa Dubecki. Winner: Blue Team.
S1.E22 ∙ Team Elimination 2
At elimination, most of the team feel that Josh's abilities were inadequate and believe that he was the main flaw in determining their loss. Almost all the team, with the exception of Julie voting for Geni and Josh himself voting for Aaron, vote for Josh, sending him home.
S1.E23 ∙ Masterclass 3: Soufflés and Stir-fries
Chilli and Fennel Squid, Chinese Mushroom Stir-fry with Tofu, Chocolate and Jaffa Soufflé. The chefs express surprise that Josh had been the one voted off.
S1.E24 ∙ Invention Test 3
Mystery Box Challenge: Eggs, chili peppers, ale, potato, whole red snapper in 30 minutes. The judges announce they will taste the top 5: Sandra, Julie, Geni, Tom, Andre. Winner: Tom for his Lemon Snapper with Chilli and Ginger. Invention Test 3: French theme. Tom's choice is between gruyere cheese, sweet shortcrust pastry, or ribeye beef. He chooses the beef and has five minutes to choose the rest of his ingredients from the pantry. The remaining contestants get 2 minutes to select no more than ten ingredients. Top three: Chris, Poh, Sandra. Winner: Chris for his Steak Tartare. Bottom three: Trevor, Sam, Tom.
S1.E25 ∙ Pressure Test Elimination 3
Trevor, Sam and Tom make a Sticky Date and Toffee Pudding with Butterscotch Sauce and Almond Praline from a provided recipe. There are only minor flaws in each, but overall Tom's is deemed the best. The judges choose to spare Sam and Trevor as the differences between the dishes are too trivial.
S1.E26 ∙ Celebrity Chef Challenge 4
Chris competes with Alex Herbert of Bird Cow Fish making one of her signature dishes, Potato Gnocchi with Sauteed Prawns in a Burnt Butter Sauce. He has an hour and forty-five minutes, she has an hour and fifteen. The judges give Chris 7/8/6 and Alex 8/9/8 out of ten. Winner: Alex Herbert.
S1.E27 ∙ Royal Easter Show Team Challenge
Team captains are Chris (Red Team) for winning the Invention Test. He picks Kate for Blue Team captain. Chris picks Justine, Poh, Andre, Julie, Aaron, Geni and Kate picks Tom, Trevor, Sam, Lucas, Sandra. Both teams have $750 budget. Red Team did Lamb Skewers with Yogurt Sauce, Aroncini Balls, Toffee Apples, Caramelized Pineapple Skewers. Blue Team did Lamb Kofta with Yogurt Relish, Mushroom Risotto. Blue team made $926.50. Red team made $1251.50. Winner: Red Team.
S1.E28 ∙ Team Elimination 3
At elimination, Sandra and Kate both receive an equal number of three votes, Sandra for her service and Kate for her lack of cooking skills and leadership qualities. Kate being the team leader decides to vote herself out to pursue a pastry apprenticeship outside MasterChef.
S1.E29 ∙ Masterclass 4: The Perfect Chip
Snapper in a Bag and Chunky Chips, Risotto with Pumpkin and Goat's Cheese, Rib Eye Steak with Red Wine Sauce and Spinach.
S1.E30 ∙ Invention Test 4
Mystery Box Challenge: The contestants have to make cupcakes, whose recipes have been given to them,but the decorations and the flavouring is up to them. The contestants also have to name their creations.The top three are Poh, Julie and Chris. The winner was Julie for lemon diva cupcakes. Invention Test 4 - British theme. There is an additional special judge,John Torode of Masterchef UK. Julie's choice is between blue-eyed trevalla, strawberries, or lamb legs. She chooses the lamb and has five minutes to choose the rest of her ingredients from the pantry. The remaining contestants get 2 minutes to select no more than ten ingredients. Top three: Chris, Justine, Tom. Winner: Justine for her lamb roulade. Bottom three: Aaron,Sandra and Julie.
S1.E31 ∙ Pressure Test Elimination 4
Aaron, Sandra and Julie faced elimination and had to make paella. Sandra produced the best whilst Aaron's overconfidence saw him neglecting to taste, and hence, did not achieve a correct balance of spices. Ultimately, he was sent home.
S1.E32 ∙ Celebrity Chef Challenge 5
Justine competes with Guy Grossi of Grossi Florentino making one of his signature dishes, Lobster with Russian salad. She has an hour and thirty minutes, he has an hour. The judges give Justine 7/7/6 and Grossi 7/7/7 out of ten. Winner: Guy Grossi beat Justine.
S1.E33 ∙ Fresh Seafood Team Challenge
The task of the day is to prepare a three-course meal to be served at the flying fish restaurant. Team captains are Justine (Red Team) for winning the Invention Test. He picks Trevor for Blue Team captain. Justine picks Chris,Tom,Julie,Lucas,Sandra and Trevor picks Andre,Sam,Poh,Geni. Both teams have to catch the seafood themselves. Red Team did zucchini flowers with fish mousse,pan-fried Leatherjackets and poached pear with chantilly cream. Blue Team did Leatherjacket potato salad with avocado and squid,Pan-seared blue morwong with baked witlof and macerated strawberries with zabaglione. Winner: Red Team.
S1.E34 ∙ Team Elimination 4
Sam was scolded by the judges for producing the worst of the dishes of the Blue Team and Trevor was criticised for his choice to use bait as ingredients for the meal. In the end, Trevor voted for Sam, but Trevor's choice to use the bait, which made the food "taste like the bottom of a boat," was enough to see him have majority of votes to send him home.
S1.E35 ∙ Masterclass 5: Lemon Goodness
Lobster Linguine, Tuscan Vegetable Soup, Roast Chicken with Buttery Potatoes, Lemon Diva cupcakes.
S1.E36 ∙ Invention: Test 5
MasterChef Australia is an Australian competitive cooking game show based on the original British MasterChef. It is produced by Shine Australia and screens on Network 10. Restaurateur and chef Gary Mehigan, chef George Calombaris and food critic Matt Preston served as the show's main judges until 2019.
S1.E37 ∙ Pressure Test Elimination 5
Tom, Poh, Chris and Julie had to make Croquembouche. Despite an unsettling start, Poh went on to produce the best dish. Julie came in second leaving Tom and Chris as the two worst. In the end, Tom was eliminated.
S1.E40 ∙ Team Elimination 6
Geni was the teams top performer with most of the guests stating her Fig and Duck Lady Cigars as "the best dish all night", whilst Andre and Sandra were criticised, Sandra for not aiding enough and Andre for producing the worst of the dishes. In the vote,Poh and Andre voted for Sandra, but Geni became the decider, and with "a heavy heart" she voted out friend Sandra as she believed "she belonged with her family."
S1.E41 ∙ Masterclass 6: Sweet Treats
Feta Blini with Smoked Beetroot, John Dory on the Bone with Vegetables, Coffee éclairs with Vanilla Cream Filling.
S1.E43 ∙ Pressure Test Elimination 6
Geni, Poh and Andre were in the bottom three and had to make salmon terrine. Again, Poh produced the best dish of the three. Geni, with her injured thumb, could not cope and produced the worst dish, which ultimately saw her eliminated.
S1.E46 ∙ Taste Test Elimination
Poh and Sam named ingredients in a pot of minestrone. Poh incorrectly guessed 'barley' and she was eliminated.
S1.E47 ∙ Masterclass 7: Cocktail Hour
Kingfish Skewers with Zucchini Salad, Piña Colada, Prawn Saganaki, Raspberry Tart.
S2.E1 ∙ Series Premiere: Top 50 - Part 1
The top 50 begin with a barbecue challenge, with the freedom to cook whatever they want. The 10 worst performers are sent into a Pavlova pressure test led by Donna Hay.
S2.E2 ∙ Top 50 Part 2
The MasterChef Australia judging trio travels to Brisbane to find the Sunshine State's greatest amateur food talent.
S2.E3 ∙ Top 50 Part 3
The 10 contestants who performed worst in Tuesday's signature dish challenge were split into 5 groups and given 7 hours to collect fresh produce, and return to the MasterChef kitchen to prepare a main and a dessert.
S2.E4 ∙ Top 50 Part 4
With 10 spots in the Top 24 on the line, the remaining contestants competed in a mise en place challenge. The challenge had 4 stages, with the worst performers in each stage removed by Gary and George. The first stage involved separating egg yolks and whites. The second asked the contestants to julienne carrots. In the third, the first 10 contestants to shuck 12 oysters satisfactorily moved onto the final stage, wherein Marion, Adele, Courtney and Daniel successfully cut 6 fillets of salmon weighing between 170g and 190g first, gaining their places in the Top 24. Following the mise en place challenge, the remaining contestants had to follow a recipe from Matt Moran, with poor performers gradually eliminated in stages. 10 contestants had their dishes tasted, with Jonathan, Peter, Aaron, Adam, Kate B. and Philip impressing the judges the most, winning their spots in the Top 24.
S2.E5 ∙ MasterClass 1
The six contestants who won Top 24 spots cooking against Matt Moran are treated to a Masterclass with him in ARIA's kitchen. Matt shows them how to make seafood canapés.
S2.E6 ∙ Top 50 Part 5
The remaining contestants participated in 2 challenges to attempt to qualify for the last spots in the top 24. The first challenge was a Mystery Box challenge which, for the first time in MasterChef Australia, was focused solely on desserts. The best desserts which were made by Callum, Matthew, Fiona and Joanne, granted the latter spots in the top 24. The remaining contestants competed in a Pressure Test led by celebrity chef Neil Perry. The 9 contestants who best replicated Perry's snapper dish took the last spots in the top 24. (9 spots were available since Kate B. chose to withdraw from the competition to be with her family.) In the end, Alvin, Sharnee, Dominic, Carrie, Kate N., Skye, Devon, Sarah, and Jake completed the Top 24.
S2.E7 ∙ Top 24 Cooking Challenge
The contestants competed in their first challenge in the MasterChef kitchen: preparing a meal that rekindled memories of their childhood. Alvin won the right to contest the first Celebrity Chef Challenge of the series.
S2.E9 ∙ Off Site Challenge 1
Winner: Red Team. The off site team challenge, to take over the running of two Italian restaurants, saw the Red Team conquer despite having a simpler menu. From the Blue Team, Jonathan and Devon were selected by the judges as the two worst performers and were up for elimination. Sarah withdrew from the competition to return to her family.
S2.E10 ∙ Elimination Challenge 1
In the first elimination, the contestants with the worst six dishes from last night's Protein Pick Face Off face an Invention Test with a twist. At the end of the show one of them is eliminated.
S2.E11 ∙ MasterClass 2
The judges share their own food memories in this week's MasterClass. A good old English Sunday Roast was Gary's dish of the day while George cooked up lasagne with a twist.
S2.E12 ∙ Invention Test 2
Japanese theme. The Mystery Box challenge saw the contestants making the "perfect burger", with only five selected to taste by the judges. Marion won the challenge and picked tuna as the core ingredient for the Invention Test. With a Japanese theme, Adam was favourite to win the challenge but it was Callum who triumphed.
S2.E13 ∙ Pressure Test Elimination 1
Carrie, Kate and Fiona faced off in the Pressure Test after cooking the three least impressive dishes in the Invention Test. They were asked to replicate a chicken dish from chef Peter Gilmore. Fiona had a slow start but she finished strongly and cooked the chicken perfectly but her dish lacked detail. Despite a strong start, Kate failed to read her recipe thoroughly, she wrapped up her chicken too much that it didn't cook properly and she ended up serving the judges raw chicken although her vegetables were perfectly cooked. Carrie struggled through the whole challenge, she cooked the chicken perfectly but all the flavour leaked out in the water bath because she left a hole in her chicken's skin and her vegetables were undercooked. In the end Kate was eliminated.
S2.E15 ∙ Off Site Challenge 2
Winner: Blue Team. In an unprecedented twist, Callum as winner of the weeks Invention Test was granted the power to pick his entire team first. He selected Adam, Claire, Jimmy, Marion, Peter, Joanne, Matthew, Skye, Fiona, and Daniel to join him, leaving Courtney, Alvin, Aaron, Sharnee, Jake, Adele, Jonathan, Carrie, and Phillip to form the red team. The off site challenge was to put on a children's birthday party for 150 people, who would vote for their favourite dish. The Blue Team proved to have too great an advantage and won easily. From the Red Team, Jonathan and Adele were the lowest point scorers and were up for elimination.
S2.E16 ∙ Elimination Challenge 2
As the Blue Team enjoyed their reward at Sails on Lavender Bay with Nathan Darling, Jonathan and Adele faced off in a "fix the dish" challenge. They had to fix a poorly made dish (a bolognese sauce) in ten steps, each step adding their choice of a range of ingredients. In the end, Adele's bolognese couldn't match the complexity of Jonathan's. Adele was eliminated.
S2.E18 ∙ Invention Test 3
Indian theme. The Mystery Box challenge saw the contestants choosing between a main and a dessert, with Skye's Crispy Duck winning her the challenge and picking goat as key ingredient in the Invention Test. Jimmy was the favourite to win but in the end it was between Courtney and Jonathan with Jonathan being the one whose invention impressed the judges the most. This episode was also Courtney's 30th birthday.
S2.E19 ∙ Pressure Test Elimination 2
Dominic, Joanne and Matthew faced off in the Pressure Test; to make a black forest cake. Joanne was able to put off a shaky start and finish strongly, leaving the judges to pick the least impressive of the two men. Dominic's cake only had three layers instead of the five in the recipe, while Matthew left a cherry pit in his cake. In the end it was Dominic who was eliminated.
S2.E21 ∙ Off Site Challenge 3
Winner: Blue Team. Teams were chosen with each member selecting a remaining contestant, beginning with the captains, Jonathan (Blue) and Daniel (Red; chosen by Jonathan). The two teams were then tasked with preparing a Classic French three-course meal for Matt Preston, Tetsuya Wakuda and Guillaume Brahimi. Michel Roux mentored the Red Team, Tony Bilson mentored the Blue Team. In the end, the Blue team won, as the Red team's main dish, though well prepared, was not deemed to be of a Classic French Cuisine. The entire Red Team was put up for elimination.
S2.E22 ∙ Elimination Challenge 3
While the Blue Team enjoyed their lunch with Giovanni Pilu, the Red Team faced off in a two-round Elimination challenge. The first challenge was to make a traditional Genovese Pesto completely by hand in ten minutes, from which, only Marion's was of an acceptable quality, with Sharnee, Courtney and Daniel as the worst of the rest. Those three then competed in the second round of the challenge: naming herbs. Courtney incorrectly named mint "spearmint" and was eliminated.
S2.E23 ∙ MasterClass 4
The judges serve up duck two ways and invite guest chef Kumar Mahadevan to cook a spicy prawn curry. Justin North also helps the contestants make crackling pork.
S2.E24 ∙ Invention Test 4
"Around the world" theme. The Mystery Box challenge saw the contestants tackle a complex range of ingredients and a time of just 25 minutes. Peter took out the challenge and was given a significant advantage in the Invention Test, which for the first time would see the contestants competing in trios. Peter was given the power to not only pick the core ingredient for each country's cuisine, but also to pick the members of each team. Team Mexico impressed the most and Aaron, Joanne and Matthew all proceeded to the Celebrity Chef Challenge. While Team Britain (Alvin, Daniel and Fiona) were the least impressive and faced elimination.
S2.E25 ∙ Pressure Test Elimination 3
Alvin, Daniel and Fiona faced off in the Pressure Test; to recreate a Pork Schnitzel with chips and coleslaw with no recipe to follow. While each contestant cooked the correct meat, Daniel and Fiona were under the impression that they were cooking veal. Aside from that, each dish had its shortcomings: Alvin failed to flatten his meat and it was undercooked, Daniel's meat was overcooked and he used shop-bought mayonnaise in his coleslaw, and Fiona used packaged breadcrumbs instead of fresh. Ultimately, Daniel's dish impressed the least and he was eliminated.
S2.E26 ∙ Celebrity Chef Challenge 4
Team "Restaurant Arras" (Adam Humphrey, Lovaine Allen, Aaron Eady) beat Aaron, Joanne and Matthew (22-19)
S2.E27 ∙ Off Site Challenge 4
No winner. The two teams were tasked with preparing a three-course meal for a normal family and judges Matt Preston and Curtis Stone, on a tight budget and time limit. In the end, the families rated each team equally and the judges could not agree on a winner, so the challenge was ruled a tie. Therefore, a bottom 2 was selected from each team, with Callum, Carrie, Jonathan and Philip sent into an Elimination Challenge.
S2.E28 ∙ Elimination Challenge 4
As the Blue Team and Red Team enjoyed their lunch at Sailor's Thai, the four contestants were asked to name the ingredients of a traditional Bouillabaisse in a taste test Elimination Challenge. Over half of the ingredients had been correctly named when Philip incorrectly guessed "white wine" and was eliminated.
S2.E29 ∙ MasterClass 5
Gary cooked braised BBQ'd ribs with homemade sauce and George offered up a Waldorf salad. Guest chef Peter Kuravita from Sydney restaurant Flying Fish, showed the contestants two completely different bug dishes- one with an accompanying shaved fennel and edamame salad and a main dish featuring a spicy ginger and chilli sauce.
S2.E30 ∙ Invention Test 5
"Modern Australia" theme. There was no Mystery Box challenge this week, instead the contestants faced a pizza making challenge. Fiona was the victor and picked tropical fruit as the Invention Test's core ingredient. Many struggled with this sweet choice, while Marion's risky recipe paid off and she was declared the winner. Carrie, Jimmy and Peter were the least impressive and they landed in the Bottom 3.
S2.E31 ∙ Pressure Test Elimination 4
Starting a week of challenges in Melbourne, Carrie, Jimmy and Peter faced off in the Pressure Test. Their task was to recreate a dish by Australian food icon, Stephanie Alexander, a confit duck-neck sausage with grilled duck breast in sour cherry sauce, potato crisps and buttered spinach. Peter, being from Melbourne, was able to source ingredients from Queen Victoria Market quickly and make his way to the Langham Hotel first, followed by Carrie and then Jimmy. In the end, each dish had its problems: Peter's sauce was too floury, Carrie's sauce was too thin, her sausage grainy and she failed to plate up the spinach, and Jimmy's spinach was gritty and his duck breast overcooked. Carrie was eliminated.
S2.E33 ∙ Off Site Challenge 5
Winner: Red Team. The two teams were faced with their toughest challenge yet: to take over the running of George Calombaris' own restaurant The Press Club on its relaunch, serving a variety of Australian food royalty and celebrities. Each team struggled early with the stresses of running a restaurant, but it was the Blue Team who faced the most obstacles. In the end, the guests' scores for each team came down to the wire, with the Red Team emerging victors. The entire Blue Team was sent into the Elimination Challenge.
S2.E34 ∙ Elimination Challenge 5
In a mystery box Elimination Challenge, the Blue Team members were tasked with creating a dish to complement a specific bottle of wine. Although Fiona's dish impressed more than others, it failed to match with the wine, and she eliminated from the competition.
S2.E35 ∙ MasterClass 6
Gary and George showed the contestants how to make the perfect pizza, while Gary also served up an English rice pudding, and George cooked up some chicken oysters with homous and fatoush.
S2.E36 ∙ Invention Test 6
Pasta theme. After a trying Mystery Box challenge featuring lambs' brains, Marion emerged as winner and picked seafood as the core ingredient for the Invention Test. Most contestants thrived in making their own pasta, leading the judges to award a Top 6, with Aaron wowing with his remarkable invention. Jake, Jimmy and Matthew struggled and found themselves up for elimination.
S2.E37 ∙ Pressure Test Elimination 5
Jake, Jimmy and Matthew faced off in the Pressure Test; to recreate a Rick Stein seafood platter worth $350. Jimmy struggled when preparing the various types of seafood and a lack of attention to detail led to his elimination.
S2.E39 ∙ Off Site Challenge 6
Winner: Red Team. In the biggest Off Site Challenge ever, contestants were faced with preparing 8000 canapés for 2000 guests on the P&O Pacific Jewel, who would vote for their favourite team's menu. Under the guidance of a P&O sous chef (plus an extra helper for the Red Team to make up the numbers), each team prepared 1000 of four different canapés. The Blue Team struggled early and opted to buy the help of another chef for 100 votes. In the end, the Red Team were clear winners, with 1,138 votes to 762. The Blue Team were asked decide on their three least impressive performers, and so Jake, Joanne and Marion were selected to face elimination.
S2.E40 ∙ Elimination Challenge 6
In a taste test Elimination Challenge, Jake, Joanne and Marion were asked to name the ingredients of a Thai Green Curry. Marion chose to use her immunity pin and did not take part in the challenge. The remaining two quickly ran out of obvious selections and when Jake incorrectly guessed "palm sugar" he was eliminated.
S2.E41 ∙ MasterClass 7
George cooked up ravioli with potato and leek as well as a quail dolmatha with tahini and yoghurt dressing. Meanwhile guest chef Matt Moran had quesadillias on the menu and a berry and frangipane tart.
S2.E42 ∙ Invention Test 7
Vegetarian theme. In a meaty Mystery Box challenge, it was Claire who managed to impress the most and was given a significant advantage in the Invention Test, which would be contested in pairs. As well as picking the core ingredient, Claire was given the power to choose the pairs for the challenge. In a further twist, they would be cooking to impress six staunch meat-eaters, and the two judges, with their vegetarian meals. Aaron and Adam emerged as winners with their curry, and won the chance to face off in a mystery challenge for immunity. While Callum, Joanne, Peter and Skye were left to face the Pressure Test.
S2.E43 ∙ Pressure Test Elimination 6
Callum, Joanne, Peter and Skye faced off in the Pressure Test; to recreate George Calombaris' oyster terrine. Callum's terrine was described as a dog's breakfast but was closest to George's dish in flavour. Peter's dish was good overall but his oysters were overcooked and onions undercooked resulting him being eliminated.
S2.E44 ∙ Celebrity Chef Challenge 7
Adam beat Aaron (3-0). In a twist on the traditional format, Aaron and Adam competed against each other to win immunity. They had 1 hour 45 minutes to complete three dishes with three core ingredients for three Celebrity Chefs, Matt Moran, Kylie Kwong and Ian Curley. The Chefs would then pick their favourite of the two dishes, and the contestant with the most votes would win immunity. Adam was judged best in all three dishes and won himself immunity.
S2.E45 ∙ Off Site Challenge 7
Winner: Red Team. Teams were tasked with creating a dining experience using principles of molecular gastronomy. With the help of two leaders in innovative cooking, each team was tasked with a specific theme to shape their dining experience. In the end, the Blue Team's carnival experience did not impress as much as the Red Team's beach experience and the entire Blue Team was sent into the Elimination Challenge.
S2.E46 ∙ Elimination Challenge 7
In a two-round Elimination Challenge testing basic skills, members of the Blue Team were first asked to cook Chicken Korma. They were provided with all the ingredients but were left to choose which spices to use. Out of the six contestants, only Alvin's attempt was of an acceptable quality with Jonathan and Skye the worst of the rest. They were sent into a sudden death challenge to name spices. Skye incorrectly named cloves as garam masala and was eliminated.
S2.E47 ∙ MasterClass 8
Callum and Sharnee were treated to a masterclass on Cheese by Australian cheese expert Will Studd, while the remaining contestants were treated to a steak and kidney sandwich by Gary Mehigan and stir-fried Aubergines in Chili sauce by Kylie Kwong. Chef Darren Purchese also demonstrated his 'fruit carnival'.
S2.E48 ∙ Invention Test 8
"Australian Food Icon" theme. The winner of Masterchef Australia 2009, Julie Goodwin, returned as a guest judge for the Mystery Box Challenge, the ingredients of which were also chosen by her. Marion won the challenge and she chose Chiko Rolls as the food icon contestants had to "re-invent". Jonathan's dish was the most impressive while Callum, Matthew and Sharnee were chosen as the Bottom 3 contestants.
S2.E49 ∙ Pressure Test Elimination 7
Callum, Matthew and Sharnee faced off in the Pressure Test, where they had to recreate a Beef Stroganoff with Parsley Fettuccine without a recipe to follow. Each of the contestants identified the correct meat, but each contestant's dish had flaws; Callum's Stroganoff lacked enough sauce and his pasta was overcooked, Matthew put too much tomato paste in his Stroganoff and Sharnee incorrectly used nutmeg instead of paprika. Sharnee was eliminated.
S3.E1 ∙ Series Premiere: Top 50 Part 1
The top 50 began with a giant mystery box challenge, using commonly bought ingredients. The ten worst performers were sent into a chocolate elimination challenge led by Adriano Zumbo. The five contestants who produced the worst dishes were eliminated from the competition.
S3.E2 ∙ Top 50: Part 2
The remaining 45 contestants competed in a three-stage basic skills test. The five slowest to prepare 2 kg of potatoes for chips, to hand whisk a basic mayonnaise, and to correctly segment a whole chicken went into an elimination round of scone-making. The five with the least consistent and worst tasting scones were eliminated from the competition.
S3.E3 ∙ Top 50: Part 3
40 contestants competed in a Pressure Test, vying for six spots in the Top 24. They each had two hours to complete a dessert tasting plate set by Maggie Beer. Most contestants struggled with such a challenge, one not presenting a dish to the judges because he felt it was not of acceptable quality. In the end, it was Craig, Michael, Kate, Adam, Hayden, and Cleo who secured their spots in the main competition, while the ten least impressive performers went into an Elimination Challenge.
S3.E4 ∙ Top 50: Part 4
The ten least impressive from the Pressure Test were given a choice as to what would be the core of their Elimination Challenge dish; they could spend two hours on a fishing boat and risk what (if anything) they caught, or use a mystery ingredient unknown until the start of the challenge. Of the four that chose fishing, all caught at least one fish, while crocodile was revealed as the mystery ingredient for the remaining six. Most contestants struggled with preparing such an unfamiliar meat and four more were sent home.
S3.E5 ∙ Castaway Cook-Off
The remaining contestants competed for six more spots in the Top 24, cooking a "desert island dish" with five of their favourite ingredients. With the freedom to cook their favourite dish and no threat of elimination, many contestants talents shone through. In the end, Alana, Billy, Arena, Kumar, Seamus and Danielle received their spots in the main competition.
S3.E6 ∙ MasterClass 1
For the first time ever, there is a twist featuring a studio audience member.
S3.E7 ∙ The Final Test
With the final twelve spots in the Top 24 on the line, the remaining contestants competed in two challenges, a taste test and an invention test. The twenty-four hopefuls were given three minutes to each taste and name as many of the thirty ingredients of Aria's Consommé, provided by Matt Moran. It was revealed that for the invention test, they would receive only the ingredients they correctly identified in the Consommé; those who fared poorly in the taste test struggled with the limitations of the challenge. Ultimately, after some debate by the judges, Andrew, Shannon, Peter, Paul, Rachel, Dani, Tom, Sun, Jay, Ellie, Mat and Chelsea emerged successful, completing the Top 24.
S3.E8 ∙ The First Day
The contestants competed in their first challenge in the MasterChef kitchen: preparing the dish that "changed their life". Hayden, Billy and Kate were judged the best of the day, and it was Hayden who won the right to contest the first Immunity Challenge of the series.
S3.E10 ∙ The Big Bake-Off
Contestants were rudely awoken at midnight to discover their first team challenge: baking bread for five of Sydney's top restaurants. After being randomly selected into teams, Sun was nominated leader of the Blue Team and Tom the Red Team. The Blue Team struggled with organisation and made a couple of crucial errors in the early stages of the challenge, but recovered well to just edge out the Red Team for victory.
S3.E11 ∙ Elimination Day
As the Blue Team enjoyed their reward, the Red Team were asked to nominate their two worst performers for an In-the-round Elimination Challenge. Tom, who took responsibility as team leader, and Kumar, who's ciabatta bread contributed to the team's loss put themselves forward. They were given 90 minutes to use three guests favourite ingredients to make three of their favourite dishes with no aid of a recipe. Ultimately, Kumar received two votes to Tom's one, sealing Tom's exit from the competition.
S3.E12 ∙ MasterClass 2
The Barossa Boot Camp comes to an end with a MasterClass featuring great local produce and two of its favourite residents, Maggie Beer and William Wood.
S3.E13 ∙ Mystery Box Challenge 1
In a Mystery Box which included rabbit and mustard fruits, contestants were tasked with producing a dish which contained every ingredient in the box. The quality of dishes presented varied wildly, with many highs and many lows, the unfamiliarity of the meat proving to be a curse for many. After a difficult decision by the judges, it was Jay who beat out Cleo and Craig for dish of the day, while Billy, Ellie and Alex landed in the Bottom 3, facing elimination.
S3.E14 ∙ Pressure Test 1
Billy, Ellie and Alex were faced with a Cherry Bombe Alaska and a two-hour time limit. Each contestant faced the challenge differently; Ellie worked calmly and methodically, Billy took a number of shortcuts and deviated from the recipe in a few key areas, and Alex struggled to juggle each element, quickly falling behind and only just finishing after judges intervention. In the end, Ellie wowed the judges with her recreation, and while Billy was warned for departing from the recipe, it was Alex who was eliminated, this time for good.
S3.E16 ∙ Team Challenge
Tonight the two teams need to cook a 6-course meal for 50 guests, while creating as little waste as possible. They will need to be creative as well as resourceful to win this challenge
S3.E17 ∙ Elimination Day
After losing the battle of the sexes, the entire Red team faced a three-round Elimination Challenge. They had the freedom to cook whatever they wanted, but only a short amount of time in which to prepare their dish (ten or fifteen minutes). Contestants were declared safe at the end of each round and by the final round only Andrew and Seamus remained. Seamus was deemed to have delivered the weaker dish and was eliminated.
S3.E18 ∙ MasterClass 3
MasterChef Australia is an Australian competitive cooking game show based on the original British MasterChef. It is produced by Shine Australia and screens on Network 10. Restaurateur and chef Gary Mehigan, chef George Calombaris and food critic Matt Preston served as the show's main judges until 2019.
S3.E19 ∙ Mystery Box Challenge 2
Contestants competed in teams of three in a mix of Invention Test and Mystery Box. Each team randomly chose a protein (such as pork or scallops) and a cooking method (such as roasting or braising) and were tasked with creating a dish around that element. Some teams struggled with their unusual combinations, such as cooking snapper en croute (in pastry), but Sun, Peter and Craig triumphed with their pork en papillote (in paper). Chelsea, Rachel and Ellie's smoked octopus was judged the least impressive, sending the three girls into elimination.
S3.E20 ∙ Pressure Test 2
Chelsea, Rachel and Ellie had to recreate an Australian-ised pork with fried rice, without the aid of a recipe. Relying on their food knowledge proved a challenge for the three girls, as the wrong cuts of meat were chosen, sauces were unbalanced, and meat was overcooked. The judges decision proved difficult as Chelsea was found to have the best rice, Ellie the best meat, and Rachel the best sauce. Ultimately, Chelsea's lack of sauce, tough meat and over-reliance on outside help saw her eliminated from the competition.
S3.E22 ∙ Team Challenge 2
Teams were tasked with catering for a busy Sunday morning at Cronulla Beach for hungry nippers and their families, providing a sausages sizzle and gelato. Two from each team had spent the night making three flavours of gelato each, while the rest of the team prepared their hand-made sausages. Hayden, being a lifeguard, attempted to boost sales by charming the crowds toward the Blue Team, sparking strong rivalry between the teams. By providing a 'breakfast sausage,' The Red Team managed to start selling over an hour before the Blue Team, and as it came down to how much money the teams made, Blue's slow start cost them in the end, sending them into elimination.
S3.E23 ∙ Elimination Day
The Blue Team were faced with a pastry skills based challenge; they needed to prepare a sponge, a custard, a toffee and finally a ganache. They were not allowed to move on to the custard until they had finished the preparation of their sponge, and so on through the stages, before combining all four elements into their own dessert creation. Sun, Peter and Kumar had serious problems with each of their elements, but it was Cleo's mistake of starting her ganache before completely finishing her toffee that forced the judges to eliminate her.
S3.E24 ∙ MasterClass 4
Antonio Carluccio creates Handkerchief pasta with Ligurian Pesto whilst Gary shows how to make the perfect carbonara.
S3.E25 ∙ Team Challenge 3
Contestants were whisked away to Western Australia and the Sunrise Dam Gold Mine for a team challenge like no other: catering for 450 hungry workers over a 24 hours and three courses. Early on, Jay and Dani's leadership of the Blue Team proved a little shaky, as poor rostering lead to short staffing, and a lack of preparation meant they were still planning their breakfast menu just before service started. Each team had its share of mishaps during the challenge, and although the Blue Team served up uncooked fish and deep-fried bacon, they managed to win the challenge by a small margin (685 votes to Red's 665), leaving the Red Team with a second shift in the Mine's kitchen.
S3.E26 ∙ Invention Test 2
As winners of the Team Challenge, the Blue Team competed against each other at Margaret River's Clairault Winery for a double chance at immunity: to cook off in the Immunity Challenge and be exempt from the next elimination challenge in the MasterChef kitchen. The ten contestants faced an Invention Test, each cooking a different meat picked at random and using a range of organic ingredients from chef Jake Drachenberg's kitchen garden. In the end, Michael and Jay impressed the judges the most, and it was Jay's skillful technique when cooking the Western Australian crustacean marron that sent him into the Immunity Challenge.
S3.E28 ∙ Individual Challenge
Contestants (all except Jay who had immunity) were given 90 minutes, full run of the pantry and the freedom to cook what they wanted, but with one twist: the only ingredients available to them were tinned and frozen produce. This confused a number of contestants who struggled to produce smart, tasty dishes within the limits of the challenge. Many also rose to the challenge, producing a Top 5 and giving winners Billy and Shannon a special reward and private MasterClass. However, Andrew and Kumar's dishes did not impress and landed them in an Elimination Challenge.
S3.E29 ∙ Elimination Challenge 2
Andrew and Kumar faced a "Fix that Dish" Challenge; they had eight steps each to fix a Massaman curry. Both contestants choice of ingredients surprised and confused both judges and other contestants, as neither Andrew or Kumar picked peanuts or potatoes, two key ingredients in the traditional dish. In the end, the judges faced a tough decision as neither dish was considered close enough to an actual Massaman curry. However, Kumar's tenderer meat and decision to add cashews gave his dish a slight edge over Andrew's, sending Andrew home.
S3.E30 ∙ MasterClass 5
In tonight's MasterClass, Brendan Pratt cooks slow roasted lamb shoulder with croquettes.
S3.E31 ∙ Invention Test 3
In a "Super Invention Test" with a Spanish theme, contestants were given the choice of three pairs of core ingredients: lamb and anchovies, orange and sherry, or squid and chorizo. The "super" twist of the challenge came when, after each contestant had picked their 15 additional ingredients, the judges redistributed each contestants set of ingredients, forcing them to show their flexibility in the kitchen. Danielle beat out Arena, Shannon and Michael for top spot, while some disastrous efforts dropped Jay, Dani and Ellie into the Bottom 3.
S3.E32 ∙ Pressure Test 3
Jay, Dani and Ellie faced a Pressure Test set by Dan Hong, head chef at Ms G restaurant: pandan chiffon cake with black sesame icecream and coconut tapioca. All three contestants struggled with technical elements of the dish, but it was especially Jay whose instinctive style of cooking did not gel with the precise nature of the dish. While Dani had tapioca "like chalk," and Ellie had elements that were below standard, it was Jay's uneven dish with sugary praline that led to a tearful elimination.
S3.E34 ∙ Team Challenge 4
In the first ever Tag-team Challenge, teams were asked to prepare six dishes with only one team member cooking at any one time. Additionally, only the first to cook would be allowed to view the recipe, with a one-minute change-over period to relay information about the dishes. Communication breakdowns brought both teams problems and left some group members relying only on instinct. Surprise guest judge Nigella Lawson (whose recipes contestants were making) praised both teams efforts; especially the Red Team's game pie and velvet cupcakes and the Blue Team's roast lamb and devil's food cake. In the end though it was the Blue Team's better overall performance which gave them the three judges votes, sending the Red Team to elimination.
S3.E35 ∙ Elimination Challenge 3
Shannon and Arena put themselves forward as the two weakest performers from the Red Team and faced off in a Pressure Test. They were given a core ingredient (one whole chicken) and complete freedom of choice to prepare as many dishes as they would like in 75 minutes. Each contestant struggled with the pressure of the challenge, both running out of time and presenting incomplete dishes. The judges praised Shannon's steamed chicken breast and Arena's chicken soup, but ultimately the overall quality of Arena's dishes did not match Shannon's and she was eliminated.
S3.E36 ∙ MasterClass 6
MasterChef Australia is an Australian competitive cooking game show based on the original British MasterChef. It is produced by Shine Australia and screens on Network 10. Restaurateur and chef Gary Mehigan, chef George Calombaris and food critic Matt Preston served as the show's main judges until 2019.
S3.E37 ∙ Qantas Fine Dining Challenge
Contestants were paired up and asked to prepare one of eight courses of Neil Perry's QANTAS First Class menu. They were given 60 minutes of mise en place, followed by 20 minutes to cook, plate and serve one course at a time to 27 special guests, including world class chefs Thomas Keller and Andoni Adruiz. The extreme pressure of the challenge led to some problems especially in the plating stage, with most teams struggling with presentation. Ultimately, it was Kate and Danielle's poached snapper that the judges deemed most impressive, rewarding them with the chance to cook alongside Thomas and Andoni at a dinner for the Starlight Children's Foundation, and Kate a shot at immunity. However, it was Rachel and Craig whose tart lacked flavour and Michael and Shannon whose pudding was too dense who were deemed least impressive, landing them in the Bottom 4.
S3.E38 ∙ Elimination Challenge 4
Craig, Michael, Shannon and Rachel faced a Heston Blumenthal creation: a seemingly simple burger with chips and milkshake. But true to his molecular gastronomy style the dish was a complex combination of cooking styles, including a milkshake inspired by a personal memory. Michael's dish overall impressed, especially with his lime shake reminiscent of his now-deceased father, and Craig also impressed with his extremely thick chocolate milkshake. But despite having "the best bun of the lot" according to Heston, Rachel's overcooked meat and rushed milkshake lead to her elimination.
S3.E40 ∙ Team Challenge 5
In this "sustainable food challenge," contestants prepared a lunch service at the Greenhouse "pop up" restaurant in Sydney under the guidance of chef Matt Stone, with an emphasis on minimising waste. Their guests (including famous chefs and sustainable food experts) would vote for their favourite team, with the two best performers from the winning team experiencing a shift in Gary Mehigan's restaurant Fenix. Blue Team members questioned Sun's leadership as a lack of organisation slowed service down considerably. In the end, the Blue Team were commended for their sustainable menu and some excellent dishes, including Alana's dessert and Hayden's prawns. And while the Red Team worked well in the kitchen, their wastage was significant and they suffered from a poor dessert. The Blue Team won in a landslide (45-21), even without the bonus 10 votes they received for their minimal waste, with Alana and Hayden receiving the reward. The entire Red Team fell into an Elimination Challenge.
S3.E41 ∙ Elimination Challenge 5
The losing team faced a three-round elimination challenge, where they had 15 minutes and limited ingredients to produce their dish. Billy, Danielle and Ellie created the best dishes of the first round using only three ingredients, with Dani and Michael escaping elimination in the second round with dishes made from only six ingredients. In the final round, Craig and Shannon both impressed with their two very different dishes; the judges naming them two of the competitions best. The quality of Shannon's was judged as slightly below Craig's sealing her elimination from the competition.
S3.E42 ∙ MasterClass 7
MasterChef Australia is an Australian competitive cooking game show based on the original British MasterChef. It is produced by Shine Australia and screens on Network 10. Restaurateur and chef Gary Mehigan, chef George Calombaris and food critic Matt Preston served as the show's main judges until 2019.
S3.E43 ∙ Mystery Box Challenge 3
In this Korean-inspired "Invention Box" challenge set by Korean-American top chef David Chang, contestants were faced with a range of exotic Korean ingredients and a randomly selected protein. Many contestants floundered with such unknown ingredients, but Dani, Hayden and Peter impressed with their inventiveness, creativity and tasty Korean flavours. In the end, Hayden was crowned the winner of the challenge, earning him a spot in the Immunity Challenge, and immunity from the Team Challenge. Danielle, Michael, Adam and Ellie (who did not compete due to sickness and received an automatic bottom spot) were left as the Bottom 4.
S3.E44 ∙ Pressure Test 5
Danielle, Michael, Adam and Ellie faced a Pressure Test set by George's mother Mary Calombaris: cooking 4 traditional Greek-Cypriotic dishes. Contestants struggled to plate up each dish in the 90 minutes provided, with some receiving a helping hand from Mary herself. Ellie and Michael dishes were the two best received, while Adam and Danielle's were plagued with errors including raw pastry and overly salty, garlicky and oily elements. Despite performing the worst, Danielle was saved from elimination when Adam, realising that he did not have the same passion for the food industry as his competitors, withdrew from the competition.
S3.E46 ∙ Westfield Team Challenge
Teams (excluding Hayden, who had immunity) were taken to Westfield Sydney, where they were asked to prepare some simple dishes (such as burger and fries, pizza, cake and pastry) with one twist: each dish had specific dietary restrictions (such as lactose free, low salt or vegan). Contestants from each team were paired off and given 60 minutes to prepare their dish, with the best dish receiving a vote from the judges. Many contestants failed to fit the brief of the challenge and lost votes accordingly, and despite two disastrous dishes it was the Blue Team's overall performance that won them the challenge, sending the entire Red Team to elimination.
S3.E47 ∙ Elimination Challenge 7
The Red Team faced an "In-the-round" challenge with two stages: three contestants at a time would prepare a savoury dish in 15 minutes with the least impressive from each group going into the final elimination round cooking a sweet dish in 30 minutes. Craig's overcooked quail breast and Alana's raw lamb led them to the final round, where it was Craig's undercooked apple fritters that led to his elimination.
S3.E48 ∙ MasterClass 8
Matt goes back to basics as he creates a homemade tartare sauce. Gary uses some fresh local produce to create a dish for some local lifesavers.
S3.E49 ∙ Moran Farm Challenge
The Top 12 contestants were tasked with preparing lunch for 200 hungry farmers and their families when they travelled into the NSW country to Matt Moran's dad's lamb farm. They had four hours to prepare any dish they wanted under the restrictions of an outdoor fire and with lamb as their only protein, their guests voting for their favourite dish. Michael's decision to ignore the lamb and cook two sweet dishes confused the judges but led him to second place, behind winner Billy, whose hearty and spicy Lamb Curry and sweet Rocky Road were perfect for the cold and wet weather and proved popular with adults and children alike. Danielle, Ellie and Peter's uneven and unattractive dishes landed them in the Bottom 3, to face elimination.
S3.E50 ∙ Pressure Test 6
Ellie, Danielle and Peter were set a tough test by chef Matthew Kemp: to re-invent the classic French dish Duck à l'orange, with no aid of a recipe. Despite initially struggling for ideas and burning her hand, Ellie's dish universally impressed the judges. And while Peter was criticised for not being inventive enough, it was Danielle's cold pasta dish missing the orange flavours that led to her elimination.
S4.E0 ∙ Where Are They Now?
MasterChef Australia is an Australian competitive cooking game show based on the original British MasterChef. It is produced by Shine Australia and screens on Network 10. Restaurateur and chef Gary Mehigan, chef George Calombaris and food critic Matt Preston served as the show's main judges until 2019.
S4.E1 ∙ Auditions
Hundreds of hopeful contestants competed for a place in the Top 50. They each had an hour (plus an additional five minutes in front of the judges of final cooking and presentation) to prepare a dish of their choice, with a number securing their place in the next stage of the competition.
S4.E2 ∙ Top 50: Mystery Box
The top 50 amateur cooks will compete in the first Mystery Box challenge of the season; the judges select the top 12 who then have the opportunity to cook off in a nail-biting challenge.
S4.E3 ∙ Top 50: Mornington Peninsula Challenge
The top 12 performers from the Mystery Box challenge had six hours to travel to the Mornington Peninsula, collect their choice of ingredients and prepare a dish that showed off the fresh produce of the region. Contestants struggled with organisation and timing, some forgetting ingredients, others getting lost, leading many to change their dish last minute. In the end, Audra, Amina, Andrew, Jules, TK and Dalvinder impressed the most and won their place in the Top 24.
S4.E4 ∙ Top 50: Salmon Challenge
The remaining contestants were given the choice to compete for one of five spots in the Top 24, with elimination as the result should they fail. In a challenge set by Matt Moran, the ten contestants had to fillet and bone a salmon and produce a dish of their choice. In what was a first for many, filleting the fish proved a challenge, with a number of contestants failing to remove the scales. In the end, Alice, Matt, Sam, Tregan and Wade earned their spot in the main competition while five others were eliminated. The remaining challengers competed to gain an advantage in the next challenge: they had to quickly whip cream into 150 grams of butter and present it to the judges. Beau won the right to study the dish for the next challenge.
S4.E5 ∙ Top 50: Pressure Test
In their first Pressure Test, Shannon Bennett brought a twist on the classic Peach Melba to the MasterChef hopefuls. With two hours on the clock, contestants struggled with the many technical components of the three-hatted dessert. The six standout performers (Andy, Julia, Kylie, Lydia, Ben and Beau) won their place in the Top 24, while the remaining contestants were assessed by the judges and whittled down to twelve final hopefuls to compete for the last 6 places in the competition.
S4.E6 ∙ Masterclass 1
MasterChef Australia is an Australian competitive cooking game show based on the original British MasterChef. It is produced by Shine Australia and screens on Network 10. Restaurateur and chef Gary Mehigan, chef George Calombaris and food critic Matt Preston served as the show's main judges until 2019.
S4.E7 ∙ Top 50: Elimination Challenge - French Cuisine
The remaining twelve hopefuls faced a French Invention Test set by Jacques Reymond at Montsalvat, an artist colony in Eltham. With 90 minutes on the clock, contestants proved their worth cooking both sweet and savoury dishes. Reymond was very impressed with some contestants skill and ability to capture the "essence of France," and Debra, Filippo, Mindy, Kath, Mario and Emma secured the final places in the Top 24.
S4.E8 ∙ Top 24: Mystery Box
The Top 24 contestants enter the MasterChef Australia kitchen for their first mystery box challenge.
S4.E9 ∙ Immunity Challenge: Dan Hong
Dan Hong's Team beat Ben, Andy and Emma (2-1)
S4.E10 ∙ Offsite Challenge: King's Cross
In their first Team Challenge, contestants took over the running of two of King's Cross best restaurants, Ortolan on Bayswater and Concrete Blonde. With five hours of preparation time and three hours to cook and serve, teams also had to run the Front of House and spruik to possible customers. The Red Team, under Emma's leadership struggled initially with delegation of duties, leading them to fall behind and start service late. After a shaky start, they found their rhythm and were praised for the quality of their dishes, especially with dessert made by Kylie. The Blue Team thrived under Andy's leadership and their ability to bring in customers. Their dishes earned praise from the judges, especially Ben's scallop main, but were criticised for their dessert. In the end, it was decided by how much money each restaurant made, and the Blue team's initial organisational edge saw them the victors by over $500. The Red Team were sent into their first elimination challenge.
S4.E11 ∙ Elimination Challenge: Pasta
In a three-round pasta-themed challenge, the Red Team fought for their places in the competition. In the first round, contestants had to identify different kinds of pasta with the first six to make a wrong guess moving to the second round. First-in-line Kevin incorrectly labelled one of the hardest varieties (lasagnotte), and as no-one else could identify it correctly, his decision pulled the next five people in the line into the second round. Kevin, Jules, TK, Mindy, Emma and Kylie then had to make 250 grams of fettuccine from scratch with the first four declared safe. Kevin and Jules were left in the final round, in which they had to reproduce a Ricotta and Egg Yolk Raviolo with Sage and Burnt Butter Sauce. Despite excelling in presentation, Kevin's lack of seasoning and imbalance of flavour led him to be the first eliminated contestant of the series.
S4.E12 ∙ Masterclass 2
MasterChef Australia is an Australian competitive cooking game show based on the original British MasterChef. It is produced by Shine Australia and screens on Network 10. Restaurateur and chef Gary Mehigan, chef George Calombaris and food critic Matt Preston served as the show's main judges until 2019.
S4.E13 ∙ Mystery Box: Have a Crack at It & Invention Test: The Perfect Sandwich
In the Mystery Box challenge, contestants were faced with a range of ingredients that had to be "cracked", such as eggs, crab, nuts and spices. With the judges only tasting their favourite three dishes, the twenty-three hopefuls fought to gain their attention with some inventive dishes. Filippo beat out Mindy and Debra to gain the advantage of picking the core ingredient for the Invention Test. Tasked with making the perfect sandwich using tomato as the core ingredient, the quality of dishes meant the judges were faced with a difficult decision. Filippo, Mindy and Debra excelled again and along with Dalvinder were the Top 4, but it was Mindy who impressed the most. While TK, Wade and Lydia made enough mistakes to fall into the Bottom 3, and face elimination.
S4.E14 ∙ Pressure Test: Peter Gilmore
Carrie, Kate and Fiona faced off in the Pressure Test after cooking the three least impressive dishes in the Invention Test. They were asked to replicate a chicken dish from chef Peter Gilmore. Fiona had a slow start but she finished strongly and cooked the chicken perfectly but her dish lacked detail.
S4.E15 ∙ Immunity Challenge: The Blue Ducks
The Blue Ducks team beat Mindy, Amina and Julia (2-1)
S4.E16 ∙ Offsite Challenge: Yum Cha
The top 22 contestants head to Sydney's Chinese Gardens to compete in a yum cha challenge. Divided into teams, they must plan a menu, shop and cook a tasty yum cha feast.
S4.E17 ∙ Elimination Challenge: Tagine
The first of a two-part Elimination Challenge consisted of a Taste Test, in which the contestants had to guess the 25 ingredients of Gary's Moroccan Tajine, with the first 5 contestants to get an ingredient wrong going into the elimination round. Debra, Matt, Filippo, Emma and Andrew fought it out, given the choice of any 5 ingredients from the tajine to make a single dish in 45 minutes. Matt and Filippo were the bottom two, but despite some errors, it was Matt's undercooked lamb that sealed his elimination.
S4.E18 ∙ Masterclass 3
MasterChef Australia is an Australian competitive cooking game show based on the original British MasterChef. It is produced by Shine Australia and screens on Network 10. Restaurateur and chef Gary Mehigan, chef George Calombaris and food critic Matt Preston served as the show's main judges until 2019.
S4.E19 ∙ Mystery Box: Biscuits & Invention Test: Mexican
In a biscuit-themed Mystery Box, Julia beat out Ben and Amina with her Melting Moments. In a Mexican-themed Invention Test Julia chose cactus and prickly pear as the core ingredient. And while Mindy won a second shot at immunity, beating Alice and Dalvinder, Julia found herself in the Bottom 3 with Andrew and Kath, and a Pressure Test battle.
S4.E20 ∙ Pressure Test: Maggie Beer
Kath, Andrew and Julia were faced with the task of reproducing Maggie Beer's Upside Down Grape Cake with Ginger, Raisin and Lemon Wafers and Olive Oil and Verjuice Ice Cream in only 90 minutes. Julia managed the best overall reproduction of the cake and its garnishes. Both Kath's and Andrew's cakes were very undercooked, but won praise for their accompaniments, Andrew with the best ice cream and Kath the best wafers. In the end, it was Kath's collapsed cake that led to her elimination.
S4.E21 ∙ Immunity Challenge: Shaun Presland
Mindy, Amina and Audra beat Shaun Presland's team (2-1)
S4.E22 ∙ Offsite Challenge: Leftovers
The teams were tasked with creating a three-course fundraising dinner for OzHarvest - a charity organisation that collects leftover produce from restaurants to feed the needy. The winner of the challenge would be decided by the guests, who paid as much as they thought the dinner was worth. Teams picked up ingredients on behalf of OzHarvest and created their menu from what was available. The Blue Team's decision to inform guests on where the produce was sourced led them to receive a $20,000 donation, winning them the challenge and raising $32,012 in total for the charity.
S4.E23 ∙ Elimination Challenge: Poultry
In the first part of the elimination, contestants had to correctly name 10 different kinds of poultry. The first five to guess incorrectly, would go on to the second elimination round. TK, Julia, Debra, Tregan and Alice had 60 minutes to cook a dish with poultry of their choice. The bottom two consisted of Julia - with undercooked duck - and TK. It was the latter's uninspiring turkey stir fry, which she put together in 10 minutes after overcooking her turkey breast, that sent her home.
S4.E24 ∙ Masterclass 4
MasterChef Australia is an Australian competitive cooking game show based on the original British MasterChef. It is produced by Shine Australia and screens on Network 10. Restaurateur and chef Gary Mehigan, chef George Calombaris and food critic Matt Preston served as the show's main judges until 2019.
S4.E25 ∙ Mystery Box: Flavour Matching & Invention Test: Seduction
In the third Mystery Box of the Top 24, Dalvinder beat Audra and Beau with her nostalgic sweet and sour pork dish with egg dumplings. In the Invention Test, contestants got their pick from three classic "seductive" combinations to use as a core ingredient: strawberries and cream, champagne and caviar, or chocolate and roses, while Dalvinder had no restrictions. As there would be no bottom 3, Andy sat it out with a badly burnt hand. Tregan and Filippo were beaten by Sam and his refined "Seafood for Two" dish, which featured elements such as a champagne jelly and caviar cream.
S4.E26 ∙ Offsite Challenge: Salamanca Market
Tasmania Week began with a four-team Market Stall Challenge, which took place at Hobart's famous Salamanca Markets. The teams had to set up stalls and sell dishes made exclusively from market-sourced ingredients, with the team that impressed the judges with their quality and total earnings declared the winners. Each team served some delicious fare, but it was the Blue Team's (handpicked by Sunday Challenge winner Sam) range of clever dishes that won them the right to cook off for a shot at immunity.
S4.E27 ∙ Immunity Challenge: Fishing Boat Salmon Challenge & Philippe Leban
As the winning team from the Salamanca Challenge, Sam, Kylie, Ben, Mindy and Amina traveled south to Kettering to cook for a spot in the Immunity Challenge. They first had to net a salmon, the weight of which would determine their cooking time, and then cook using their catch. Sam and Amina, who had the longest cooking times, produced the Top 2 dishes of the day but Sam's slightly overcooked salmon gave Amina the shot at immunity. In a more traditional Immunity Challenge, chef Philippe Leban of The Source at MONA, outcooked Amina on a tricky dessert, beating her on total points (25-22).
S4.E28 ∙ Offsite Challenge: Afternoon Tea
The contestants were divided into two teams for an Afternoon Tea Challenge, Andrew captaining the Reds and Amina the Blues. The teams had to produce four dishes to serve at an afternoon tea at Launceston's Cataract Gorge for 100 guests, who would vote for their favourite. While some contestants foraged on local farms for ingredients for their dishes, others milled flour in Oatlands - a process that wasn't without incident. The Blue Team, buoyed by excellent presentation and a high quality of dishes (including Julia's Melting Moments), took the challenge by a landslide 60 votes to 12, leaving the Reds facing another Elimination Challenge.
S4.E29 ∙ Elimination Challenge: Pub Lunch
The Elimination Challenge in Stanley began with a Skills Test - the contestants having to cook the perfect medium rare steak. Kylie, Ben, Andy and Sam were the first contestants found to have incorrectly cooked their meat, sending them through to the second round: an onion ring cook-off. Kylie and Ben most impressed, leaving Andy and Sam to compete in the final round: at the Stanley Hotel both contestants had to cook one dish for 50 people. Andy (cooking beef cheek) and Sam (cooking crayfish) were both praised for the quality of their food as well as their sportsmanship throughout preparation and service, leading the judges to declare a tie and keep them both in the competition.
S4.E30 ∙ Masterclass 5
MasterChef Australia is an Australian competitive cooking game show based on the original British MasterChef. It is produced by Shine Australia and screens on Network 10. Restaurateur and chef Gary Mehigan, chef George Calombaris and food critic Matt Preston served as the show's main judges until 2019.
S4.E31 ∙ Mystery Box & Seafood from Around the World with Rick Stein
In the Mystery Box challenge, contestants were given a single egg and asked to make it the hero of their dish. The Top 6 were selected and ranked, with Kylie's Poached Meringue the standout dish, over Mindy, Andy, Jules, Amina and Andrew, respectively. For the Invention Test set by Rick Stein, the winning contestants, in ranking order, picked a type of seafood and a country to inspire dishes which their teams would prepare. Stein was impressed with most team's ability to encapsulate the essence of their given country's cuisine, but it was Team Morocco (Jules, Alice and Tregan) who won the opportunity to cook for immunity. Given botargo to create a United Kingdom-inspired dish, Andrew, Dalvinder and Audra struggled with the unfamiliar ingredient and fell into the Bottom 3 and a Pressure Test.
S4.E32 ∙ Elimination Challenge: Greek Salad
Dalvinder, Audra and Andrew were given 3.5 hours to reproduce George's 'Greek Salad', an intricate dish featuring ten elements and various cooking techniques, such as a capsicum terrine, a black olive sponge and a cucumber ice cream. Audra produced the best replica overall and was the first declared safe. And while Andrew's decision to take a short-cut with his capsicum terrine led it to not set as a result, it was Dalvinder's lack of flavour and technical errors, despite having the best terrine, that led to her elimination.
S4.E33 ∙ Immunity Challenge: Jamie Oliver
Jamie Oliver beat Jules, Alice and Tregan (27-25-24-21, respectively)
S4.E34 ∙ Offsite Challenge: Shangri La Hotel 24-Hour Challenge
The contestants faced a 24-Hour Team Challenge, running an entire day's service at the Shangri-La hotel in Sydney. Groups of three contestants each faced a shift in which they catered for hotel staff, served canapés for a function, covered room service orders and ran the hotel's restaurant. While both teams faced some problems with preparation and service, it was the speed and efficiency of the Blue Team that won them another Challenge victory.
S4.E35 ∙ Pressure Test: Rapid Fire
In the first round of a three-round elimination, contestants were tasked with creating a dish in just 20 minutes. Kylie, Debra, Filippo and Amina produced the most impressive dishes and were declared safe. In the second round, the remaining contestants were given only 10 minutes to create a dish. Tregan, Sam and Emma's dishes were the best, with Mario and Julia left to face off in the final round. Given only five minutes, Mario opted for a simple salad while Julia cooked an intricate three-layered dessert. It was her innovative use of time and ingredients that saw her pronounced safe, as Mario was eliminated.
S4.E36 ∙ Masterclass 6
Paul Wilson creates a traditional Mexican mole with lamb cutlets. The judges pit their skills against one another in creating a chocolate mousse.
S4.E37 ∙ Mystery Box: Masterchef Australia Winners
Contestants faced a Mystery Box set by the three previous MasterChef Australia winners: Julie Goodwin, Adam Liaw and Kate Bracks, who each brought a Box containing five of their favourite ingredients. The top four consisted of Audra, Andrew, Debra and Mindy, with Audra pronounced the winner thanks to her elegant dish of pork belly over noodles. Wade, Filippo and Emma's dishes were the least impressive, sending them into a Pressure Test.
S4.E38 ∙ Pressure Test: Quiche Lorraine
Wade, Emma and Filippo had to recreate Gary's Quiche Lorraine without the aid of a recipe, and create an accompanying salad. Emma's effort was deemed the best overall; with the creamiest custard, the flakiest pastry and the best salad, she was the first pronounced safe. The biggest flaw in Wade's quiche was undercooked pastry, and his salad was deemed "careless". But it was Filippo's uneven stuffing, use of the wrong cheese (cheddar instead of gruyère) and "old-fashioned" salad that were enough to see him eliminated.
S4.E39 ∙ Immunity Challenge: Hamish Ingham
Hamish Ingham's team beat Audra, Kylie and Amina (2-1)
S4.E40 ∙ Offsite Challenge: Hindu Wedding
The two teams were tasked with catering a Sri-Lankan wedding ceremony for 450, with the guests to determine the challenge winner. Guest chef Kumar Mahadevan mentored the Red and Blue teams, both of whom struggled with the expectations of the challenge, the timing, food preparation and quality and having to work together despite competing against each other. The judges and guests were overall impressed with the dishes provided and it was a close call, but it was the Red Team who won by 243 votes to 207.
S4.E41 ∙ Elimination Challenge: Cake
The Blue Team were faced with a cake-themed Elimination Challenge. Contestants had to pick out and correctly name a cake from a line-up. Emma and Ben were the first to guess incorrectly and were sent into the final elimination round. Ben offered to give up his place in the competition if it would save Emma, but after the judges made it clear that, should he leave, Emma would still have to cook, he decided to cook in the second round. Given 1 hour and 40 minutes to create a cake, both Ben and Emma were commended for their flavour combinations, but criticised for their "messy" presentation. In the end, Emma's dense sponge couldn't match Ben's sophisticated flavours and she was eliminated.
S4.E42 ∙ Masterclass 7
MasterChef Australia is an Australian competitive cooking game show based on the original British MasterChef. It is produced by Shine Australia and screens on Network 10. Restaurateur and chef Gary Mehigan, chef George Calombaris and food critic Matt Preston served as the show's main judges until 2019.
S4.E43 ∙ Mystery Box: Soup & Invention Test - Dude Food
In the Mystery Box Challenge contestants were given 60 minutes to make a soup of their choice. The top three consisted of Debra, Amina and Wade, with the latter's Mushroom Soup with Porcini Croutons picked as the judges' favourite. With "dude food" as the theme for the Invention Test, and Wade's pick of Japanese mayonnaise as the core ingredient, contestants cooked a host of indulgent and tasty dishes. Julia, Kylie and Tregan landed in the top three and it was Tregan that managed to win a shot at immunity, while Amina, Andrew and Sam were left as the bottom three.
S4.E44 ∙ Pressure Test: Christine Manfield
Guest chef Christine Manfield set the most technically difficult dish seen so far in a pressure test: spice roasted squab with a turnip cake, with a recipe including 55 ingredients. In a close elimination.
S4.E45 ∙ Immunity Challenge: Daniel Wilson
Daniel Wilson's team beat Tregan, Jules and Julia (2-1)
S4.E46 ∙ Offsite Challenge: Home Cooking
In a 'home-style' challenge, contestants first had 90 minutes in the MasterChef house to cook for the chance at immunity from the next elimination. The top two dishes, picked from the judges' favorite five dishes, were Audra and Ben. The other three favourites were team captains in the next challenge: cooking a three-course meal in three different homes using ingredients only from those homes. Each team served up dishes with their own merits and criticisms given the nature of the challenge; the Yellow Team struggled cooking in a makeshift kitchen with limited cooking equipment. The Red Team were judged best overall, thus sending the Blue (with raw lamb) and Yellow (which did not serve up dessert in time) Teams to elimination.
S4.E47 ∙ Elimination Challenge: Quick Fire Cook-Off
The eight losing contestants had their pick from 120 ingredients, with a catch: any ingredient, when picked, could only be used once and only by that contestant. Besides the "first-come, first-served" rule, they also had to incorporate every ingredient they picked in that round and were given only 30 minutes. In the first round, using 8 ingredients, Andy, Amina and Mindy were pronounced safe. In the second round, using 5 ingredients, Alice and Debra were the top two leaving Jules, Julia and Tregan in the final round. Despite all serving up quality dishes with minor flaws, it was Tregan who was eliminated.
S4.E48 ∙ Masterclass 8
MasterChef Australia is an Australian competitive cooking game show based on the original British MasterChef. It is produced by Shine Australia and screens on Network 10. Restaurateur and chef Gary Mehigan, chef George Calombaris and food critic Matt Preston served as the show's main judges until 2019.
S4.E49 ∙ Invention Test: Heston Blumenthal
In an Invention Test set by Heston Blumenthal from The Fat Duck, contestants got their pick from six core ingredients that would be paired with an unknown ingredient chosen by Heston. After it was revealed that all the ingredients (bacon, Vegemite, cauliflower, beetroot, caviar and blue cheese) would be paired with chocolate, contestants were given full run of the pantry to cook a single dish that highlights the given flavour combination. Kylie won the challenge and a shot at immunity with her Blue Cheese and Honey Sundae with Chocolate Fudge Sauce, despite other great desserts from Julia and Jules, who completed the top three. Beau, Andrew and Amina were the bottom three, due to lack of concept in their dishes and poor flavour combinations.
S5.E1 ∙ Premiere
Series five started with its 22 contestants being welcomed to Melbourne with their first challenge at the MCG. With the first themed week of the series being 'boys vs. girls', each team of eleven were tasked with creating a three-course meal for their new 'family': the opposing team plus the three judges, on a budget of $204 (what the average Australian family spends on groceries per week). Up for grabs was also an extra $33.70 (what the average Australian family spend on take-away per week) which is given to the winning team of an egg-separating "mini-challenge". Rishi and Clarissa battled it out in the egg challenge for their teams, with Rishi winning the money for the boys. Each team then had four hours to plan, shop and prepare their menu. Both teams struggled to stay under budget while shopping, forcing the girls to neglect cream for their lemon tart which was later criticized by the judges. Overall each team produced one fantastic dish (the girl's Middle Eastern chicken and the boy's chicken pie), one bad dish (the girl's overcooked pasta and the boy's disastrous Eton mess) and one average dish (the girl's lemon tart without cream and boy's thick and slightly grainy pumpkin soup). Despite it being a fairly evenly matched competition, and the boys' meat pie being extraordinary; the mushy peas served alongside the pie were judged to be under-cooked and therefore the girls won the first challenge against the boys, winning themselves an advantage in the next challenge.
S5.E2 ∙ Protein Pick Face Off Challenge
After winning the previous challenge the girls gained the advantage of selecting the protein they would be cooking with from the eleven available options (ranging from beef mince to offal) in a first-come, first-served manner. The boys were unknowingly given the same protein as the girl standing opposite them once they chose a kitchen position. Each pair of contestants with the same protein would face off, either producing a winning dish or a losing dish. The winning dishes would be automatically safe from the elimination challenge, while all the losing dishes would be compared in order to find the worst 6 dishes. Contestants from both teams struggled with the simplicity or complexity of their given ingredient, with Samira mistaking Barramundi for Snapper and Kelty's offal dish being branded one of the "five worst" ever tasted on the show, which automatically earnt him a place into the bottom 6. In the end Michael, Dan, Neha, Nicky and Samira joined Kelty in the bottom 6, to face the first elimination challenge of the series.
S5.E3 ∙ Elimination Challenge 1
The six worst performing contestants from the Protein Challenge went into the series' first elimination challenge. After being surprised by the presence of their own pantry and fridges complete with their contents in the storeroom, they were given 60 minutes to present a dish inspired by cooking for their loved ones. Michael scored 'dish of the day' with a simple, but technically well-executed dish of Steak with Hollandaise and Roast Vegetables and was first pronounced safe. Neha's egg curry and Nicky's salmon with savoury egg custard won praise from the judges and were next pronounced safe, leaving a bottom 3 of Kelty, Dan and Samira. Samira's Koshary rice contained onions that were burnt, Kelty's simple stew was boring and lacked the promised soda bread and Dan's caramel for his chocolate tart was rock solid and the ganache was grainy. In the end, Dan became the first contestant eliminated from the series.
S5.E4 ∙ MasterClass 1
MasterChef Australia is an Australian competitive cooking game show based on the original British MasterChef. It is produced by Shine Australia and screens on Network 10. Restaurateur and chef Gary Mehigan, chef George Calombaris and food critic Matt Preston served as the show's main judges until 2019.
S5.E5 ∙ Barossa Boot Camp Day 1
In the first of a series of challenges in the Barossa Valley, contestants were first tasked with breaking down a whole lamb after a quick masterclass from a professional butcher. Continuing the 'Boys vs. Girls' contest, each team started strongly, but both made some crucial errors. In the end, the boys edged out the girls and were safe from the next round. Round 2 saw the girls cooking a dish of their choice, with a range of lamb cuts. Contestants struggled with missing ingredients, using the given 90 minutes and the elements, and the results were mixed. Lucy, Lilliana and Faiza won praise for their dishes, but Noelene and Clarissa were deemed the least impressive and were the first to be sent to elimination.
S5.E6 ∙ Barossa Boot Camp Day 2
Contestants faced a tag-team challenge set by MasterChef favourite Maggie Beer. After a masterclass on skinning and breaking down a whole chicken, the teams picked their lead members who were taken through the two courses their teams had to prepare in the two hours given. Each member had twelve minutes to cook followed by one minute to transfer information to the next team member. The girls team had a few hiccups overall, with small problems found with all of the elements of their main course, but with a flawless dessert. The boys suffered from poor communication and made some crucial mistakes in their preparation, and while their main was faultless, their inability to produce a working pastry meant they didn't serve dessert as it was specified. That was enough to lose them the challenge with Nicky, Andrew and Michael judged the worst performers. The mistakes made by the latter two sent them to elimination.
S5.E7 ∙ Barossa Boot Camp Day 3
The teams faced a seafood relay challenge: shucking oysters, peeling prawns and filleting flathead; the losing team facing round two and the possibility of filling the two last spots in the Elimination Challenge. With each team picking three representatives for each part of the relay challenge, it was a close race until Totem's inability to fillet his flathead sealed the Boys' fate. The next round saw the losing team cooking a seafood dish (with the same proteins as round one) in 60 minutes. In the end, Nicky's overly salty dish, Xavier's poorly cooked fisherman's basket and Daniel's plain fish pie landed them in the bottom three, with Nicky escaping elimination for the second day in a row. Xavier and Daniel joined Michael, Andrew, Noelene and Clarissa in the Elimination Challenge.
S5.E8 ∙ Elimination Challenge 2
In this double Elimination Challenge, Andrew, Clarissa, Daniel, Michael, Noelene and Xavier were given two and a half hours to revisit the proteins that they failed with earlier in the week. Cooking for twenty locals proved daunting for some, and the pressure caused the contestants to make some missteps along the way. Daniel struggled to make enough pasta in the given time, Noelene found she didn't have the right ingredients or enough oven space and Andrew had to scrap his potatoes last minute. In the end, both she and Andrew impressed with their dishes, and Clarissa was declared safe despite her lamb not being uniformly cooked through. Michael served raw chicken and was automatically eliminated, and despite not delivering with his pasta, Daniel was saved due to Xavier's flavour-lite curry underwhelming, and sending him packing. With three of the boys eliminated in the first two weeks, the girls were declared winners of the 'Girls vs. Boys' Challenge.
S5.E9 ∙ MasterClass 2
MasterChef Australia is an Australian competitive cooking game show based on the original British MasterChef. It is produced by Shine Australia and screens on Network 10. Restaurateur and chef Gary Mehigan, chef George Calombaris and food critic Matt Preston served as the show's main judges until 2019.
S5.E10 ∙ Kids Week Sunday Challenge
To Begin Kids Week, the Mystery Box Challenge returned with a twist, followed by the Invention Test.
S5.E11 ∙ Immunity Challenge 1
Emma, Rishi, Kelty, Lynton and Neha faced off in an Immunity Challenge with a twist. They had 60 minutes to produce their best dish, with one of them guaranteed an immunity pin, however the pantry would be in complete darkness. With only five minutes to blindly grab their ingredients, and then plan a coherent dish with the results, the contestants struggled with the constraints of the challenge. Kelty and Neha were criticised for a lack of direction in their dishes and failing to produce enough in the time given, and while there were some good elements to Rishi's dish it was Lynton and Emma who rose to the top. Emma's Cos Lettuce Cups with Bugs and Scallops won her the challenge and the first immunity pin of the series.
S5.E12 ∙ Offsite Challenge 1
Teams went "back to school" catering for 450 students under the tutelage of chefs Curtis Stone and Shannon Bennett. Each team prepared their lunch menu consisting of four items thought of by the chefs and with their mentor-ship, the winning team being the one with the most popular menu with the judges and students. Vern's leadership of the Blue Team early won praise, while Emma struggled to fill her required role as Red Team Captain. Both teams worked well under their mentors, until service time when the Red Team's organisation was called into question. In the end, the judges gave two votes to each team from the four dishes, but gave the Red's the win for their crowd favourite Barramundi Burger with Chickpea Fritters. The entire Blue Team went into the Elimination Challenge.
S5.E13 ∙ Elimination Challenge 3
The Blue Team faced a two-round Elimination: a skills test followed by a pressure test. In the first round, the ten contestants had to successfully separate eggs and whisk the whites to perfect soft peaks, holding the bowl upside down over their head to prove their whites were whipped correctly. The first seven contestants were declared safe, leaving Andrew, Christina and Clarissa in the final round. Their task, in three and a half hours, was to recreate Bernard Chu's Lolly Bag Cake with seven layers based on seven classic lolly flavours. Contestants got off to a slow start but all worked through the recipe methodically, until Clarissa made a mistake in her Spearmint Buttercream layer that put her a long way behind. Andrew faced some structural problems assembling his cake and his glaze was too runny, while Clarissa could not get her buttercream done in time and had to leave it out. Christina's efforts won her enormous praise from the judges, producing an almost perfect replication, and while Andrew's technical flaws and an overly "Eucalyptus-y" taste were criticised, Clarissa's lack of some required elements sealed her elimination.
S5.E14 ∙ MasterClass 3
MasterChef Australia is an Australian competitive cooking game show based on the original British MasterChef. It is produced by Shine Australia and screens on Network 10. Restaurateur and chef Gary Mehigan, chef George Calombaris and food critic Matt Preston served as the show's main judges until 2019.
S5.E15 ∙ Offsite Challenge 2
Contestants were faced with a Team Challenge to start off Italian Week. Due to repetitive stress fractures, Andrew was forced to retire from the competition on medical advice, while Jules' hip injury forced her out of the challenge and therefore into the next day's Pressure Test. Working in teams of four with the guide of four Italian Nonnas and with Antonio Carluccio as a special guest judge, they had four hours to prep, cook and serve a plate of food for diners on Lygon Street with the winners the ones to raise the most money. The Green Team were first to start service after only forty minutes; their dish of Fritto Misto proving popular, with the Grey Team and their Crostini of Mushroom and Roasted Veal not far behind. The Red Team's time-consuming Arancini dish and Blue Team's lack of organisation meant they didn't start service until well into the challenge. In the end, with $2499 raised, Grey were declared winners, with Green close behind on $1851. Red and Blue failed to raise enough money, and despite slow service and their dish lacking flavour, Red were declared safe. Vern, Kelty, Totem and Nicky were criticised for their slow prep time, lack of organisation and sales skill and joined Jules in elimination.
S5.E16 ∙ Pressure Test 1
Jules, Vern, Totem, Nicky and Kelty faced off in an Italian Pressure Test set by Stefano De Pieri. They had 60 minutes to prepare his dish of Quail Ravioli with Sage Butter, but with no given recipe for the pasta. With the limited time given, contestants faced struggles with their pasta (being too dry and crumbly or too soft), breaking down their quail, cooking and pulsing the filling correctly and even with reading the recipe. Ultimately, Jules, Kelty and Totem had the best pasta and well cooked filling leaving Vern and Nicky as the bottom two. Despite Vern's pasta being too thick, it was Nicky's overly processed filling and lack of seasoning that sealed his elimination.
S5.E17 ∙ MasterChef Pizzeria Challenge
The judges announce a final team challenge that will determine who will advance to the Top Three. Find out which contestants demonstrate how far they've come in the competition in order to earn a spot in the finale and move one step closer to winning a life-changing grand prize.
S5.E18 ∙ Elimination Challenge 4
With Emma opting not to use her pin, the entire losing team fought to keep their place in the competition in an elimination challenge based on the colours of the Italian flag: red, white and green. Faced with a wall of colour-coded ingredients, they randomly picked one of the three and could only use ingredients of that colour in their dish. A number of the contestants struggled to design a dish within the constraints given, but by the end, six of the eight dishes created impressed the judges and Rishi, Emma, Jules, Noelene, Pip and Christina were declared safe. Neha, who tried to produce a pizza in only an hour was criticised for taking such a risk on the back of losing a pizza-themed team challenge and for its fairly bland flavours. But it was Faiza's confused dish of meatballs and smashed potatoes, judged to be dry and overly spicy, that sealed her elimination.
S5.E19 ∙ MasterClass 4
MasterChef Australia is an Australian competitive cooking game show based on the original British MasterChef. It is produced by Shine Australia and screens on Network 10. Restaurateur and chef Gary Mehigan, chef George Calombaris and food critic Matt Preston served as the show's main judges until 2019.
S5.E20 ∙ Western Australia Team Challenge 1
The top 15 contestants started Wild West Week at the Fremantle docks. Separated into two teams, they headed offshore to catch their own seafood for a feast for 30 local fishermen, with 60 minutes to prepare their catch once they'd docked. After braving the wild seas and a good deal of sea-sickness, teams called in their catch to teammates shopping for ingredients, in time to meet them back at the dock to start cooking. With 60 minutes to prepare all their seafood and cook a feast, the Red Team found themselves behind in their prep due to their incredible haul. Ultimately, despite providing a range of sophisticated and multicultural dishes, the Blue Team's menu didn't impress as much as The Red Team's simple dishes championing the fresh produce and they won a shot at immunity.
S5.E21 ∙ Immunity Challenge 2
The Red Team, as winners of the previous challenge, had the chance to win immunity, but it was down to them to elect one member to face chef Russell Blaikie. The team decided on Vern, because of his contribution in the previous challenge. Vern was allowed 90 minutes (Russell given 60) to produce a dish with the core ingredient of duck, chosen by Russell. With the guidance of Guillaume Brahimi, Vern worked well in the kitchen and with Brahimi's help produced a commendable dish. The judges noted Vern's dish lacked precision in plating, and elements such as the lentils were not cooked enough. Russell won praise for what he managed to put on the plate in his limited time and in the end, beat Vern (28-21).
S5.E22 ∙ Western Australia Team Challenge 2
The contestants headed to Kylagh Station in York to cook lunch for 20 hungry stockmen and women, with the farmed beef the focal point of the menu. With limited time, access to only a certain weight of ingredients and only an open fire to cook with, both teams struggled with the conditions. While the judges noted that the quality of dishes was quite even between the two teams, it came down to how well teams treated the prime beef on offer. The Red team were judged to have done this the best, leaving the Blues to decide which three members were the worst performers. Christina, Totem and Rishi nominated themselves based on the judges comments and were sent into elimination.
S5.E23 ∙ Elimination Challenge 5
As the 3 worst performing members of the previous team challenge; Christina, Totem and Rishi faced a service challenge held at Greenhouse restaurant in Perth. Under the supervision of restaurant head chef Matt Stone, contestants had to prepare one of three pairs of dishes and cook them during the dinner service to 80 diners. Overall, the contestants struggled with the pressure of the challenge and limited preparation time, especially Christina and Totem, the latter having two serves of his Mussel dish sent back to the kitchen. In the end despite Rishi's Mushroom dish lacking seasoning and Christina's marron on her dish being under-cooked it was Totem's performance in the kitchen leading to unsatisfied diners that sent him home.
S5.E24 ∙ MasterClass 5
MasterChef Australia is an Australian competitive cooking game show based on the original British MasterChef. It is produced by Shine Australia and screens on Network 10. Restaurateur and chef Gary Mehigan, chef George Calombaris and food critic Matt Preston served as the show's main judges until 2019.
S5.E25 ∙ Heaven & Hell Mystery Box Challenge
The fourteen contestants faced a tough choice in this Mystery Box Challenge with a twist: the Heaven or the Hell Box. Contestants (working in pairs) choosing the Heaven Box would have 90 minutes to create a dish from 9 heavenly ingredients as chosen by the judges, while those choosing 'Hell' would have three hours (plus a recipe) to create one of the hardest dishes from past seasons. Four pairs chose 'Hell' and were faced with a Zumbo Macaroon Tower, featuring over a hundred macaroons flavoured with beetroot and olive. Liliana (who had made a Macaron Tower for her sons previous birthday) and Samira produced the dish of the day, and while Lynton's mistake of adding the wrong food coloring meant he and Neha only presented one type of macaroon for judging; they just avoided elimination for how perfect that one type were. In the end, it was two teams who chose 'Heaven' that found themselves in elimination: Daniel and Kelty who overcomplicated a dish that could have taken 15 minutes to prepare, and Lucy and Pip who made the decision to serve their premium wagyu beef with chunks of butter overpowering the simple flavours of the dish.
S5.E26 ∙ Elimination Challenge 6
Daniel, Kelty, Pip and Lucy faced a two-round Elimination Challenge set by chef Ian Curley. The first round saw them recreating the chef's dish of Steak Tartare with Pumpernickel Biscuit (with a recipe given for the biscuit only), with the best two dishes saving their contestants from the elimination round. Lucy's decision to add lemon juice early, and thus 'cooking' the raw beef for too long, and Pip's failure to plate up the biscuit paired with her overly minced meat dropped them into the bottom two. In the final round, Lucy and Pip had two hours to replicate Ian Curley's Fig Bombe Alaska. Despite Lucy and Pip having varying experience with desserts, they were both on schedule and executed the elements of the dessert well. The difference in dishes came down to the meringue, Pip's over-aerated topping sealing a close elimination.
S5.E27 ∙ Seven Deadly Sins Challenge
The remaining 13 contestants faced a seven-course service challenge based around the seven deadly sins. Cooking in two teams for 70 university students, they had to design and cook seven courses in two hours based around the same core ingredient signifying one of the sins (envy, lust, sloth, etc.). The Blue Team struggled under Neha's leadership with the strong personalities of Jules, Kelty and Noelene butting heads with her over the menu's direction. The Red Team, with one less member, thrived under Rishi's leadership but faced some struggles with preparation and limited kitchen supplies. Ultimately, the judges were impressed with standout dishes from each team leading to a close decision. The Red Team just made it over the line with a chilli dish that, while overly spicy, better embodied the feeling of wrath; Blue were again sent to elimination.
S5.E28 ∙ Last Supper Elimination Challenge
The losing contestants from the previous challenge were given two hours to produce a dish that personified their position: a Last Supper showcasing their skills and beliefs about food. With no limits of ingredients or creativity, contestants thrived and each successive dish wowed the judges. In the end, Lilliana's Four Layer Birthday Cake was singled out for, though well made and capturing the essence of the challenge, being not up to the same standard as the other contestants' dishes and she tearfully bid goodbye to the MasterChef kitchen.
S5.E29 ∙ MasterClass 6
MasterChef Australia is an Australian competitive cooking game show based on the original British MasterChef. It is produced by Shine Australia and screens on Network 10. Restaurateur and chef Gary Mehigan, chef George Calombaris and food critic Matt Preston served as the show's main judges until 2019.
S5.E30 ∙ Fast Food Mystery Box Challenge
In this Mystery Box Challenge, contestants were tasked with re-inventing three fast food favourites: fried chicken, souvlaki and burger-with-the-lot. Working in groups of three, they had only as much time as it took Matt Preston to go out and buy all three items. With each contestant making one of the three dishes, they had varying success with some overly ambitious while others playing it overly safe. The judges found fault with at least one dish in each team, and though Emma's burger lacked all the necessary elements and Daniel's souvlaki meat was poorly cooked, it was Jules' inedible Thai-style burger (with a poorly realised bun made of rice) and Samira's bland and under-thought souvlaki that left them plus teammate Rishi facing elimination.
S5.E31 ∙ Elimination Challenge 8
In an Elimination Challenge with a twist, Rishi, Jules and Samira faced the first ever ingredients auction. With three lots of ingredients (a protein, a dairy ingredient and a vegetable element) to 'purchase', they could bid with their cooking time in five-minute increments. With only 90 minutes of cooking time initially, they quickly bid away their time trying to win their preferred ingredients and ultimately, Rishi was left with 60 minutes, Samira 50 minutes and Jules only 30 minutes. Rishi with plenty of time and well-matched ingredients, wowed the judges with his rabbit dish. Samira and Jules both struggled with their oddly matched ingredients and limited time and both dishes came under scrutiny for their technical flaws. And while Samira served some very under-cooked lamb, it was Jules' bland and mismatched dish of Buttered Crawfish with Vinaigrette and Yoghurt that sealed her elimination from the competition.
S5.E32 ∙ Offsite Challenge 3
In a Car Rally Team Challenge, teams were tasked with creating the perfect Club Sandwich with Chips for 50 Alfa Romeo enthusiasts. With three hours on the clock they raced to three checkpoints and competed in mini challenges with the winner of each getting to pick from pairs of key ingredients. At the first challenge, the Blue Team were first to crush six bottles of grape juice and picked sourdough as their bread, leaving Red with multigrain. On the way to the second challenge the Red Team got repeatedly lost and Blue easily won the next two challenges (making the perfect omelette and milking a goat) choosing chicken and sebago potatoes (Red left with turkey and kipfler potatoes) and racing back to Red Hill Estate on the Mornington Peninsula with 90 minutes left to cook. The Red Team's poor navigation cost them valuable time with less than one hour left when they arrived, but they made up time fast in preparation and had their dish of Turkey Club with Roast Vegetable Crisps ready first. However, the Blue Team's Chicken Club with Roast Tomatoes won the day for its flavour punch and Red was sent into elimination.
S5.E33 ∙ Pressure Test 2
The losing members of the Red Team faced a Pressure Test set by Daniel Wilson of restaurant Huxtable. With two hours on the clock they had to recreate his signature dish of Maple Glazed Bacon Hot Dog, with Comte and Dijon Sauce, Tomato and Quince Relish and Mustard Pickles in a Pork Brioche Bun. What looked like a simple dish at first had many contestants confounded at its actual difficulty, which included making brioche and sausages from scratch. The pressure of time and delicate nature of bringing together all the components got to most contestants, but Rishi again showed the judges his skill with the dish of the day. In the end, it came down to Samira (whose religious beliefs meant she couldn't taste most of her dish's elements) and Kelty (whilst his dish had many technical flaws, he had perfectly made the brioche). Kelty was saved and Samira eliminated.
S5.E34 ∙ MasterClass 7 - Cookalong with Curtis Stone
MasterChef Australia is an Australian competitive cooking game show based on the original British MasterChef. It is produced by Shine Australia and screens on Network 10. Restaurateur and chef Gary Mehigan, chef George Calombaris and food critic Matt Preston served as the show's main judges until 2019.
S5.E35 ∙ Second Chance Challenge 1
With the Top 10 safe from elimination for the week and an immunity pin up for grabs, the contestants first competed in a skills test: crushing a Chinese five-spice mix in a mortar and pestle. Christina was the slowest to finish and lost her chance at immunity for the week. In the second round, nine of the twelve eliminated contestants returned to cook for their place back in the competition. Paired up randomly (Rishi and Samira, Kelty and Jules, Lynton and Lilliana, Daniel and Pip, Emma and Faiza, Vern and Nicky, Neha and Xavier, Lucy and Michael, Noelene and Dan), their challenge was to take a pair of ingredients (a protein and a classically Chinese accompaniment) and create a Chinese dish in 60 minutes. The worst two dishes would lose their makers a shot at immunity (for the Top 10) or a spot back in the competition. Vern, Nicky, Neha, Xavier, Noelene and Dan were praised for their excellent cooking and teamwork, while Rishi, Samira, Emma, Faiza, Lucy and Michael found themselves in the bottom three. Ultimately, Rishi and Samira were declared safe, eliminating Faiza and Michael from the competition a second time.
S5.E36 ∙ Second Chance Challenge 2
The remaining seven teams of two competed in a test of planning, synchronicity and communication: without seeing or tasting each other's food they had to produce exactly the same dish. Dishes were judged on their similarities in taste and presentation, with the least identical losing their makers the chance at immunity or a place back in the competition. Being unable to work collaboratively with their partner caused some key missteps in a number of teams, with the smallest difference in preparation (such as the type of blender used) leading to big differences in final product. Ultimately, Pip and Daniel paid the price for not using their planning time efficiently (after disagreeing on their dish's initial direction) and although the judges declared Pip's dish one of the best, Daniel's proved too dissimilar and they fell out of the running for the week's reward.
S5.E37 ∙ Second Chance Challenge 3
The twelve remaining contestants faced a three-hour Pressure Test set by owner of Gelato Messina, Nick Palumbo: a Black Forest Gelato Cake known as The Dome. With pairs working together in teams of four, each member had 45 minutes (plus changeover time to pass on information) to prepare the various precise elements while working in a cold store at -2 degrees Celsius. The Blue Team, headed by Neha (with Nicky, Vern and Xavier) fell behind early but recovered brilliantly to almost perfectly replicate the dish, wowing the judges. Both the Red (Noelene, Dan, Kelty and Jules) and Yellow Teams (Rishi, Samira, Lynton and Lilliana) struggled with their Spiced Chocolate Gelato layer, ensuring it set correctly. But in the end it came down to taste and because Red's Kirsch Semifreddo had separated and their overall taste wasn't as good as Yellow's, Noelene, Dan, Kelty and Jules dropped out on the running for the week's prize.
S5.E38 ∙ Second Chance Challenge 4
The final challenge of Second Chance Week saw the remaining four teams (Lynton and Lilliana, Neha and Xavier, Rishi and Samira, and Vern and Nicky) compete in an Invention Test with butter as the core ingredient. With 90 minutes on the clock, each pair had to produce one sweet and one savoury dish, the winners receiving either a ticket back into the competition or (for the current contestant) an immunity pin. With so much on the line, teams scrambled to develop dishes which championed butter as an ingredient. Lynton and Nicky struggled to produce the sweet dishes for their teams, and despite Lilliana's dish winning dish of the day and rave reviews from all three judges, Lynton's was judged as the worst and they, as well as Nicky and Vern were declared out of the running. It came down to Neha (whose Poached Quince Flourless Chocolate Tart was praised) and Xavier (who was criticised for playing it safe with a simple steak dish), and Rishi and Samira, and it was the latter team whose dishes, though slightly flawed, were the more inventive, thus giving them the win. Samira won herself a place back in the competition while Rishi won immunity.
S5.E39 ∙ MasterClass 8
MasterChef Australia is an Australian competitive cooking game show based on the original British MasterChef. It is produced by Shine Australia and screens on Network 10. Restaurateur and chef Gary Mehigan, chef George Calombaris and food critic Matt Preston served as the show's main judges until 2019.
S5.E40 ∙ Love Mystery Box Challenge
The remaining eleven contestants faced an empty Mystery Box and were tasked with filling it with ingredients they loved, plus one 'hard to love' ingredient. In a further twist, they had to swap boxes with another contestant of their choice (although Rishi was luckily left with his own ingredients), forcing some hasty re-evaluations. This curve ball rattled some contestants, including Vern whose dessert Mystery Box put him out of his comfort zone and landed him in the bottom three. Joining him were Neha (whose Pavlova contained too much cornflour) and Rishi, who despite having the advantage produced a mediocre overcooked pasta dish.
S5.E41 ∙ Pressure Test 3
With Rishi choosing to play his immunity pin (only days after he won it), Noelene (as the fourth worst performer from the previous challenge) joined Neha and Vern in a Pressure Test set by Kirsten Tibbles: the Lourous Cake. With an extremely technical, five-page recipe it was crucial to get each stage right. While a misstep with dessert landed him in elimination, Vern impressed with a near flawless dish. And while both Noelene and Neha had some problems in preparation they recovered well to also impress the judges and Tibbles. But it was an unfortunate piece of baking paper left in her cake that was enough to seal Neha's elimination.
S5.E42 ∙ Date Night Team Challenge
The Top 10 contestants faced a team challenge: to cook a main and a dessert for 50 couples on a first date. Complicating matters, each contestant randomly chose an mystery ingredient that had to feature in their dishes, five desirable (such as red wine and figs) and five not usually associated with date night food (such as garlic and sardines). Lucy's Blue Team luckily ended up with four of the five desirable ingredients, leaving Kelty's Red Team to get creative with their less typical date food. While the Blues faced some missteps in prep time (a mistake in ordering their protein set them back significantly), Red had disharmony as team members disagreed with the direction of their dishes. In the end, both teams impressed with their mains and faced disappointment with melted ice cream desserts, but it was Red's shared Meze Platter which showed impressive technique and fit the challenge brief that won them the challenge, sending the entire Blue Team into elimination.
S5.E43 ∙ Elimination Challenge 9
After losing in the previous challenge, Lucy, Daniel, Christina, Lynton and Vern faced a breakfast service challenge in Gary Mehigan's restaurant the Maribyrnong Boathouse. Each contestant had to design a modern breakfast dish with 90 minutes of prep time before one hour of service. With this being the first service challenge for most of them (plus Lynton's first elimination challenge), the time constraints and pressure of a commercial kitchen was a steep learning curve. Lynton had to think on his feet as his dish was re-imagined twice during prep, but he recovered well to have one of the most impressive dishes (Daniel's Sweet Potato Croquettes getting dish of the day), and Lucy's muesli, while simple, was praised for being a cleverly chosen, delicious dish. Both Christina and Vern had dishes sent back (Christina both over- and under-cooked her baked eggs, while Vern's smoked trout pizza contained some bones), and found themselves in the bottom two, with Vern the one to leave in a close result.
S5.E44 ∙ MasterClass 9
MasterChef Australia is an Australian competitive cooking game show based on the original British MasterChef. It is produced by Shine Australia and screens on Network 10. Restaurateur and chef Gary Mehigan, chef George Calombaris and food critic Matt Preston served as the show's main judges until 2019.
S5.E45 ∙ Pressure Test 4
In this episode the contestants were split into three teams - red (Samira, Kelty, Lynton), blue (Lucy, Emma and Noelene) and Yellow (Rishi, Christina and Daniel). The teams were asked to re-create Heston's classic Royal truffle. Noelene and Emma struggled in the blue team.Blue team's base was too runny so it came down to the red and yellow teams. Kelty misread the recipe and didn't add enough gelatine to the jellies.Finally yellow team won the challenge as all their components were perfect.The winning team gets a shot at immunity.
S5.E46 ∙ Immunity Challenge 3
The winning team from last night's pressure test gets a shot at immunity. Each contestant gets 90 minutes to cook a starter (Daniel), main course (Christina) and dessert (Rishi). Heston gets 90 minutes to cook all the three courses. It was a blind tasting. Daniel had the entree and eggs, Christina had main and wine, and Rishi had dessert and milk.Daniel and Christina's course were on par with Heston's and it came to very tiny details. Rishi's dessert was a disaster. Heston's dish was declared a winner in all three courses, so none of the contestants won the immunity pin. However, it was Daniel who was adjudged the best among the three contestants, so he gets to skip the next challenge and goes directly to the top 8.
S5.E47 ∙ Offsite Challenge 4
The contestants were split into two teams- Blue (Rishi, Kelty, Samira and Noelene) and Red (Lynton, Lucy, Emma and Christina). The challenge was to prepare a Medieval feast, which included a range of poultry and game birds along with Heston's garden (herb garden with some garnishes). Team blue captured the essence of medieval theme when compared to the red team and all their dishes were cooked to perfection; however blue team lost the challenge as their turkey was raw and the judges couldn't taste it. Red team won the challenge and blue team was put into elimination.
S5.E48 ∙ Elimination Challenge 10
The Elimination Challenge required contestants to 'Hestonise' a dish of their choice with innovation in technique and use of ingredients. Drawing on their experiences during the week, all four managed to exceed expectations with their dishes. Rishi plated sweet Indian-Chinese dumplings with a soy sauce caramel and dry ice tea; Kelty offered up a deconstructed hot toddy with liquid nitrogen frozen ice-cream at the table; Samira changed her initial idea of a volcano to serve Znoud al-Sett (sweet Middle-Eastern rolls) with the flavours echoed in a rose and orange blossom scented dry ice sheesha prelude. Noelene, who served curried fish heads with clumsily frozen curry 'jellies', was eliminated. It was announced to the contestants that the following week, they would travel to Dubai for an international food experience, with Christina and Daniel earning business class tickets as a reward for their performances in Heston week.
S5.E49 ∙ Heston: Masterclass
MasterChef Australia is an Australian competitive cooking game show based on the original British MasterChef. It is produced by Shine Australia and screens on Network 10. Restaurateur and chef Gary Mehigan, chef George Calombaris and food critic Matt Preston served as the show's main judges until 2019.
S5.E50 ∙ Dubai Team Challenge
On Day 1 of World Food Week, the top 8 contestants paired off to cook local for 36 Emirati VIP guests in the Dubai desert with Michelin-starred Greg Malouf mentoring and judging their platters. The teams were assigned proteins with their pick of team colour: Rishi and Christina (Yellow) received fish, Lynton and Lucy (Green) camel, Kelty and Samira (Red) lamb, and Daniel and Emma (Blue), chicken. In a budget of 600 dirham, the teams sourced their ingredients from the local market and then travelled by camel to the cooksite at Al-Waha. All pairs overcame problems faced in the cooking process (unfamiliar ovens, mistaken and 'misplaced' ingredients) to plate up and impress the guests and judges, but Blue's chicken platter was declared the standout leader for its innovative and 'perfect' selection of dishes, including chicken cooked two ways, a pilaf, an array of dips, and rose-and-halva accented watermelon. With the remaining three pairs facing elimination, Daniel and Emma won themselves first-class tickets to Paris for a culinary walking tour with Matt Preston.
S6.E1 ∙ Auditions Part 1
Contestants started Series 6 with a challenge to cook their signature dish in one hours, vying for automatic entry into the Top 24. Originally there will be twelve contestants who passed the auditions but Matt announced to the other remaining contestants that they still have a chance to present their dishes where two contestants (to a total of fourteen) joined the Top 24. Eighteen contestants, who were given a second chance, will cook again in the next episode.
S6.E2 ∙ Auditions Part 2
The eighteen second chance contestants compete in a two-round challenge for ten remaining spots in the Top 24. The first round was an Invention Test where contestants have 75 minutes to cook a dish from a choice of three core skills (filleting, butchering and baking). Jamie, Brendan, Scott, Brent, Kira, Renae and Nick delivered the best dishes, received an apron each and joined the Top 24. The five other contestants (whose dishes had technical issues that failed to impress the judges) will not compete in the second round and were eliminated. The six remaining contestants faced a Pressure Test to claim the last remaining spots in the Top 24. They have two hours to recreate George Calombaris' dessert "Lemon, Lime and Bitters". Steven's version of the dish highly impressed the judges during tasting, winning him an apron. Afterwards, the last two aprons were given to Sarah and Byron.
S6.E3 ∙ Top 24 Mystery Box Challenge and Invention Test
The Top 24 got their first challenge, the five winners from previous seasons each chose their personal core ingredients for the Mystery Box: Julie Goodwin chose lemons, guava was selected by Adam Liaw, Kate Bracks pick white chocolate, hazelnuts were chosen by Andy Allen and Emma Dean chose rhubarb; with one hour for the contestants to cook their dishes. Georgia, Ben, Sarah, Tash and Nick were each chosen by the previous winners as the Top 5. It was Nick's salted hazelnut crumb, lemon curd and white chocolate mousse that won him the advantage for the Invention Test. The theme for this next challenge was to cook a dish from the past (over present and future) chosen by Nick with 90 minutes to cook. The top three dishes cooked by their makers will be saved from tomorrow's first elimination challenge. In the end, the judges save Laura, Sean and Jamie from elimination as the Top 3.
S6.E4 ∙ Chinese Cuisine Elimination Challenge
The remaining contestants faced a three-round elimination challenge set by in-house mentor Kylie Kwong based on Chinese cuisine. The first round was to cook fried rice with different ingredients in the pantry that are not used in Chinese cooking in 30 minutes with the top twelve contestants will be safe from the next round. For the second round, each of the remaining contestants must name a Chinese ingredient. The first three people who guessed the ingredient incorrectly will compete in the final round. Deepali, Rachael and Brendan have 60 minutes to cook their Chinese dishes. They were able to use the ingredients that were guessed correctly in the second round. Rachael's Szechuan Pepper and Coriander Crab with Chinese Broccoli was praised by the judges. Deepali served only three dumplings with less filling that had technical issues, despite praising the judges with its taste. Brendan, who had inexperience with Chinese cuisine, produced a dish with under-cooked pork loin that missed the mark on the theme of the challenge which left the judges' decision to eliminate him.
S6.E5 ∙ Mystery Box Challenge and Breakfast Invention Test
Contestants have 30 minutes to cook a dish with the use of the following ingredients from the Mystery box: chicken, licorice, pineapple, pistachios, cinnamon, beetroot, yogurt and thyme. Top three dishes were named and Kira won the challenge. She choose eggs from a choice of breakfast ingredients for the contestants (except Scott) to cook a breakfast dish in 60 minutes. The winner will grant an advantage for their first team challenge. Kira was among the top three contestants but it was Sarah's scotch quail eggs that won the advantage. Deepali, Nick and Jamie were sent to elimination after their dishes have serious issues. Because of his decision to sit out of the second challenge, Scott will also be sent to the Pressure test as followed by the rules of the competition.
S6.E6 ∙ Pressure Test: Shannon Bennett's Fillet of Beef
Shannon Bennett presents his Filet De Boeuf Et Pommes Souffle Au Jus Gras for Deepali, Nick, Jamie and Scott to recreate in one and a half hours. This pressure test struggled all of the contestants: Scott made mistakes during the challenge but his steak and pommes soufflées impressed the judges apart from the jus gras. Nick's steak was very rare and it wasn't cut correctly, after he repeatedly burnt himself in his cooking time. Deepali's steak was unevenly cooked and her pommes didn't rise. Jamie's pommes lack salt and his jus gras is too thick. In the end, the fact that her Indian religion forbids Deepali to either taste or cook a steak is proven to be her disadvantage, and that is enough to seal her elimination.
S6.E7 ∙ Restaurant Takeover Team Challenge
At St Kilda Beach in Melbourne, the 22 contestants face their first team challenge with four hours of prep time and service to customers at two restaurants: Captain Baxter (from upstairs) and Republica (in downstairs) both headed by executive chef, Matt Dawson. Two teams will get identical pantries to create their own menus and select pricing. The team that earns the most money, wins. After winning the Invention Test, Sarah earned the advantage of choosing her own team and a restaurant of choice as a team captain. She chose Nick, Kira, Sam, Jamie, Sean, Colin, Georgia, Emelia, Renae and Ben to cook dishes for Republica as the Red Team while Tracy volunteered as captain of the Blue Team to the remaining cooks in Captain Baxter. After both teams struggled, both of them produced the best dishes but Tracy's strategy of pricing failed to attract other customers handing the win to Sarah's Red Team with $2477 to the Blue's $1952 that sent them to elimination.
S6.E8 ∙ Two Dishes from One Snapper Elimination Challenge/Masterchef Australia: Class of 2014
Two Dishes from One Snapper Elimination Challenge - Members of the losing team faced a two-round elimination challenge to cook a dish with the use of one snapper in 30 minutes. Tash, Emily, Laura, Rachael and Amy have the top dishes, however the other remaining home cooks were also declared safe after Nicole took a crucial risk of using a whole snapper for the first round, despite the judges' pleading. Unfortunately, that risk didn't pay off as her dish lack crispness in the fish due to the overuse of the hot oil dressing and without any of the remaining protein to cook for the second round, Nicole was automatically eliminated from the competition. Masterchef Australia: Class of 2014 - This episode featured behind the scenes of the show and on-set interviews from this year's Top 24 contestants.
S6.E9 ∙ Maggie Beer's Mystery Box Challenge and Spanish Invention Test
Maggie Beer's choice of ingredients in the Mystery box contains octopus, dark chocolate, pears, parsley, bay leaves, capers, Japanese plums, vinno cotto and Maggie's signature ver jus. After 60 minutes was given for the contestants to cook their dishes, Kira, Sarah, Emily, Scott and Rachael have the standout dishes. It was Scott's chocolate ganache tart that won the challenge. The Invention Test was set by chef Frank Camorra of MoVida and from a choice of Spanish ingredients (chorizo, rabbit and citruses), Scott chose chorizo. With all the contestants chose to pair the key ingredient with squid for their dishes, it was Laura, Tracy and Amy that won over to the judges with a chance to cook for immunity. Jamie was criticised by the judges on his dish and for the use of the nightshade flowers, but it was Sean, Nick and Sarah who were sent to elimination for serving their dishes with under-cooked squid.
S6.E10 ∙ Pressure Test: Alla Wolf-Tasker's Rivers and Lakes
Sean, Nick and Sarah have two hours to recreate Lake House executive chef Alla Wolf-Tasker's dish "Rivers and Lakes". Sean's curing of both fishes praised in judging but his consommé was cloudy and lacked depth of flavour while Sarah's elements of her dish impressed the judges but her watercress puree was overly acidic and lacked vibrance. However, those errors in their singular elements outweigh Nick's poor plating and missing elements along with his soggy crispy skin and deplorable watercress puree that saw him eliminated.
S6.E11 ∙ Immunity Challenge: Ollie Gould
Laura, Tracy and Amy compete in the first round of immunity. They faced a Small Mystery Box Challenge containing tiny ingredients (quail, quail eggs, melba toast, honey, candied beetroot, chili and finger lime) using small cooking equipment and required staples (without using anything from the garden) to cook their amuse-bouches in 20 minutes. Despite the critique on the presentation of her dish, Tracy won the challenge with her quail ballontine to cook against Ollie Gould of Stokehouse in Melbourne. The chef decided to cook a dish with fruit in one hour and Tracy have one hour and fifteen minutes to cook her dish from the chosen key ingredient. Tracy's pastry for her Lemon and Lime Curd Tart with Candied Orange Peel and Italian Meringue praise the judges but the meringue was over-whipped and the curd was runny, given a score of 20. Ollie's Seared Pork Loin and Summer Fruits with Pickled Beetroot and Prosciutto have notable flaws but his perfectly cooked pork scored 24 to win.
S6.E12 ∙ Three-Course Team Challenge from Memory: Cutler & Co. and Ezard
The contestants were split randomly into two teams and had to cook a three-course meal for 30 guests from two restaurants in Melbourne: Cutler and Co. and Ezard. The Blue Team, led by Sarah and her vice-captain Tash, were assigned to cook dishes from Ezard while The Red Team, led by Jamie and his vice-captain Emelia, were assigned to Cutler and Co. The captain and vice captain went to the restaurants and had to memorise the directions of the recipes from the chef of each restaurant (Teage Ezard and Andrew McConnell of Cutler and Co). They then returned to the MasterChef kitchen to relay to their other team members instructions to be able to replicate the dishes in 90 minutes. During service, the Red Team's watercress puree for the entrée was bitter while the Blue Team's plum broth for the main course had an odd taste. In the dessert, both teams have technical issues with their dishes - the Red Team had issues of demoulding their panna cottas, missing out the caramel topping and there's error in their syrup while the Blue Team's honey jelly didn't set and their sorbets were melting but their cheesecake and crumb were well received in judging as the Blue Team wins while the Red Team were sent to elimination.
S6.E13 ∙ Episode #6.13
Sudden Death Elimination Challenge: Fast Food - Ten contestants from the losing team competed in a three-round elimination challenge with Fast Food as the theme of this challenge. Each contestant chose ten different ingredients for each round with different time limits. Tracy, Emelia, Sam and Ben had the top dishes and were safe in the first round after 30 minutes. Jamie, Georgia and Brent were next to be declared safe in the 20-minute second round while Sean, Emily and Steven cook in the 10-minute third round. Steven, despite the issues of filleting his fish, delivered the best dish while the judges critique Sean's inconsistent cooking of the liver but Emily's banana fritters had technical issues after she mistakenly fried the plantain - the stiffened texture and loss of sweetness in the dish seal her elimination. MasterClass: Maggie Beer, Alla Wolf-Tasker, Gary Mehigan, George Calombaris, Kylie Kwong and Matt Preston - The nineteen remaining contestants were presented by the judges, Kylie, Maggie and Alla with their recipes in their first MasterClass: Maggie's Octopus with Squid Ink Pasta, Alla's Red Wine Pears, Gary's Ocean Trout on Rosti, George's Walnut with Blue Cheese Mousse, Kylie's Blue Swimmer Crab with Stir Fried Greens and Matt's Chicken Italienne.
S6.E14 ∙ Press Club Mystery Box Challenge and Invention Test: Proteins or Vegetables
George sets up the Mystery Box Challenge for the nineteen remaining contestants to cook a dish with leftovers from his restaurant the Press Club. Emelia, Kira, Renae, Sarah and Colin were chosen as the top five with Emelia's avgolemono dish that won the advantage. She chose to remove the proteins (including gelatine) from the pantry to cook the inventive dishes. This invention test was a struggle for some of the contestants but it was Tash, Brent and Sarah who delivered the top three dishes while the judges slam Jamie, Steven and Scott's dishes, sending them to the Pressure test.
S6.E15 ∙ Pressure Test: Christy Tania's Mango Alfonso
Adelphi Hotel's Om Nom Dessert Bar pastry chef Christy Tania from Melbourne presented one of the signature desserts from the restaurant, Mango Alfonso composed with 10 elements for the bottom three contestants to replicate the dessert. Steven earned praises with his elements of the dessert. He was safe as Scott (who missed out the other elements of the dish and his choux pastries were overmoist) and Jamie (who overuse the shiso cremeaux in his pastries and his mango and shiso sphere toppled on the dish) meant they're the bottom two. The main focus of this challenge was the choux pastries (one of the key elements in the dish) and with his second take of pastries failed to thrive in judging, Scott was eliminated.
S6.E16 ∙ Immunity Challenge: Benjamin Cooper
Brent, Tash and Sarah compete in the first round of immunity. They had to cook a dish with their choice of one of the five different chillies with different cooking time limits. Sarah and Brent both lacked spice in their dishes as Tash won the challenge with her Pineapple and Chilli Sorbet with Macerated Fruit to cook against Benjamin Cooper of Chinchin in Melbourne. He decided to cook with spices for the second challenge. Tash's Twice Cooked Spice Chicken praise the judges for the complexity of flavours and her other elements of the dish. Benjamin's Brazilian Seafood Stew was also praised for its complexity and despite the criticisms on leaving the bones as well as the requirement of rice in the dish, he beats Tash with 28 points to 24.
S6.E17 ∙ Four-Course Dessert Degustation Challenge
Darren Purchese mentored two teams of contestants to cook a garden-themed four-course dessert with the use of savoury ingredients: carrot, thyme, ginger and blue cheese in each course. Emelia and Georgia, both thrive in desserts, elect themselves as captains, and instruct their teams to design their desserts in each course. Each team have their assigned different garden theme: Georgia's Red Team were assigned for "Sunday in the garden" desserts while Emelia's Blue Team create "Footprints in the garden" desserts. The first course was to create an edible dessert centerpiece with the use of carrots. For the second course, teams prepared their desserts with thyme as the key ingredient. The third course was to cook a dessert with ginger and the use of liquid nitrogen. In the final course, they prepared a hot blue cheese dessert. While both teams were praised each for their two courses, the combination of the Red Team's inconsistent presentation in their centerpiece and overuse of the salt in their thyme biscuits sent them to elimination as the Blue Team wins the challenge.
S6.E18 ∙ Blind Taste Test Elimination Challenge
Georgia, Sam, Rachael, Brent, Colin, Tash, Sean, Amy and Kira have 3 minutes to identify and write down 23 ingredients of an unknown dish, revealed to be Louisiana Gumbo, while blind-folded. The contestants who guess all the ingredients correctly will not cook in the second round. Contestants who have correct guesses will receive their ingredients to create their dishes in 45 minutes. Both Rachael and Colin delivered their standout dishes while Sean, Brent and Kira were the bottom three. Brent served his char-grilled prawns too hot but his excellent performance in the kitchen was enough to be declared safe. Kira's kransky sauce failed to impress the judges despite burning her hand during the challenge. Ultimately, it was Sean who had a lot more mistakes during the cook than Kira as his overcooked prawns and under-cooked bland flatbread sealed his elimination.
S6.E19 ∙ Perilous Mystery Box Challenge and Invention Test
Contestants have 30 minutes to cook a dish with the option of choosing between the ingredients from the Mystery box (tofu, paw paw, zucchini flowers, Vegemite, choko, cardamom and pheasant) and the given ingredients from the cutting board in their benches (potato, pumpkin, lamb, brussels sprouts). Georgia, Amy, Jamie and Sarah were among the top five dishes using the Mystery Box ingredients but it was Emelia's use of the "safe board" ingredients that won her the second time for the advantage of the Invention Test with the option of choosing the core ingredient, cooking time and cuisine of her choice. She chose a Thai prawn dish with 45 minutes to cook. However, Steven was feeling unwell and opted to sit out of the second challenge therefore, he will be sent to the Pressure Test. It was Brent, Rachael and Renae who delivered the creativity with their Thai prawn dishes. On the other hand, Ben, Byron and Sarah delivered technical errors and were sent to elimination.
S6.E20 ∙ Saint Crispin Pressure Test: Sweet and Savoury
Byron, Ben, Steven and Sarah compete in a two-hour challenge set by Saint Crispin chefs Joe Grbac and Scott Picket. They give the option to the contestants to pick one of the two dishes of their choice: sweet and savoury. Byron, Ben and Sarah chose to cook Scott's venison dish (savoury) while Steven picked Joe's rice pudding (sweet). All contestants struggled in this challenge, each have critical flaws on their dishes however Ben (who had all the elements of the dish over his burnt crépinette) and Sarah (who received praise from the judges apart from her missing figs and a small strip of cling wrap left in her dish) were first to be declared safe despite their under-cooked venison. Byron was condemned for his panicked plating besides his missing figs while Steven, despite being motivated with his choice of dish, flustered and delivered his dessert with poorly executed elements. Ultimately, Byron's cooking of the venison saved him in the competition and Steven was eliminated.
S6.E21 ∙ Immunity Challenge: Matt Stone
Rachael, Brent and Renae compete in the first round, taking turns of naming different cheeses. Renae and Brent failed to answer their next guesses, and Rachael won the chance to cook for immunity against chef Matt Stone from Greenhouse in Perth. He chose cheese (over ham) as the core ingredient. In one hour, he cooked a Carrot and Manchego salad while Rachael cooked a Lobster Mornay and Cheese Soufflé with Grilled Mango. Matt's salad was praised for the quality of the dish and highlighting the core ingredient, but lacked balance to taste. While Rachael's dish earned praises with her lobster and grilled mango, the conflicting flavours to her cheese soufflé on her dish meant she lost with the lowest score of 15 to Matt's 23.
S6.E22 ∙ Queen Victoria Market Team Challenge
Four teams compete at the Queen Victoria Market in a team challenge: to cook a dish with the budget of $700 for ingredients with the team who make the most money wins. By the time they bought their ingredients, The Red Team attempted to debate between two options for their dish to sell. The Green Team spent all their money to buy ingredients for their dish without a captain in charge. During preparation time, tensions between two members of the Red Team (Rachael and Tash) on a task of cooking the elements of their dish. In service, the teams (except Yellow) began losing customers due to the poor service in preparing their dishes. Both the Green Team (now led by Amy) and the Yellow Team (with Sam as captain) spent their budget for ingredients. Therefore, the popularity of their dishes earned the highest money with the Yellow team winning with $3884.35 to Green's $2328.14. The strategy of saving money on ingredients to allocate to profits didn't work out for the Blue and Red Teams, earning the lowest money each. In the end, the profit of $1600 mark the Red Team captain Brent's fifth time to face elimination with his team members.
S6.E23 ∙ Elimination Challenge: Time Auction/MasterClass: Gary Mehigan, George Calombaris, Darren Purchese and Matt Preston
Elimination Challenge: Time Auction - Rachael, Ben, Brent and Tash faced off in an auction challenge. Each contestant got 100 minutes of time and had to bid for proteins, produce and condiments in 5 minutes. Tash had 30 minutes to cook with mackerel, Asian vegetables and sauces, Rachael was left with 50 minutes to cook with pork belly, forage vegetables and pantry staples, Brent had 50 minutes for rib-eye steak, root vegetables and spices, and Ben got 55 minutes to cook with pigeon, nightshades and dairy. Eventually, the verdict came down to the contestants who excelled throughout the challenge with their dishes and unlike Rachael, she struggled during her cooking time and produced a dish that lacked quality. It was enough for the judges' decision to eliminate her from the competition. MasterClass: Gary Mehigan, George Calombaris, Darren Purchese and Matt Preston - Darren Purchese and the judges presented their dishes in this special Dessert MasterClass: Gary's Pistachio Sponge with White Chocolate Mousse and Yuzu Curd, George's Risogalo Jar, Darren's Apple Tarte Tartin and Matt's three dessert recipes (Flourless Nutella Cake, Simple Peanut Cookies and Instant Ice Cream).
S6.E24 ∙ Episode #6.24
The three finalists must cook at Europe's finest restaurants before preparing a final three-course meal for judges John and Gregg.
S6.E25 ∙ Nobu Pressure Test
Byron, Laura and Sam compete in a two-hour challenge set by famed celebrity chef and world entrepreneur, Nobu Matsuhisa to recreate four plates of sushi: six nigiri and six vegetable rolls without a recipe needed, serving to each judge and Nobu. All three struggled throughout the challenge, but Laura's performance in the kitchen impress Nobu and was declared safe with the quality of her dish despite missing out one of the elements while both Byron and Sam were criticised for their inconsistent presentation of their plates. A single snapper bone that was found in one of Sam's dishes resulted in her elimination.
S6.E26 ∙ Immunity Challenge: Jock Zonfrillo
Georgia, Colin and Amy compete in the first round of immunity, using a randomly selected kitchen gadget of their choice: a blowtorch, a smoking gun and a foam gun to cook their dishes in 45 minutes. Both Colin and Georgia's use of the foam gun and the blowtorch respectively had issues with their dishes, and Amy's use of the smoking gun in her puree won the challenge to cook against guest chef Jock Zonfrillo of Orana. Amy was given a choice to either pick between one of the two pantries with 15 minutes less to cook her dish or let the chef pick his choice with the regular cooking time limits. She gave the pick to Jock who chose the 'pauper' ingredients containing native Australian ingredients over the 'prince' ingredients containing expensive ingredients. He cooked a Roast Beef and Pumpkin with Native Succulents while Amy prepares her Pan-fried Leather Jacket with Potato Puree and Apple Sauce. Jock's dish impress the judges for its presentation and taste despite the beef being too raw. While Amy was praised for the quality and depth of flavour to her dish, she lost to Jock with the score of 24 points to the professional's 27.
S6.E27 ∙ Diamond Jubilee Wedding Anniversary Team Challenge
Two teams had to cater two dishes (entrée and main) and prep a two-tiered wedding cake to 80 guests to celebrate Margaret and Eddie's 60th Wedding Anniversary at the Ascot House in Victoria. Within three hours of planning and preparation of their dishes, Blue Team member Brent wasn't feeling well and decided to withdrew the entire challenge while the Red Team struggle for improvements in their entrée. Both teams struggled to prep their main courses and their cakes. While the judges noted the Red Team's main course being less over cooked and their presentation of their cake, it was the Blue Team's lack of execution in their main and under baked cake that left them to elimination.
S6.E28 ∙ Elimination Challenge: Classic Dishes
The contestants faced a two-round Elimination Challenge. The first round was to name a classic dish correctly where they will write their answers on cards. Colin, Tracy and Sarah failed to guess their correct answers and were sent to second round. They receive their ingredients from the dishes that were correctly identified to cook their dishes in 60 minutes. Tracy's Chicken Ballotine earned positive reviews while the judges criticized Colin's Chicken Pithivier however, they couldn't taste Sarah's Chicken Roulade due to the protein being raw. Though she had been motivated throughout the competition and in team challenges, Sarah was eliminated despite being a top favourite to win the competition.
S6.E29 ∙ Marco's Mystery Box Challenge and Italian Cuisine Invention Test
Dubbed as the first celebrity chef, Marco Pierre White served as the guest chef for the week. He presented his ingredients (white port, lobster, ginger, coriander, vine tomatoes, olive oil, carrots, cucumber and mixed spices) in a Mystery Box for the contestants to cook their dishes in 75 minutes. With Emelia, Kira, Brent, Amy and Laura named the top five, Marco picked Tracy's dish as the sixth participant for tasting. He and the judges then picked Laura as the winner of this challenge after Marco was impressed in her recipe profile. The Invention Test was to cook Italian dishes with only five ingredients from the pantry in one hour and from a choice of Italian ingredients (porcini mushrooms, prosciutto and bottarga), Laura choose the mushrooms. She then won the second challenge along with Tracy and Ben for a chance to compete for immunity while Amy, Byron and Tash's dishes had technical errors that sent them to elimination.
S6.E30 ∙ White Heat Pressure Test: Roasted Pigeon with Ravioli of Wild Mushrooms
Amy, Byron and Tash had two and a half hours to recreate one of Marco's famous dishes from his best-selling cook book, White Heat. Amy was first to be declared safe after delivering the similarity to the dish. Tash's plate had two underwhelming elements and she missed out the turnips while Byron, despite having the best presentation of the dish, ran out of time to serve enough sauce. Unfortunately, the lack of sauce derailed the harmony of the elements and failed to match the quality of Marco's dish which was enough for Byron to be eliminated.
S6.E31 ∙ Immunity Challenge: Donovan Cooke
Marco demonstrates his knife skills to Laura, Tracy and Ben on how to dice an onion perfectly which they had to do the same in order to advance in the second round for immunity. It was Laura's time and precision of finely dicing her onion that won her the chance to cook against Michelin star chef Donovan Cooke of The Atlantic Restaurant in Melbourne. Laura takes the pick and from the core ingredients of the surf 'n' turf dish, choose fish (over red meat) with the same cooking time limit for her and the chef to cook their dishes. She cooked Pan Fried Snapper with Anchovy, Tomato and Caper Vinaigrette with Fennel, Orange Salad while Donovan cooked his Pan Fried Barramundi with Seafood Broth and Summer Vegetables. Despite Laura overcooking her fish apart from receiving praise for the balance of flavour, Donovan ran out of time to plate up and served his dish five seconds late. As a result, the judges couldn't taste his dish and Laura automatically wins the Immunity Pin with 26 points out of 30.
S6.E32 ∙ Taxi Kitchen Team Challenge
Two teams were instructed by Marco and the judges to compete in a British-themed challenge. They had to prep two entrées, two mains and a dessert for 60 diners each before service in the Taxi Kitchen restaurant at Federation Square in Melbourne. By two hours and forty-five minutes, the Blue Team are still deciding their menu and struggled to prep their main. During service time, the Blue Team served their main dish with raw lamb. Despite receiving praise for their dessert, it wasn't enough to overcome their bland scallop entrée and overcooked lamb dish against the overall praise of the Red Team's dishes that lead the Blue Team to elimination.
S6.E33 ∙ Knife Block Elimination Challenge/MasterClass: Marco Pierre White, Gary Mehigan and George Calombaris
To escape elimination, Laura decided to use her immunity pin. A contestant had to pull out one of the knives from the block with a name of the dish. They have 60 minutes to cook their assigned dish, risotto. Kira's risk of producing a Quinoa Risotto and Tomato Salad delivered the dish of the day as she was declared safe along with Colin and Emelia. The bottom two is between Tash and Brent. His risotto was under-seasoned but while her risotto had the smooth consistency, Tash overpowered the acidity of the dish by pouring too much wine in the rice. The lack of balance from both the lemon and wine overwhelm the delicate flavours of her dish that resulted Tash to be eliminated from the competition.
S6.E34 ∙ Duel Mystery Box Challenge & Team Invention Test
This Mystery Box Challenge had a twist: contestants get to decide who will step up to compete in the first round where each must answer a trivia question and only two will remain to face off in the second round. The winner will be safe from elimination and an advantage while the loser was sent straight to the Pressure Test. Tracy and Renae were left to compete in round two where they had to create a dish with the ingredients from the Mystery Box. Both of them were praised for their outstanding presentation in their dishes, but the cloying sweetness in Renae's dish land herself to elimination as Tracy won the challenge. The other contestants were grouped into three to compete in the Invention Test. Each team member randomly pull out a knife corresponding the three choices (cuisine, appliance and cooking method) to cook two dishes. Jamie, Emelia and Brent receive high praise with their two American dishes and the use of the planetary mixer and a stove-top, making them the Top 3. Ben, Colin and Kira also receive praise for their Moroccan dishes with the oven and the ice cream machine. Laura, Georgia and Amy struggled throughout the challenge (due to their use of the deep fryer and unfamiliarity with Vietnamese cuisine). Despite receiving praise on both of their dishes, their prawns were uncoated and overcooked, joining Renae to face elimination.
S6.E35 ∙ Pressure Test: Vikas Khanna's Rose-Tea Smoked Chicken Tikka Masala
Laura, Georgia, Amy and Renae had 75 minutes to recreate a rose tea-smoked chicken dish by award-winning Michelin starred Indian chef Vikas Khanna. Renae and Amy's take of the dishes received high praise and were safe despite minimal errors in their respective plates as the final decision came to Laura and Georgia (both of them had lack of experience in Indian cuisine). While Laura's sauce was overcooked, her cooking of the protein saved her and Georgia's overcooked chicken sealed her elimination.
S6.E36 ∙ Second Chance Cook-Off
The fourteen previously eliminated contestants arrive to compete for a second chance to return to the competition. They get to choose between two Mystery Boxes to cook their dishes. The original box contained ingredients of their dishes that had them eliminated to recreate their dishes in 60 minutes and the steel box with ingredients that produced their best dish with only 30 minutes to cook. Furthermore, only ten contestants who used the wooden box while four used the steel box but it was Brendan, Rachael, Sean, Georgia and Sarah who redeemed themselves to recreate their dishes after their respective elimination. It came down to the chicken dishes of Georgia and Sarah and despite her gritty puree, it was the latter's complexity of her sauce that beat Georgia to narrowly won Sarah's comeback in the competition.
S6.E37 ∙ Starlight Children's Foundation Service Challenge
For winning this week's Mystery Box Challenge, Tracy gets to sit out the team challenge. As there won't be an elimination challenge just for the week, teams under the mentorship of Curtis Stone compete in raising money to be given to the Starlight Children's Foundation for charity. Each team had to cook a three-course meal with the use of citruses. The red team, led by Sarah, struggled throughout both prep and service time as they had issues with their dishes. The blue team, led by Jamie, did well throughout the challenge however, their dishes also had issues but the judges were impressed with the quality of their dishes. Both teams raised a total of $48,350 and the blue team won the challenge with a $20,000 donation given to Bendigo Bank. They will join Tracy to compete for tomorrow's special challenge.
S6.E38 ∙ Power Apron Challenge
The judges introduced a special apron to the contestants. This golden apron will grant the wearer numerous advantages and control throughout next week's challenges. Tracy, Jamie, Emelia, Brent, Amy and Renae must cook in three rounds a three-course meal to win the apron. Brent, Amy and Renae failed in the entrée round while Emelia didn't make it through the main round, leaving Tracy and Jamie to compete in the dessert round. While Jamie's soft chocolate mousse had issues, it was the balance of sweetness in Tracy's cookies and cream dessert that impressed the judges and she won the golden Apron.
S6.E39 ∙ Tracy's Mystery Box Challenge & Invention Test
As the holder of the Power Apron, Tracy took advantages and control of the following daily challenges for a week. If Tracy was sent home, she will pass the apron to another contestant of her choice. Her first advantage was to choose the ingredients for the Mystery Box that she and the contestants will cook in 45 minutes. Tracy's second advantage for the Invention Test was to handpick a core ingredient and to allocate its cooking time in a box for each contestant to cook a dish. After winning the Mystery Box Challenge, Brent gets to switch his box to any contestant besides Tracy. He swapped his box with Colin's for chicken with 60 minutes to cook. The contestants struggled to prep their dishes but it was Jamie's undercooked prawn dish, Kira's burnt turkey dish and Colin's chocolate dish with technical issues that made themselves as the Bottom 3.
S6.E40 ∙ Pressure Test: Croquembouche
Colin, Jamie and Kira had three-and-a-half hours to recreate a croquembouche in 2014 without a full recipe. Tracy's power was to give each contestant a partial recipe of an element to the dish. Colin received the caramel recipe, Jamie had the choux pastry recipe and Kira was given the crème patissiere recipe. Each contestant's croquembouche had one issue: Colin's dish lacked the spun sugar toffee and some of Jamie's pastries lacked crème patissiere but it was Kira's first Pressure Test that stumbled her - the brittleness of her choux pastries left her eliminated.
S6.E41 ∙ Immunity Challenge: Jason Jones and James Viles
Tracy's advantages with the Power Apron was an automatic pass in the Immunity Challenge and choose two other contestants to join her. She chose Laura and Colin where the contestants had to create a bar snack with beer as the core ingredient in 45 minutes. Tracy beat them with her Beer Candied Bacon and Popcorn Chicken Sliders for a chance to cook in the second round. Tracy was given the power to choose between two chefs, Jason Jones of B'stilla and James Viles from Biota to compete for Immunity. She picked James and for the core ingredient by coin toss, Tracy's choice was 'heads' (containing various animal head parts in the pantry). She cooked Braised Beef Cheeks with Pan Fried Gnocchi while James cooked his Pork Neck and Brain Puree with Egg and Leek. The judges claimed James' dish missed the mark on flavour and his meat was dry. Ultimately, Tracy's dish earned overall praise and she won the immunity pin with the score of 27 to James' 26.
S6.E42 ∙ Farm Banquet Team Challenge
The teams of contestants were tasked in cooking a banquet for 20 best food producers in the region at the Great Ocean Road. Tracy was given the Red Team captaincy with the power to choose her team. Laura took charge for the Blue Team. They will need to buy their produce with a 300-minute budget to spend. The Red team picked pork (45 minutes), shellfish (30 minutes), crayfish (45 minutes), greens (15 minutes) and root vegetables (30 minutes) with two hours to cook while the Blue Team has one hour and forty minutes to cook with lamb (60 minutes), snapper (60 minutes), duck (45 minutes.), greens (15 minutes.) and potatoes (20 minutes). While the Blue Team struggled to prepare their dishes after five hours, it was their lack of sauce, overcooked duck and overcooked lamb that sent them to elimination as Tracy's Red Team wins.
S6.E43 ∙ Mexican Cuisine Elimination Challenge
Tracy had the advantage to save one of the losing team members from elimination. She chose to save Laura while the remaining contestants faced each other in pairs in a two-round Mexican-themed elimination challenge. They had to cook a Mexican savoury dish in the first round. Brent and Amy's Mexican spiced Snapper with Adobo Sauce, Guacamole and Corn beat Colin and Renae's Prawn and Bean Tostadas with Lime and Chipotle Mayonnaise, sending them to the second round where they had to face each other by cooking a Mexican dessert. Both of them opted for chocolate chilli desserts. While they were praised with their dishes, Renae's fondant in her dessert was too floury but in a close call, the lack of cohesion in Colin's dish eliminated him.
S6.E44 ∙ Barter Mystery Box Challenge & Decade Re-Invention Test
The Mystery Box Challenge had each contestant receive a single ingredient from the box. They can swap up to 5 of their ingredients and can either accept or reject trades. Contestants got 60 minutes to produce their dishes with the use of the pantry staples (no visit in the pantry and the garden). Renae, Amy and Brent impressed the judges but Amy won the advantage into the Invention Test. Her advantage was to choose between three dishes of previous decades: prawn cocktail from the 60's, apricot chicken from the 70's and Nouvelle cuisine from the 80's. Amy chose the chicken dish for the 60-minute cook. Her win in the second challenge along with Ben and Laura earned a chance to compete for immunity whereupon Emelia, Sarah and Tracy were sent to elimination but because the latter had won the pin from last week, Renae (who had the fourth least-impressive dish) will be sent to the Pressure Test if Tracy decides to use it.
S6.E45 ∙ Pressure Test: Nick Palumbo's Choc Top Extraordinaire
Tracy decided to use her immunity pin and Renae steps in to the Pressure Test. She, Emelia and Sarah had to recreate four salted caramel soft serve gelati with Italian meringue covered in ganache, amaretti biscuits on a sugar cone by Nick Palumbo in two hours of cooking time and fifteen minutes to serve. At tasting, Renae impressed with her take of the dessert while both Sarah and Emelia's desserts were criticised for the subtle saltiness in their ice creams. When Renae was safe, it was down to the balance of Sarah and Emelia's gelati. Ultimately, the latter attained the hint of caramel flavour in her gelato to save herself and Sarah was eliminated for the second time in the competition.
S6.E46 ∙ Immunity Challenge: John Lawson
Amy, Ben and Laura competed in the final immunity challenge of the season. The first round was to re-assemble the cuts of beef to a diagram. Amy's second try of re-assembling the cuts earned her the win to compete in round two. In the second round, she cooked against John Lawson from No.8 in Melbourne. John take the pick and choose the bitter ingredients (over sweet). He cooked Pan-fried Quail with Braised Radicchio and Pancetta in 75 minutes, scoring 25 points. Amy cooked a Poached Lobster, Citrus Sorrel and Lobster Mustard Mayonnaise in 60 minutes but her poor plating of the dish meant she lost with 22 points to the professional.
S6.E47 ∙ Asian Street Food Team Challenge
Contestants were divided to pairs and took responsibility of two-and-a-half prep time and serve different Asian street foods to be served to 200 customers in 90 minutes outside the MasterChef kitchen. Team chosen by drawing coloured chopstick from a bamboo steamer basket and each team had a chef as the mentor to any Asian cuisine. Laura and Jamie from the Blue Team under the mentorship of Jarrod Hudson to cook two Thai dishes. Shaun Presland mentored the Red Team of Ben and Renae to cook Japanese street food. Green Team's Brent and Tracy prep their Vietnamese dishes under Adrian Li. Frank Shek took charge by instructing Amy and Emelia of the Yellow Team to prepare their Chinese street food. The Green Team fell behind after struggling to prepare their dishes that took too long to serve and burnt half of the elements. Their Vietnamese tacos made it difficult for the customers and the judges to eat. The Red Team took too long to prepare their dishes. Their Japanese noodle soup earned reviews for the depth of flavour but it was criticised on its bland texture. With 10 minutes to go, the Yellow Team's Chinese pork and mushroom soup earned popularity to the customers which meant they quickly ran out. The Blue Team earned overall positive reviews on their two dishes. Two teams will be saved based on the highest number of votes from the customers to each team. The Blue Team earned 79 votes and The Yellow Team got 59 votes whereupon, the critical flaws in the dishes of the Green and Red Teams earned them the lowest votes each (Green's 51 and Red's 11), sending them to elimination.
S6.E48 ∙ Cryptic Elimination Challenge
Ben, Brent, Renae and Tracy faced off in a challenge to re-create an unknown dish by head chef Dave Verheul of The Town Mouse. Unlike any other Pressure Test, there was no recipe provided and they don't get to either guess or know the characteristics of this dish. The contestants get to decipher the clues based on a food critic review by judge Matt Preston to recreate the dish with intuition. After two hours, the dish was Buttermilk poached pear with walnut, salted caramel, roast chocolate ganache and pear sorbet. All four struggled to recreate the dish: Brent's sorbet lacked freshness and flavour, Ben had less chocolate ganache while his caramel hardened, Renae missed the walnut crumble, and Tracy overcooked her pear. However, Ben and Brent manage to thrive the approach of the dish and were safe while it came down to Renae and Tracy whom they had issues of recreating the ganache. In the end, Renae failed to balance the sweetness in the dish and she was eliminated.
S6.E49 ∙ MasterChef House Pantry Challenge & Australian Food Culture Invention Test
The Top 7 contestants were greeted by Heston Blumenthal at the MasterChef House. He will be served as their mentor for this weekly challenges. The contestants cook a dish with the use of ingredients from the pantry in one hour at the house kitchen. The best three dishes were made by Laura, Jamie and Ben, who won with his dish. He was informed that the first challenge was an Invention Test where contestants must cook an inventive dish inspired from their families with the use of native Australian ingredients in 90 minutes. The winning dish will grant an advantage for the following challenges each day in a week while the worst contestant from each daily challenge was sent straight into elimination and therefore not participating in the remaining challenges for the week. Two stand out dishes were Brent's Roast Lamb with Native Greens, Carrots and Pumpkin and Ben's Salt and Pepper Snapper with Mustard Emulsion and Charred Cucumber. Brent won the advantage while the worst dishes belong to Amy (whose Stuffed Quail with Davidson Plums and Sweet Potato had overcooked meat) and Tracy (whose Native Herb Cured Beef with Saltbush Salt and Samphire was too salty). Ultimately, Tracy became the first contestant to be sent to the elimination round due to the lack of balance in her dish.
S6.E50 ∙ Pressure Test: Beetroot Risotto
The six contestants were given the task by Heston to make his Beetroot Risotto with no set time limit. They were not provided with any recipe or dish to taste - the challenge was to follow along as Heston cooked this dish. For winning yesterday's challenge, Brent gets to see the recipe however despite having the advantage, he fall behind throughout the cook. His dish lacked acidity and there are problems with his ice cream. He was among the bottom two with Ben but the latter was sent to elimination for overcooking his dish and over churning his ice cream. Amy and Jamie delivered their best takes of the dish but it was Amy who won the next day's advantage.
S7.E1 ∙ Series Premiere: Auditions Part 1
Contestants started Series 7 with a challenge to cook their signature dish in one hour, vying for automatic entry into the Top 24. Gary, Matt and George judged the competitors with either "yes" or "no", with their votes deciding whether the contestant should stay in the competition. Fifteen contestants received three yes votes and won their way through to the main competition. Sixteen other contestants, who received either one or two yes votes, were given a second chance and cooked again in the next episode.
S7.E2 ∙ Auditions Part 2
In their first challenge, the contestants have 75 minutes to make a savoury dish in order to secure themselves a spot in the Top 24. Which contestants will claim the last remaining aprons?
S7.E3 ∙ Top 24 Mystery Box Challenge
In their first challenge in the MasterChef kitchen, the Top 24 contestants (where Mario was replaced by Jessie) faced their choice of three Mystery Boxes, one picked by each of the judges with series six winner Brent Owens as the guest judge. Cooking with ingredients chosen blindly and with 75 minutes on the clock, some contestants struggled with the pressure of the first challenge, while others thrived. Of the five standout dishes, it was Jessica, John and Sara who were declared the Top 3 and won an advantage in the next challenge.
S7.E4 ∙ Massimo Bottura Team Challenge
Massimo Bottura brought the Top 24 their first Team Challenge; to create an Italian main course and dessert for a restaurant of 40 guests in three hours. The worst performing team faced elimination. Jessica, John and Sara were tasked as team captains, and initially designed menus. John and Sara's teams decided to simplify their dishes, while Jessica's Red Team kept going with their plan to make fresh fettuccine. John's White Team received overall positive reviews in both their main and dessert. Despite serving the judges some raw fish and missing a table in their mains service, on the whole, Sara's Green Team impressed. Ultimately, the Red Team while having skilful elements to their dishes, their fettuccine was too chalky and dry while their strawberry element for the dessert did not impress. Those flaws were enough of a disappointment to land them in elimination.
S7.E5 ∙ Elimination Challenge
The losing team from the previous challenge faced a three-round elimination challenge based on fish. In the first round, the eight contestants were tasked with naming twenty Australian fishes, one by one. The first five to incorrectly name a fish moved to round 2. In the second round, the remaining contestants had 4 minutes to fillet and pin-bone a whole snapper, with the three worst moving to the final elimination round. Georgia, Kha and Marcus faced off in the final round, given 45 minutes to cook a fish dish of their choice. Kha's Tuna with Potatoes and Vinaigrette was appreciated but labelled too simple, and Georgia had overcooked her fish, but she impressed the judges with all other elements. Marcus faced many problems during his cooking time, delivering a half finished dish and despite being praised on the cooking of his fish, his other elements failed to impress the judges and a single bone was found in his flathead fillet, resulting his elimination.
S7.E6 ∙ Mystery Box Challenge and Invention Test
Andrea withdrew from the day's challenges due to sickness and therefore automatically went through to the Pressure Test. The remaining contestants faced a Mystery Box Challenge with ingredients including popcorn, blood orange and coriander, with only five dishes chosen by the judges to be tasted. Ashleigh, Sara, Georgia, Billie and Reynold were selected as the Top 5, with Georgia's Crumble with Chamomile Meringue and Creme Patissiere and Blood Orange Curd giving her the win and the chance to choose the Invention Test core ingredient. From a 'guilty pleasure' selection she chose chocolate (over bacon and cheese) and contestants had 90 minutes to cook a dish, the Top 3 going to the Immunity Challenge, the Bottom 3 to the Pressure Test. Most of the contestants thrived with such a well-used ingredient but Reynold, Jessica and Ashleigh were declared the Top 3 while Georgia, Jamie, James and Rose failed to impress with their dishes however, the flavours in Georgia's dish eventually saved her as the others join Andrea to face elimination.
S7.E7 ∙ Pressure Test: Sat Bains' Beef and Mushrooms
Andrea, James, Jamie and Rose had two and a half hours to recreate Sat Bains' technical dish to avoid elimination. Andrea's mushroom ketchup had the wrong consistency, leading her to leave it off the dish while Rose forgot to make her pickled onions, and had some issues plating the dish. Ultimately, both of their dishes were praised, despite missing some elements. Jamie's dish impressed, but his sauce lacked depth of flavour and his tartare lacked cornichons. Even though James had all the elements despite neglecting to taste each component during the cook, he received negative feedback from the judges due to technical issues. The theory is that none of his elements balanced together correctly and therefore, James was eliminated.
S7.E8 ∙ Immunity Challenge: Ben Williamson
In the first round, Ashleigh, Jessica and Reynold had to make a dish using a jaffle iron. Ashleigh won the round with a "Jaffa jaffle", and moved to the Immunity Challenge Round against Brisbane chef Ben Williamson. Ashleigh decided to use an 'eastern-inspired' pantry and with 75 minutes, cooked a Thai Chicken Curry with Lychee Relish and Roti. Ben prepared Pan-fried Duck with Kimchi, Puffed Millet with Daikon and Nashi Pear Salad. Ashleigh was praised for the depth of flavour in her dish and her lychee relish, but it was noted her rice was undercooked and the Roti dry. Ben's dish was criticised for a lack of depth in his Kimchi, but the rest of his dish was well received, ultimately giving him the win 16 points to 15.
S7.E9 ∙ Puckapunyal Team Challenge
The remaining 22 contestants travelled to the Puckapunyal Army Base for a team challenge cooking for 120 Army personnel, Legacy guests and their families. The two teams had a total of four hours preparation and service time to cook and individually plate a two-course meal, a main and a dessert. Being their first challenge in a commercial kitchen, contestants rose to the challenge and delivered all around excellent dishes, impressing their guests. Both teams delivered knockout desserts, the Red Team's Golden Syrup Semifreddo with Anzac Crumble being met with acclaim from the judges. However, they served uneven and undercooked lamb compared to the Blue Team's perfectly cooked beef eye fillet, and it was this that put them in elimination.
S7.E10 ∙ Elimination Challenge 1
The eleven contestants from the losing team faced a two-round elimination challenge, the first of which was to create a centrepiece salad in 30 minutes. Georgia, Ashleigh and Jacqui produced the Top 3 salads, while Amy, Kha, Rose and Sara were the worst performers. In round 2, the four contestants had to each choose one rule (area of cuisine, type of protein, cook time, cooking method) for the challenge from three options. With 45 minutes to cook Vietnamese-style Quail on the stove-top, Sara and Amy shone, producing exemplary dishes. And while Rose overcooked her quail, Kha's was undercooked and his dish lacked flavour, making him the third contestant eliminated.
S7.E11 ∙ Marco's Mystery Box and Invention Test
Marco Pierre White brought his version of a mystery box to the contestants, ten ingredients that make up five fundamental flavours (sweet, sour, bitter, salty and umami). With 60 minutes assigned to them, Ashleigh, Georgia, Jessica, John and Sara were chosen as the top five by Marco and the judges, with Ashleigh winning the challenge. Her advantage in the Invention Test was to choose one of five basic sauces (for example, Bechamel and Hollandaise) that must underpin the contestants next dish. Veal Jus was chosen, and it was the quality of this sauce that determined the top and bottom dishes. Billie, Georgia and Matthew impressed with their inventive dishes while Andrea, Jacqui and John's dishes were not well received and put them in the Bottom 3.
S7.E12 ∙ Pressure Test: Lamb Noisettes à la Forestiere with Madeira Sauce
Andrea, Jacqui and John had two and a half hours to recreate Marco's dish, including preparing the Noisettes from scratch out of a saddle of lamb after a demonstration of how to 'break it down' from Marco. Jacqui had some problems with her meat, ultimately presenting it with the skin still on. John impressed with his approach and final dish, getting praise across the board. After falling behind early despite departing from the recipe, Andrea ran out of time while plating her dish and her lamb was cooked inconsistently. That was enough to seal her elimination.
S7.E13 ∙ Immunity Challenge: Josh Pelham
In the first round, Billie, Georgia and Matthew had to make a simple dish using a single egg and their choice of pantry items. Georgia won the round with her Fried Egg, Black Bean and Tomato Salad, and Goats Cheese Cream, and moved to the Immunity Challenge Round against Josh Pelham from Estelle in Melbourne. Georgia decided to use a 'food from below the ground' pantry and with 75 minutes, cooked a Seafood and Fennel Broth with Prawn and Scallops. Georgia was praised for the flavour of her broth, but her prawn was undercooked. Josh's dish of Marron and Mussels with Truffle and Leek was praised, and although Marco didn't like Salmon Caviar, Josh edged out Georgia 33 points to 31.
S7.E14 ∙ Relay Team Challenge
Teams were tasked with a relay-style challenge; each member having 15 minutes of cooking time plus 45 seconds to transfer information. Billie (Red Team), Jacqui (Yellow), Jarrod (Blue) and Melita (Green), as the captains, chose the dish and started off the challenge. Jarrod chose a Coconut Mussel Broth, Melita chose to cook Lobster Medallions with Seafood Broth, Billie chose Stuffed Chicken Thigh with Fennel and Carrot Puree and Jacqui decided to cook Mexican Corn Tacos. During three changeovers; the Yellow Team attempted to create a new element to replace the Corn Tacos when a core ingredient (macerated flour) was not found in the given pantry. From the Green Team, Rose's choice to pour too much wine in the bisque made it overly acidic which led to Kristina restarting the dish with a stronger base. In the Blue Team, John changed the entire dish by adding other ingredients for new elements (White Chocolate Veloute with Scallop Tartare) which only confused the other following team members in the cooking at the last two changeovers. The Blue Team were really struggling with Georgia tasked to complete the dish. With five minutes left, she salvage the tampered dish and plated up Pan-Fried Prawns with Scallop Ceviche. Both the Green and Red Teams were praised for their teamwork and excellent communication while the Yellow Team's flatbreads were undercooked but received winning praise on the prawns. Despite Georgia's efforts to single-handedly create her team's dish under extreme conditions, it wasn't enough as their miscommunication, cluttered decisions and undercooked prawns left the Blue Team in elimination.
S7.E15 ∙ The Fifth Judge Elimination Challenge
The Fifth Judge Elimination Challenge - Amy, Fiona, Georgia, Jarrod and John had 75 minutes to cook five servings of a dish for the four judges with each contestant joining the judges to taste their own food. Georgia's dish was loved by all the judges and Marco while both John and Amy were criticised for the tendency errors in their dishes but also received praises from the judges. Ultimately, the three of them were declared safe. Jarrod's execution let him down, delivering a gazpacho that lacked acidity and a croquette filling that was overcooked, while Fiona's pastry was inconsistent and undercooked. However, her pie filling was good enough to keep her in the competition and it was Jarrod who was eliminated. MasterClass: Gary Mehigan, Marco Pierre White, Shannon Bennett, Curtis Stone and Matt Preston - In their first MasterClass, the nineteen remaining contestants were presented by Marco and the chefs with their recipes. Gary used Marco's Mystery Box ingredients to create his twice Baked Souffle. Marco cooked his Mac n' Cheese. Marco's former apprentices showed their dishes to the contestants - Billie's Red Team, after their performance in the relay challenge, were presented with Shannon's Apple Tart and Curtis cooked his Butternut Pumpkin Soup to them and the contestants. Lastly, Matt presented his two sweet recipes (his White Chocolate Mousse and Mango Daiquiri).
S7.E16 ∙ Maggie Beer's Mystery Box and Invention Test
Maggie Beer brought a twist to the Mystery Box Challenge, with the ingredients having to be foraged solely from the MasterChef garden. Georgia, Kristina, Matthew, Jessica, Sara and Melita were chosen for tasting and impressed with their use of the garden's fresh produce, with Melita winning the advantage in the Invention Test. She chose stone-fruit (over apples and berries) and contestants had 60 minutes to invent a savoury dish with fruit as the inspiration. This challenge confused a number of contestants with the worst dishes belong to Fiona, Jacqui, Jamie and Rose. Billie, Jessie and John impressed Maggie with their ability to use the fruit in new and interesting combinations and won the chance to cook for immunity. Fiona and Jacqui were sent to elimination for serving raw protein while the judges choose to send Rose to the Pressure Test.
S7.E17 ∙ Pressure Test: Anna Polyviou's Carrot Cake
Guest chef Anna Polyviou brought her version of a carrot cake, judged "Australian Dessert of the Year", for Fiona, Jacqui and Rose to replicate. With three hours to bring 12 different elements together, the time pressure was great leading each contestant to fail to temper their chocolate and their plates had notable errors: Jacqui's caramel glaze was too dark and sticky, Fiona's cake had issues on the assembling and texture while her sorbet lacked flavour and her cream cheese foam was lumpy, and Rose missed out the foam at the last seconds but the judges were impressed with her dish overall and she was first to be declared safe. Ultimately, Fiona's dessert that lacked definition sealed her elimination.
S7.E18 ∙ Immunity Challenge: Duncan Welgemoed
Billie, Jessie and John faced the first round of the challenge with each contestant having to name one of 26 mystery ingredients, one for each letter of the alphabet. Billie and Jessie each dropped out on their second guess, and John won the chance to cook for immunity against South Australian chef Duncan Welgemoed. He picked the fresh pantry (over the processed food pantry) and with 75 minutes, cooked Pork Adobo with Coconut Rice. Duncan's dish of Tuna, Pork Fat Vinaigrette and Stonefruit was praised for its simplicity, cleanness and presentation, and while John was praised for the subtlety in his dish (compared to past dishes), his chalky rice and unevenly cooked pork meant he lost to Duncan, 24 points to 22.
S7.E19 ∙ Abbotsford Convent Bakery Team Challenge
Teams took over the running of the Abbotsford Convent Bakery, designing a menu with the objective to make the highest profit in three hours of service. With four hours to prepare at least one savoury and one dessert item plus loaves of sourdough bread, the scale of the challenge created problems. Both teams struggled to make the pastry for their pies, get their bread baked, and have a couple of dessert options ready to sell. By the time service started, the Red Team managed to have all but their pies ready for sale while the Blue Team only had brownies, meaning that early on, the Red Team had six times the profits. The Blue Team's slow start combined with lower pricing meant they were not able to catch up ($2565.75 vs. Red's $3205.80) and they landed in elimination.
S7.E20 ∙ Elimination Challenge
The nine losing contestants faced a three-round Thai-themed elimination challenge set by chef Benjamin Cooper. Anna, Billie and Jamie cooked the top three dishes in the ten-minute first round and were declared safe. Ashleigh, Ava and Stephen most impressed in the twenty-minute second round leaving Jacqui, Melita and Rose in the thirty-minute elimination round. Rose impressed with her final dish and while Jacqui's elements were disjointed, it was the lack of protein from Melita's chicken curry that was enough to send her home.
S7.E21 ∙ Mystery Box and Invention Test Poh Ling Yeow
Poh Ling Yeow (runner-up in series 1) returned to set the Mystery Box Challenge, filled with her favourite ingredients, with John, Georgia, Jessie, Reynold and Rose the top five chosen. John won the advantage in the Invention Test, with Hayden Quinn (from series 3) bringing the three core ingredients. He chose pork and with 60 minutes, it was Anna, Ava and Georgia who championed the pork in inventive ways. Ashleigh, Kristina and Rose on the other hand failed to deliver and were sent to elimination.
S7.E22 ∙ Pressure Test: Kylie Millar's Toffee Apple
Former series 4 contestant Kylie Millar gave Ashleigh, Kristina and Rose a challenge to recreate her 14-element Toffee Apple dessert in two and a half hours. Ashleigh thrived and was the only contestant to complete the dish. Rose was criticised for taking most of her sugar elements too far, making her caramel too bitter but while Kristina had the best edible spoon and caramel glaze, she failed to temper the required heat for her sticky caramel sauce to achieve the perfect amount of bitterness and missed out the other key components to the dish (apple jellies, cinnamon flakes and isomalt shards) - one of which was the freshness from the apple. Those errors that Kristina had not attained failed to accomplish the significant balance to match Kylie's dish as she was eliminated.
S7.E23 ∙ Immunity Challenge: Callum Hann
The three best performers in the invention test are vying for immunity. The winner of round one will cook off against season two runner-up Callum Hann.
S7.E24 ∙ Mexican Street Food Team Challenge
Teams faced a service challenge: to cook Mexican Street food for around 500 people, mentored by Ben Milbourne and Andy Allen (from series 4) with the team making the most money the winners. With three and a half hours of preparation and 90 minutes of service, having to buy their ingredients, price their dishes competitively and cope with demand challenged the teams. Both teams had issues during service; the popularity of the Green Team's Churros meant they ran out quickly, and the Red Team served some raw chicken. Sara's decision to raise her team's prices in the last 30 minutes was not enough to win and the Green Team won ($6084.15 vs $5807.70) sending the Red Team to elimination.
S7.E25 ∙ Re-invention Elimination Challenge
Re-invention Elimination Challenge: French Dishes - The eight contestants faced a re-invention test set by series 1 contestant Justine Schofield: they had 90 minutes to put a modern spin on one of the classic French dishes by knife pull, Duck a l'Orange. In the tasting, Georgia's Duck and Orange Consommé received criticisms on the layer of fat left in the protein and the subtle lemon flavour in her broth. Jessie, John, Jessica and Stephen impressed with their dishes while Jacqui, whose Duck and Orange Hotpot lacked sauce, and Ava, whose Duck Salad with Figs and Goats Cheese lacked orange flavour, were declared the Bottom 2. Ultimately, the lack of orange flavour did not meet the brief of re-inventing the Duck a l'Orange and it was enough for Ava to be eliminated. MasterClass: Callum Hann, Gary Mehigan, George Calombaris, Poh Ling Yeow and Matt Preston - Callum and Poh presented their dishes to the contestants for their next MasterClass: Callum's Goat Cheese Mousse with Walnut Brittle, Lemon Curd and Honey Syrup and Poh's Shredded Duck Rendang with Pandan Coconut Lace Pancakes, Sticky Turmeric Rice and Cucumber Coriander Relish. The judges presented their recipes to the contestants: Gary's Fish Soup and Lobster Sliders, George's Coconut Calamari with Blackberry Sorbet and Matt's Prawns à la Plancha.
S7.E26 ∙ "Dollar" Box Challenge and Invention Test
Contestants faced a Mystery Box filled with items costing less than one dollar, and with 60 minutes to create an outstanding dish with budget ingredients, the top three dishes chosen were Georgia, Matthew and John. John again won the advantage in the Invention Test set by Curtis Stone, and from a choice of seasonal vegetables picked pomegranate (over pumpkin and beetroot). Working in teams of three to cook a sweet and savoury dish with 60 minutes, it was Jacqui, Jessica and Matthew's dishes that impressed the judges and made them the Top 3. Ashleigh, Anna and Billie failed to deliver enough flavour of pomegranate and were sent to elimination.
S7.E27 ∙ Pressure Test: Marcus Wareing's Braised Veal
Anna, Ashleigh and Billie faced a two and a half hour challenge set by British chef Marcus Wareing to recreate his 13-element Braised Veal dish. Billie won praise for the quality of her dish, with Marcus especially impressed with her skills in the kitchen. Both Ashleigh and Anna struggled during the challenge, having undercooked veal kidneys in their dishes. But it was Anna who overcooked her veal ribs and forgot to glaze it that left her eliminated.
S7.E28 ∙ Immunity Challenge: Nick Holloway
The contestant cooking for immunity must face off against Nick Holloway, from Nu Nu Restaurant in Palm Cove, Queensland. Has the amateur cook got what it takes to out-perform one of the best...
S7.E29 ∙ Italian Team Challenge
Teams had to cook an Italian three-course lunch for 40 guests each at Pizzini Wines in the King Valley: each team having to use a different local wine in each of their dishes. With three hours of preparation and having to collect their choice of protein from local farms, The Red Team fell behind early, as it took them the longest time to get their protein. The Blue Team changed their entrée last minute, and initially struggled to tie their Rockmelon Soup together as a dish. Both teams had problems with the accompaniment with their main course, but both produced outstanding desserts. Ultimately, the decision on a winner was so tight, with the judges saying it was almost a tie. It came down to small details and because of the perfectly cooked chicken from the Blue Team, it was the Red Team sent to elimination.
S7.E30 ∙ Mystery Box Elimination Challenge
In a mystery box Elimination Challenge, the Blue Team members were tasked with creating a dish to complement a specific bottle of wine.
S7.E31 ∙ Mystery Box Challenge and Invention Test
A mystery box challenge quickly becomes a nightmare for some; while an invention test goes like a dream for others.
S7.E32 ∙ Pressure Test: The Sunday Roast
Contestants were tasked in reinventing the classic Australian dish, the 'Sunday Roast' with sides. In possession of the Power Apron, Reynold picked chicken (over beef) as the main protein that Jamie, Stephen, and Matthew had to cook with. Matthew decided to keep it simple and his Macadamia-stuffed Chicken Roulade with Pommes Dauphine was declared the stand-out dish. Although Stephen's gravy was criticised for being too condensed by fat and the skin of his chicken too rubbery, one of Jamie's Chicken Roulade dishes was overcooked and his roasted potatoes lacked execution. In a split-decision verdict for one of them to be safe, the final vote based on the cooking of the protein was given to Stephen and Jamie was eliminated from the competition.
S7.E33 ∙ "The Duel" Immunity Challenge
Billie, Jessie, Reynold and Sara cooked off for guaranteed immunity and the Power Apron in a duel-based challenge: contestants would face each other in three rounds, one vs. one, with a different cuisine and protein each round. In the first round, Reynold, as holder of the Power Apron, chose Jessie as his opponent cooking a French dish with pipis, but it was Jessie who won the round. In the second round, Billie and Sara faced off cooking flathead in a UK-style, with Billie winning. Jessie and Billie then competed in the final round cooking a Chinese dish with chicken, with Billie's Twice-cooked Orange and Cinnamon Glazed Chicken beating Jessie's Hainanese Chicken Soup (27-24) giving her the Immunity Pin and Power Apron.
S7.E34 ∙ Restaurant Takeover Team Challenge
Teams had four hours for preparation and service for 50 guests at two top Melbourne restaurants, Tokyo Tina (Japanese cuisine) and Saigon Sally (Vietnamese cuisine). Billie, as holder of the Power Apron, was given the Red Team captaincy, with the power to choose her team and restaurant of choice (Saigon Sally). John volunteered himself to captain the Blue Team's at Tokyo Tina. John's decision to make six dishes pushed the Blue Team to the edge, while the judges' suggestion that the Red Team's four dishes were too few led them to add a dish in the last hour of preparation time. By the time service started, both teams were feeling the pressure, but the Blue Team particularly struggled to cope with initial demand. Both teams put up mostly quality dishes, winning praise from the judges, but it was the poorer quality of the Blue Team's main dish and desserts that left them in elimination. Ashleigh was judged the best individual performer and won the Power Apron.
S7.E35 ∙ Blind Taste Test Elimination Challenge
Ashleigh, as the holder of the Power Apron, chose Stephen to avoid the Elimination Challenge altogether, leaving Georgia, John, Matthew, Rose and Sara to face two rounds. In a blind taste test, they had three minutes to taste and two minutes to write down the ingredients of an unknown dish (Korean Bibimbap), with contestants receiving only the ingredients they correctly guessed to cook with in the second round. Sara and Georgia (who had the most correct guesses), along with Rose produced outstanding dishes, while John, with the least ingredients, and Matthew who was unfamiliar with Korean cuisine, struggled the most. Ultimately, it was the irrelevant underwhelming elements and overcomplexity of John's dish that saw him eliminated.
S7.E36 ∙ Heston Blumenthal Mystery Box Challenge and Invention Test
Heston Blumenthal presented his Mystery Box filled with Australian ingredients (such as macadamia nuts and emu) and with 60 minutes to showcase these local ingredients the top three dishes chosen were by Billie, Reynold and Sara. The latter won the advantage in the Invention Test, and from a choice of cocktails picked Whiskey Sour (over Espresso Martini and Bloody Mary). Tasked with taking the flavours of the drink and creating an inventive dish in 60 minutes, it was Ashleigh, Matthew and Rose who impressed the judges most and made them the Top 3. Amy, Georgia and Stephen failed to recreate the flavours of the drink and were sent to elimination.
S7.E37 ∙ Pressure Test: Guillaume Brahimi's Jewel of the Sea
The judges reveal that the pressure test has been set by celebrated chef Guillaume Brahimi, the contestants have two and a half hours to recreate Guillaume's elaborate jewel of the sea dish.
S7.E38 ∙ Immunity Challenge: Jim McDougall
In the first round, Ashleigh, Matthew and Rose had to recreate a classic Sticky Date Pudding, using the second-hand equipment and ingredients. Ashleigh's modern take on the pudding won her the chance to cook for immunity against chef Jim McDougall. She picked the Northern Australian Food pantry (over South) and with 75 minutes, cooked Passionfruit Semifreddo with Chocolate Mousse and Coconut Crumb. Jim's dish of Red Emperor with Smoked Butter and Vanilla Sauce slightly confused the judges with the mix of sweet and savoury flavours, winning praise nonetheless but it was Ashleigh's dish that highly impressed the judges, winning her the immunity pin (26-22).
S7.E39 ∙ Team Challenge: Afternoon Tea at the Hotel Windsor
The two teams (red and blue) were tasked with providing a high tea for 100 guests, as well as the three judges and four guest pastry chefs: Bernard Chu, Darren Purchese, Christy Tania and Kirsten Tibballs. The teams had three hours of cooking time at the MasterChef kitchen, then they had to transport their delicacies to the Hotel Windsor. There they had half an hour of prep time and half an hour to serve. The blue team, led by Reynold, strived at the beginning, completing most of their prep at the MasterChef kitchen and being the first to send out their tiers. The red team, however, struggled under Rose's command, especially when their chocolate tart shells collapsed providing them with not nearly enough time to complete plating up at the Hotel Windsor. This, along with the Blue Team's top three dishes, enabled the Blue Team to win and sent the Red Team to elimination.
S7.E40 ∙ Elimination Challenge and Second Chance Cook-Off
While Billie used her Immunity Pin, the other members of the losing team were tasked to cook a pie in 90 minutes to save themselves from elimination. Matthew's pie was a standout dish to the judges and was immediately declared safe, and while Sara's effort had crumbling pastry and an underwhelming filling, Jessie's raw pastry meant she was going home but was given a second chance, after the fourteen previously eliminated contestants returned to compete for a second chance for a Top 10 spot. The returning contestants had an open pantry and 60 minutes, with the best performer to then cook off against Jessie for their place in the competition. Kha, Kristina and Stephen had the top dishes with Stephen narrowly winning the opportunity over Kristina to cook off against Jessie. Ultimately Jessie's Lobster dish beat Stephen's Rhubarb dish which lacked acidity, and Jessie remained in the competition, finalising the Top 10.
S7.E41 ∙ "Mystery" Mystery Box Challenge and Invention Test
Contestants faced a Mystery Box filled with a range of uncommon ingredients (including achacha, sorghum, sugar ants, New Zealand yams and Armenian cheese), and with 60 minutes to cook with ingredients they had never used before, the top three chosen were Billie, Jessie and Rose. Rose won the advantage in the Invention Test and chose to cook an Asian protein dish with 45 minutes to cook, meaning contestants had no access to any dairy or European ingredients. It was Jessica, Jessie and Sara whose inventive takes on Asian flavour won them the chance at immunity. Rose, despite having the advantage, misfired on her dish. The subtlety of her egg was overpowered by spices. She was joined by Matthew and Reynold in the Bottom 3.
S7.E42 ∙ Pressure Test: Janice Wong's Cassis Plum
The pressure test has been set by guest chef Janice Wong from 2am Dessert Bar in Singapore.The contestants have two hours and 15 minutes to recreate her intricate dessert, the cassis plum.
S7.E43 ∙ Immunity Challenge: Ross Lusted
In the first round, Jessica, Jessie and Sara had to make the perfect batter, using only the provided staple and select pantry ingredients. Jessie delivered on the brief best and won the chance to cook for immunity against chef Ross Lusted. She picked the savoury pantry (over sweet) and with 75 minutes, cooked Beef with Beetroot. Ross' dish of Squid with Sweetcorn, Ginger and Spinach, initially confounded the judges but won them over with its complexity and technique, beating the elegant simplicity of Jessie's dish (28-25).
S7.E44 ∙ All American Barbecue Team Challenge
The contestants were split into teams of three for a challenge under the mentorship of American pit master grand champion Andy Groneman: cooking American Barbecue in the unique style for 150 guests. With six hours preparation, teams had to cook pork ribs and two other choices of meat, as well as three vegetarian sides. The Red Team of Billie, Georgia and Jessie mistakenly let their barbecue run out of fuel, putting them behind the other two teams, while the Blue Team of Jessica, Reynold and Sara had problems getting their ribs to the standard required by Groneman. When service started, only the Yellow Team of Amy, Ashleigh and Matthew were ready with all of their dishes. Ultimately, the Red Team's meat dishes were criticised for its inconsistent cooking with an off balance of spice and salt. Yellow won praise for the inventiveness of their lamb and their apple slaw, but it was the Blue Team's exemplary ribs that won them the challenge, sending the other two teams to elimination.
S7.E45 ∙ Elimination Challenge: Rick Stein
The judges reveal that the challenge is all about fish, and who better to help guide the contestants through the cook than much-loved chef Rick Stein, the 'Codfather' himself.
S7.E46 ∙ "Deja Vu" Mystery Box Challenge and Invention Test
The Top 8 Mystery Box Challenge had the eight previous Mystery Boxes return to the kitchen, with each of the contestants cooking with the ingredients of one of them. After the 60-minute cook, Matthew (with the Power Apron week box), Reynold (with Heston's history box) and Billie (with Poh's Asian-themed box) impressed the judges, and Billie won the advantage into the Invention Test. She chose earth (over wind and fire) as the conceptual theme of the 60-minute challenge. The judges told the contestants that there would only be a Top 4 in the Immunity Challenge and a Bottom 4 to elimination. Georgia, Reynold and Jessie received praise for their desserts, with Sara completing the top 4. Thus, Billie, Matthew, Jessica and Ashleigh were sent into the pressure test.
S7.E47 ∙ Pressure Test: Darren Purchese
Darren Purchese returns to set up a Pressure Test for Billie, Matthew, Jessica and Ashleigh, who were given 2 hours and 45 minutes to recreate his Passion flower dessert and 10 minutes at the end of the challenge to plate the dish with the grade based on presentation. None of the contestants, except Billie, managed to add the mint oil in the white chocolate petals and paint it due to time constraints. Matthew had problems plating the dish as his white chocolate collar that holds the chocolate petals in place broke into four pieces. At the tasting, Billie and Jessica impressed with the presentation while Ashleigh's collar was too small and her petals did not open properly. She and Matthew both missed the textures of their elements. After Billie got the dish of the day and Jessica was also declared safe, it came down to Matthew and Ashleigh and the presentation of the dish. Ashleigh, not having the blossom effect in the dish, was eliminated from the competition.
S7.E48 ∙ Immunity Challenge: Monty and Jaclyn Koludrovic
In the first round of the immunity challenge, Reynold, Jessie, Georgia and Sara took turns naming herbs. Georgia and Sara were eliminated on back-to-back guesses, sending Reynold and Jessie as a team (meaning they would both get an Immunity Pin should they win) against Monty and Jaclyn Koludrovic. Both teams had to cook two dishes, a main and a dessert. With 75 minutes and an open pantry, Jessie and Reynold cooked Lobster with Fennel and Orange for main and Coconut with Passionfruit and Pineapple for dessert. Monty and Jaclyn put up a Seafood Salad for main and Chocolate and Olive Oil Mousse with Granita and Aperol Jelly for dessert. Monty's Seafood Salad scored him 28 points while Jaclyn's Aperol Jelly scored her 26, totalling their score to 54 points. Even though the judges loved Reynold's dessert, giving it a perfect score of 30, the lack of depth in Jessie's sauce cost the duo the challenge as her main course scored only 23 points, totalling their score to 53.
S7.E49 ∙ Seven-course Degustation Challenge
The contestants were responsible for creating a seven-course meal at The Prince Hotel Restaurant in St Kilda, Victoria, with each contestant assigned a course. Billie went first, making a marron dish that earned general acclaim. Georgia's soup dish was second, however it lacked balance and she faced trouble with her tuile as well as the quantity of soup. Matthew was third, and his tuna dish received praises all around. Sara went fourth, and her dish was named dish of the day, with perfectly cooked quail, a corn puree and blackberry vinaigrette that were applauded. Jessie had course 5 with lamb, but did not achieve the standard she aspired to as her meat was undercooked and her lentils were overcooked. Jessica had course 6, a savoury dessert with the feature ingredient being plums that received praise on the combination of sweet and savoury. Reynold present the last dish (course 7) with chocolate for dessert but the judges were left disappointed with the lack of creativity and technical errors in his dish. As a result, he joined Jessie and Georgia in the bottom 3.
S7.E50 ∙ Elimination Challenge: Time Auction
Georgia, Reynold and Jessie faced off in the return of the auction challenge from series 6. They had 100 minutes of time to bid for ingredients. Jessie was left with 60 minutes and chicken, vegetables and spices, Reynold had 75 minutes and eggs, citrus fruits and condiments, and Georgia got 75 minutes and sardines, nightshades and herbs. All three struggled during the cook but in the tasting, all of their dishes were liked by the judges but they felt Georgia's butter dressing was unnecessary and Jessie's sauce was bitter while her dish lacked originality. Ultimately, the bitterness was a key flaw in the dish and eliminated Jessie from the competition.
S8.E1 ∙ Series Premiere: Auditions Part 1
Contestants started Series 8 with a challenge to cook their signature dish in one hour, vying for automatic entry into the Top 24. Gary, Matt and George judged the competitors with either "yes" or "no", with their votes deciding whether the contestant should stay in the competition. Nineteen contestants received three yes votes and won their way through to the main competition. Eleven other contestants, who received either one or two yes votes, were given a second chance and cooked again in the next episode.
S8.E2 ∙ Auditions Part 2
Eleven contestants, who were given a second chance to secure the five remaining spots in the Top 24, competed in the first challenge round to cook a dish with one of ten ingredients from their individual basket in 90 minutes. Mimi was praised for her snapper dish and immediately received an apron and joined the Top 24. The other three contestants receiving an apron were Elise, Harry and Adam.
S8.E3 ∙ Auditions Part 3
The remaining seven contestants faced the Pressure Test in the second round to recreate Shannon Bennett's chocolate peanut bar to secure the last apron into the Top 24. Between the chosen three contestants who delivered the best dishes, Miles won the last apron after earning high praise from the judges with his dish.
S8.E4 ∙ Top 24 Mystery Box Challenge
The top 24 contestants enter the MasterChef Australia kitchen for the very first time. First up tonight, the contestants face the classic mystery box challenge, but there's a surprise in store.
S8.E5 ∙ Elimination Challenge
The bottom three contestants faced their first elimination challenge. Each had to pick one of twelve cloches that contained twelve mystery ingredients on display and create a dish based on the chosen cloche in 75 minutes. They had the option to choose again if they didn't like their first pick but would be stuck with their second selection. Ashley's choice was mushrooms, Charlie's pick was ginger and Theresa chose prawns. The judges were impressed with Theresa's prawn salad and Charlie's chocolate ginger cremeux, despite the lack of ginger in his dish. As a result, both were declared safe. Ashley, who tried to recreate a pasta dish and was criticised for his overcooked egg and frying the ravioli, became the first contestant to be eliminated from the competition.
S8.E6 ∙ Marco's Mystery Box Challenge and Invention Test
Marco Pierre White presents his ingredients from the Mystery Box (cinnamon, chicken, extra virgin olive oil, ham, honey, lemon, parsley and potatoes) to the contestants. After 75 minutes of cooking time, five standout dishes were cooked by Cecilia, Charlie, Matt, Mimi and Nidhi. Charlie, who won the challenge with his Honey Semifreddo, had to pick a choice of meat and three vegetables for their first Invention Test. He chose lamb for protein and parsnips, onions and carrots for three vegetables. They have 90 minutes to cook a dish with these ingredients. Nidhi, Olivia and Zoe receive praises from the judges with their dishes where they will compete for the first Immunity Challenge. Matt receives special mention with his dish of lamb koftas. Con, Nathaniel and Cecilia receive negative feedback from the judges on their dishes. They will be competing in the first Pressure Test for elimination.
S8.E7 ∙ Pressure Test: Marco Pierre White's Dory a la Nicoise
Nathaniel, Con and Cecilia had to copy and recreate a dish Marco was cooking with no set time limit. All their instructions came from Marco and they had 10 seconds to prepare the dish after Marco finished cooking. Cecilia managed to follow Marco's instructions carefully and took the lead in the challenge. Meanwhile, Nathaniel and Con fell behind after the latter accidentally cut himself while skinning his fish. All three managed to complete the dish. Cecilia thrived with her approach similar to Marco's and was saved. It was between Con and Nathaniel who both had issues with the presentation of their dishes. Due to his overcooked fish, Nathaniel was eliminated.
S8.E8 ∙ Immunity Challenge: Jake Kellie
The top three contestants from the invention test must make a filled pasta with a matching sauce. The winner will then enter a cook off for immunity against guest chef, Jake Kellie.
S8.E9 ∙ Plough Hotel Team Challenge
The 22 contestants traveled to Footscray at the Plough Hotel for their first team challenge. The team captains, Brett (Red Team) and Nicolette (Blue Team), each picked a card from three jars representing a three-course meal that would describe the traits of each meal. The teams had three hours of prep time to cook enough food for 70 people, before service began. The Blue Team fell behind the Red Team after they took a lot of time to prep the dishes. The Red Team's entrée, skewered prawns, received praises from George and Gary who declared them the winners. The Blue Team were sent to elimination after serving the judges under-cooked scallops and that also missed the mark on the theme (pub-lunch) as their entrée.
S8.E10 ∙ Elimination Challenge: The Alphabet Game & MasterClass 1
Alphabet Elimination Challenge - The Blue Team faced the first round of elimination. Each contestant must name an ingredient correctly according to the first letter. Cecilia, Adam, Matt and Harry made mistakes and were in the second round of the challenge where they had to cook a dish in 60 minutes. They get to use all of the ingredients they chose correctly in the first round and the usual pantry staples. Both Matt and Harry produced exemplary dishes and were declared safe. Cecilia impressed the judges with the flavours of her tuna dish, but it was simplistic and the consistency of her mayonnaise was criticised. Adam, on the other hand, presented his bland dish with underseasoned lamb that left him eliminated. MasterClass: Marco Pierre White, Matt Preston and Gary Mehigan - The judges (minus George) and Marco treated the contestants to their first MasterClass. Marco made the contestants his risotto milanese. Matt taught the contestants how to cook his baked cheesecake. Gary shows how to cook his Vietnamese duck pho, which had been chosen by viewers. Lastly, Marco taught the contestants how to cook his saffron arancini using his leftover risotto milanese.
S8.E11 ∙ "Viewers' Choice" Mystery Box Challenge & Invention Test
The remaining 21 contestants faced their next Mystery Box Challenge with 75 minutes to cook with ingredients chosen by the viewers: cauliflower, maple syrup, coconut, goat cheese, okra, lemon myrtle, beef mince and squid. Karmen, Con, Heather, Matt and Anastasia stood out with their dishes. The judges picked Anastasia's dish as the winner of the challenge with the advantage for the Invention Test. She chose marmalade (over peanut butter and vegemite) which everyone then had to cook a dish with in 75 minutes. Anastasia won the second round of the competition with her orange quail dish and received a chance to compete in the Immunity Challenge, along with Con and Nicolette, who also impressed the judges with their inventive dishes. Karmen, Chloe and Olivia all faced serious technical issues on their desserts, and were sent into the Pressure Test, facing elimination.
S8.E12 ∙ Pressure Test: Reynold Poernomo's "Moss"
Chloe, Olivia and Karmen were tasked to recreate season 7 alumnus Reynold Poernomo's dessert "Moss" in two and a half hours. Chloe received praise for creating a very similar dish to Reynold's, making her the first contestant to pass the Pressure Test. Several of Karmen's elements were liked by the judges but she didn't allow time to finish her dulce crémeux so didn't serve it, which was criticised. Olivia completed all the elements of the dish but despite of this, each have notable errors - a dense pistachio sponge, a lime yoghurt foam without gelatine and a matcha sphere that left too long in the blast chiller. Those flaws were too much to keep her safe over Karmen and consequently, it was enough to eliminate Olivia.
S8.E13 ∙ Immunity Challenge: Braden White
Anastasia, Con and Nicolette faced the first round for immunity pin with 60 minutes to make a dish using popcorn. Both Con and Anastasia lacked popcorn in their dishes, handing Nicolette the win with her popcorn parfait, earning a chance to cook against guest chef Braden White in the second round. She decided they would both cook fish. She had 75 minutes and cooked a confit salmon with crispy skin. In his 60 minutes, Braden cooked a mulloway dish but the judges found his fish over-cooked and declared Nicolette the winner of the season's first immunity pin with the score of 26 to Braden's 25.
S8.E14 ∙ Huxtable & Pei Modern Team Challenge
Contestants were split randomly into two teams to replicate a three-course meal for 30 guests from two restaurants in Melbourne: Huxtable and Pei Modern. The Blue Team were assigned to Pei Modern while the Red Team were assigned to Huxtable. The captains (Blue Team's Karmen and Red Team's Matt) and vice-captains (Blue Team's Chloe and Red Team's Trent) arrive at the restaurants to memorise the directions of the recipes from the chef of each restaurant (Anthony Hammel of Pei and Daniel Wilson of Huxtable) before returning to the MasterChef kitchen, relaying instructions to their other team members to be able to mirror the dishes before service in 90 minutes. The Blue Team failed to replicate all of the dishes of Pei Modern's three-course meal after a series of technical issues on each dish: zucchini flowers for the entrée were under-cooked, the main's radicchio puree lack colour and they left off the hot caramel topping for the dessert. As a result, they were at risk of elimination after the Red Team won the challenge.
S8.E15 ∙ Raw and Cooked Elimination Challenge
After losing the team challenge, the Blue Team faced a two-round elimination. The first round was to prepare a raw dish with one ingredient from the pantry without cooking in 30 minutes. The rest of the team were safe while Miles, Nidhi and Theresa (after they fell behind with their dishes) had to compete in the second round. They had to cook with the ingredient they had chosen from the first round (cauliflower for Nidhi, pear for Theresa and tuna for Miles). While Miles was safe after impressing the judges with his tuna tataki, Theresa and Nidhi were left to await the final verdict. Theresa forgot the syrup on her poached pear before she could present it to the judges. Despite being an early front runner of the competition, when Nidhi served the judges her cauliflower paratha and mint chutney, her bhajis suffered from serious technical issues that resulted in her elimination.
S8.E16 ∙ Nigella's Mystery Box Challenge & Invention Test
International celebrity chef Nigella Lawson appeared as a guest chef for the week. She presented her chosen ingredients (butternut pumpkin, chestnut, chicken thighs, pippis, ginger, pancetta, feta cheese and cumin) in a Mystery Box for the contestants to cook with in 75 minutes. Heather won the challenge over Charlie, Elena, Jimmy and Zoe with her open filo pumpkin pie. She chose chocolate as the core ingredient for the Invention Test, with 60 minutes to cook. Harry, Karmen and Mimi were named as the Top 3 with their inventive chocolate desserts. Chloe, Jimmy and Miles were sent to the Pressure Test after each suffer technical issues with their respective desserts.
S8.E17 ∙ Pressure Test: Nigella Lawson's Three-Course Dinner
The bottom three performers from the Invention Test faced a Pressure Test featuring three dishes from Nigella: crab avocado salad, lamb with radishes and peas, and coffee pannacotta with chocolate coffee sauce. The contestants had only 60 minutes to plate up all the dishes. Chloe was praised for her dishes and was declared safe. All of Miles' dishes had notable flaws (salad that lacked dressing, sauce for the lamb that was burnt and pannacotta's texture was grainy) which would be enough to send him home. However, the judges were more disappointed with Jimmy, despite the positive feedback on his pannacotta, his salad missed some ingredients which lacked presentation and his lamb was under-cooked, sealing his elimination.
S8.E18 ∙ Immunity Challenge: Lachlan Colwill
Having landed in the top 3 of the Invention Test, Harry, Karmen and Mimi were surprised in the middle of the night by Nigella and Matt as the preliminary round for the Immunity Challenge was creating a midnight snack, something Nigella is well known for. Harry's brookies, a combination of brownies and cookies, were deemed the best dish and he won the right to challenge chef Lachlan Colwill for immunity in the second round . Harry chose "Christmas sweet" (over "Christmas savoury") as the pantry but his Christmas Pavlova wasn't enough to beat Colwill's Australian summer Christmas pudding and the professional won the challenge with a score of 27 over Harry's 26.
S8.E19 ∙ Team Challenge: Royal Children's Hospital Fête
The 18 contestants were randomly divided into three teams. They had to cook three dishes (one savoury, two sweet with one of these containing jam) for a crowd of 1000-2000 people who would turn up for a fete. The judges declared that the money that the teams made by selling their food would be donated to the Royal Children's Hospital in Melbourne. The two teams who made the most money would be safe and the winning team would therefore be decided by the guests. The teams were given four hours to cook before service would start after two hours. The yellow team's rocky road popcorn and blondies, the blue's team chocolate cupcakes with jam and buttercream and the red team's chocolate-chip cookies were the hits of the day. The yellow team were declared the winners with an amount of $6326. The red team were safe with an amount of $5892, leaving the blue team to face elimination.
S8.E20 ∙ Elimination Challenge: Name That Cake & MasterClass 2
The losing fete challenge team now face elimination. Contestants must correctly name cakes, fail to do so and they will need to impress the judges with a cake of their own to stay in the competition.
S8.E21 ∙ Mystery Box Challenge & Leftovers Invention Test
In the Mystery Box Challenge, the contestants found themselves cooking with a mix of ingredients including barramundi, vanilla beans and miso, as well as with instructions to keep every discarded piece of food stored with a "waste not, want not" principle in mind. Chloe won the challenge and her advantage was a pass straight through to the week's Immunity Challenge. The remaining cooks were tasked to create an inventive dish with no pantry or garden available, just what was left of the mystery box items including the scraps. Matt, Karmen and Mimi impressed the judges and they joined Chloe in the Immunity Challenge while Theresa, Charlie and Brett missed the mark and ended up in the Pressure Test.
S8.E22 ∙ Pressure Test: Jason Atherton's Quail Afternoon Tea Dish
The bottom three from the invention test now face the elimination pressure test. Contestants have just over 3 hours to recreate UK chef Jason Atherton's quail afternoon tea dish to avoid elimination.
S8.E23 ∙ Woodland House Immunity Challenge: Thomas Woods & Hayden McFarland
The winners of the Mystery Box Challenge and Invention Test were split in pairs for the first round of the Immunity Challenge. Chloe, as the winner of the Mystery Box Challenge, had a second advantage of picking one of the Invention Test winners as her partner. She chose Matt and in the first round, they had to cook two jaffles (sweet and savoury) in 75 minutes. Matt and Chloe beat Mimi and Karmen with his spiced mince jaffle and her apple pie jaffle. As a team, they then competed against Woodland House chefs Thomas Woods and Hayden McFarland from Melbourne in the second round with a chance for both of them to win Immunity pins. With 75 minutes, they were given the option to choose two ingredients: one sweet and one savoury, for them to cook their dishes. Matt chose prawns and Chloe picked raspberries. Thomas and Hayden had 60 minutes to cook their dishes with the same ingredients. While Thomas' raspberry vinegar jelly scored 28 points to Chloe's rosewater bavarois with 21, Hayden's miso glazed prawns was criticised for the use of bitter melon in the dish and given a score of 18 points to Matt's 27 for his hot n' sour prawn head broth. The professionals' final score was 46 while Chloe and Matt, for the first time, won an Immunity pin each with their total score of 48.
S8.E24 ∙ Off-site Challenge: Hellenic Republic
Today's off-site challenge will take place at George Calombaris' Hellenic Republic restaurant. Split into two teams, each team must prepare a three course feast for 120 guests to avoid elimination.
S8.E25 ∙ Elimination Challenge: Blind Taste Test
The contestants from the losing team compete in a blind taste test. They must taste a mystery dish while blindfolded then recreate the dish. The worst dish will be hanging up the apron forever.
S8.E26 ∙ Invention Test: Maggie Beer & Mystery Box Challenge
Each contestant picked one of three ingredients - abalone, silken tofu and lemongrass - to cook a dish within 60 minutes in the Invention Test by Maggie Beer. The top three dishes were named and Zoe won with the use of silken tofu for her cheesecake. Her advantage was to choose the eight ingredients in the Mystery Box Challenge for everyone to cook with in 60 minutes. She chose basil, chilli, garlic, pancetta, pork mince, ricotta, thyme and tomatoes. The top three dishes were cooked by Chloe, Trent and Brett while Charlie, Elise, Harry and Nicolette were at risk of elimination after presenting the least-impressive dishes.
S8.E27 ∙ Pressure Test: Anna Polyviou's "Mess"
The bottom three contestants from the mystery box challenge face off in the elimination pressure test. Contestants have just three hours to recreate & 15 minutes to plate up Anna Polyviou's mess.
S8.E28 ∙ Immunity Challenge: Morgan McGlone
In the first round, Brett, Chloe and Trent had 60 minutes to bake an éclair for an advantage in the second round. Both Trent and Chloe impressed the judges, who voted Chloe as the winner with her chocolate éclair with toasted pecan praline. Hoping for a second Immunity pin, Chloe chose coffee over tea as the core ingredient to cook against guest chef Morgan McGlone of Belles Hot Chicken in Barangaroo. She presented her coffee bombe dessert but an issue with the meringue failed to win her another pin, scoring 18 to Morgan's 22 for his coffee crusted quail.
S8.E29 ∙ Team Challenge: Chinese New Year
Today's off-site team challenge marks the celebration of Chinese New Year joined by guest mentor, Kylie Kwong. Each team must prepare two set-price Asian street food dishes & sell them to the public.
S8.E30 ∙ Elimination Challenge: Lucky Dip
Chloe opted to use her Immunity pin and skipped the challenge while her remaining team members faced elimination. They had to pick a core ingredient and a cuisine from lucky dip bags to cook a dish within 75 minutes. Elena, Harry and Matt cooked the best dishes and were declared safe. Mimi's Thai lamb dish lacked a crunchy element and Zoe was criticised for the texture of the pumpkin filling to her American tart. But it was Miles' salmon dish that lacked focus on the fish itself, eliminating him from the competition.
S8.E31 ∙ Luke Nguyen's Mystery Box Challenge & Invention Test: Steam vs. Fry
For the contestants to gain a Power Apron, Luke Nguyen presented his Mystery Box (with ingredients including crickets) for them to cook an exemplary dish. Beating Matt and Heather in the challenge was Elise with the use of crickets for her parfait. After earning the power apron, Elise had 90 minutes to prepare her dish, choosing the method of frying (over steaming), while the others had 60 minutes to prepare their fried dishes. Despite this advantage, Elise fell behind after wasting her 30-minute advantage due to choosing a dish that would require an element that could not be fried. Anastasia, Chloe and Harry received praise for their inventive dishes. The winner of the Power Apron was Anastasia with her tarragon prawns and fried fennel pesto. Elise was sent into the Pressure Test along with Elena and Zoe to face elimination.
S8.E32 ∙ Pressure Test: Ross Lusted
The bottom three contestants from the invention test face off in the elimination pressure test. Contestants have just two hours to recreate two of guest chef Ross Lusted's signature dishes.
S8.E33 ∙ Second Chance Cook-Off
Previously eliminated contestants returned to the MasterChef Kitchen to compete for a place back in the competition. They had 60 minutes to cook a dish with the use of the following ingredients: wine, rosemary, raspberries, dark chocolate, cardamon pods, lemon, Greek yoghurt, lamb and beetroot. The returning contestant would also receive a Power Apron for the winning dish. In possession of the Power Apron, Anastasia got a second advantage to choose one of the eliminated contestants who would add another ingredient. She chose Theresa who added desiccated coconut in order to make a yoghurt rosemary snowball which highly impressed the judges over Cecilia's yoghurt sorbet and earned Theresa her place back in the competition, winning the Power Apron.
S8.E34 ∙ Sails by the Bay Team Challenge: Six-Course Degustation Menu
Curtis Stone mentored the contestants at the restaurant Sails by the Bay in their team challenge. They were randomly chosen in pairs and each team had to cook and serve a 6 course degustation dish with the use of citruses for 50 people. The thirteenth contestant could sit out of the challenge to avoid elimination if Theresa used her Power Apron. Returning the favour for giving her the advantage to earn her place back in the competition, she chose Anastasia. The green team (Elise and Trent) attempted to come up with another element to improve their dish at the last minute, while the purple team (Chloe and Nicolette) ignored Curtis' advice for improvements on their dish. By the time the teams presented their dishes during service time, the green team's mandarin prawn salad had a technical issue on the prawns and the purple team's grapefruit sorbet received negative remarks on its presentation. Those dishes sent the two teams into the elimination round. The other teams won the challenge with the blue team's (Elena and Theresa) tangelo refresher named the dish of the day.
S8.E35 ∙ Nature Affinity Elimination Challenge
The contestants faced each other in pairs in a two-round elimination. For the first round, Elise and Nicolette had to cook a dish inspired by seashells while Trent and Chloe took the inspiration from autumn leaves. Elise and Trent produced the best dishes and were saved while Chloe and Nicolette then had 60 minutes to compete with a dish inspired by fire in the second round. It was a close decision, with one of them declared safe based on presentation. Although she was praised for the flavours of her dish, Nicolette was eliminated by judges' decision.
S8.E36 ∙ Mystery Box Challenge: Ugly Ingredients & Invention Test: Relay
Today's mystery box challenge contains eight of the ugliest ingredients ever seen. The contestants must impress the judges by creating a beautiful & delicious dish in only 60 minutes.
S8.E37 ∙ Pressure Test: Flynn McGarry's Beet Wellington
The four members of the Blue Team had two and a half hours to recreate Flynn McGarry's "Beet Wellington." Heather and Theresa impressed the judges, but both Anastasia and Chloe had a couple of serious flaws on their dishes. Chloe's beet bordelaise sauce was diluted after she accidentally spilled half of her smoked beetroot water and her beet leaf balls lacked smoothness. However, despite her impressive run throughout the competition, Anastasia's first Pressure Test saw her struggling the most. Though she was praised in the cooking of her wellington, the dish lacked balance itself due to the filling of her beet balls being too salty and her under-smoked dates for the roulade. These were not enough for the judges to disregard her rough plating of the dish and Anastasia was eliminated from the competition.
S8.E38 ∙ Immunity Challenge: Victor Liong
The four contestants who impressed in the relay invention test cook for immunity. Does the winner of the first round have what it takes to out-cook guest chef Victor Liong from Lee Ho Fook?
S8.E39 ∙ Team Challenge: Gourmet Cinema
In today's gourmet cinema team challenge, the judges reveal that the contestants must cater for 165 cinema goers at a very special cinema event - the screening of MasterChef Australia's Greatest Hits.
S8.E40 ∙ Elimination Challenge: Choose or Lose
Elise, Karmen, Matt, Mimi and Trent competed in an elimination challenge to secure the last remaining spots in the Top 10. They had up to 100 minutes to gather their ingredients from between one and five small different hidden pantries. Karmen, Matt and Trent chose 75 minutes to cook with herbs and vegetables while Elise and Mimi waited another 15 minutes and had 60 minutes to cook with the addition of fruit. Trent, Matt and Mimi had amazing results, joining the Top 10. Karmen showed the judges her ambition and creativity on her Mille-Feuille which has sweet tomatoes, soft ricotta, very clever and Elise's charred apricot was well flavoured and the texture of the parfait and the saltiness and the flavour of the thyme in the crumb. While Karmen and Elise impressed the judges with their dishes, Karmen's basil ice cream lacked the brightness and the depth of flavour which made her dish out of balance. In the end, it's enough to send Karmen home.
S8.E41 ∙ Team Challenge: Melbourne Star
Heston Blumenthal mentored the Top 10 home cooks for the week's challenges, which involved a pop-up restaurant each night, with contestants from each challenge sent straight into the Elimination Round. For their first challenge, contestants were divided into teams of two, with each team preparing a main dish and a dessert for 20 diners in pods on the revolving Melbourne Star, which for one night would become the world's largest pop-up restaurant. Heston set the theme of the night: outer space. A number of teams struggled with timing, but all managed to get the dishes to their diners in time before the pods moved on. Highlights included the Yellow Team's (Matt and Theresa) "black hole" dessert, the Blue Team's (Mimi and Elena) "sea stars" main, and the Red Team's (Chloe and Harry) "big bang" dessert. Trent and Heather from the Maroon Team had overcooked duck on their main and a heavy sponge cake in their dessert, making them the first two contestants sent into the elimination.
S8.E42 ∙ Team Challenge: Brighton Beach Ice Cream Stands
Heston Week. For one day only, Melbourne's iconic Brighton Beach bathing boxes become ice cream stands selling Heston-inspired ice creams & ice blocks. The least impressive team will face elimination.
S8.E43 ∙ Team Challenge: Three-Course Dessert Spread
Heston Week. Tonight's challenge, Heston inspires the contestants to create a three-course dessert spread using only the food of the Gods: chocolate. The least impressive team will face the elimination challenge.
S8.E44 ∙ Service Challenge: Recipes from the Past
Harry, Elise, Mimi and Theresa competed in the last pop-up challenge at the restaurant of Rippon Lea Estate. It was a service challenge where each received an envelope containing a recipe of an historical-themed dish. They had two hours to cook their assigned dishes to serve for 10 diners plus the judges. Theresa fell behind the others after panicking when preparing her dish during service time. Her poor presentation of the dish and inconsistent plating put her in the last spot in elimination as Harry, Elise and Mimi were safe. Elise's fennel nougat tart was praised by the judges and declared a "signature dish."
S8.E45 ∙ Elimination Challenge: Colours of the Rainbow & MasterClass 3
Rainbow Affinity Elimination Challenge - The losing contestants from each pop-up challenge faced an elimination set by Heston and the judges. Each contestant randomly picked a knife with a colour of the rainbow (Red for Theresa, Orange for Elena, Yellow for Heather, Green for Brett, Blue for Matt, Indigo for Chloe and Violet for Trent) and they had 75 minutes to present a dish inspired by their assigned colour. Theresa, Elena and Brett had the top three dishes. They were safe from elimination, along with Trent, while Chloe, Heather and Matt all missed the mark, each having noticeable errors on their dishes. While Chloe and Matt's dishes failed to adequately incorporate their colours, the judges were not impressed with Heather's Lemon Delicious dessert which collapsed on the plate and also criticised her combination of flavours. Ultimately, that dish became her downfall and Heather was eliminated. MasterClass: Heston Blumenthal, Matt Preston and Gary Mehigan - Heston and the judges presented their recipes to the contestants in their Masterclass: Heston's roast chicken, Matt's steak sandwich, Gary's French squab and truffles and Heston's chocolate mousse.
S8.E46 ∙ Mystery Box Challenge: All the Ingredients & Invention Test: Hardest Dishes
The contestants' Mystery Box Challenge was more difficult than usual as they had to cook a dish using all of the ingredients from the box (corn, dates, pork belly, onion, apples, cinnamon, rum and condensed milk). Harry and Mimi delivered the best dishes, but it was Brett who won the advantage with his sticky pork and smoked corn puree. His advantage was to choose one of three difficult Invention Tests from previous seasons: cactus and prickly pear (chosen by Julia Taylor from series 4), 70s' Apricot Chicken (chosen by Amy Shields from series 6) and earth (chosen by Billie McKay from series 7). Brett chose re-inventing apricot chicken and the contestants had 60 minutes. Brett won a place to compete for Immunity along with Elise and Harry. Theresa, Mimi and Trent on the other hand failed to impress the judges. Their dishes were not well received, sending them to elimination.
S8.E47 ∙ Pressure Test: Peter Gilmore's Cherry Jam Lamington
Peter Gilmore presented his acclaimed dessert, "Cherry Jam Lamington" to the contestants to replicate within two hours. Trent didn't receive any negative feedback from the judges on his dish and was safe. Mimi, despite struggles and mistakes in her preparation time, also impressed the judges although she was criticised for the lack of coconut shards on her dish. Theresa's dish lacked tartness in the cherry jam and her ice cream was too sweet. The imbalance of the dish resulted in Theresa being re-eliminated from the competition.
S8.E48 ∙ Immunity Challenge: Shannon Bennett
Brett, Harry and Elise competed in the first round of the Immunity, which was another Mystery Box. They could choose to cook with one or more of the first four ingredients in twenty minutes, or open a smaller box inside to gain 20 minutes cooking time but then have to cook with whatever ingredient was inside. Brett chose the 20 minute cooking time with venison, bay leaves, cauliflower and elderflower oil. Harry and Elise opened the smaller box which contained quandongs and another smaller box. For a further 20 minutes cooking time, they both also opened this, meaning they had 60 minutes to cook with mastic, quandongs and at least one of the original ingredients. Harry struggled to incorporate the mastic into his dessert and his meringues didn't work. Elise's quandong tart and mastic ice cream was praised by the judges, but Brett won the challenge with his perfectly cooked venison. Brett then competed for Immunity against MasterChef mentor Shannon Bennett with Gary running the kitchen for the challenge. Due to the week's theme of difficult challenges, he had no time advantage. Both had 60 minutes and an open pantry. Brett's lamb cutlets with smoked parsnip puree scored 17 points but lost to Shannon's lamb two ways and mustard foam with a score of 18 points.
S8.E49 ∙ Team Challenge: Australian Produce
The remaining eight contestants are split into teams of two to cook a two-course meal inspired by quality Australian produce for 80 diners. The two least impressive teams will face elimination.
S8.E50 ∙ Elimination Challenge: Time Auction
The losing team from the off-site challenge will compete in a time-auction elimination challenge and one contestant's dream will be over. Also, we end with a sweet Masterclass that's all about dessert.
S9.E1 ∙ Auditions Part 1
The heat is on as MasterChef Australia returns for 2017. A fresh group of home cooks from around the country will eagerly tackle challenges that will see one of them take home the title and $250,000.
S9.E2 ∙ Auditions Part 2
Maggie Beer set a challenge to choose from the twelve home cooks who got a second chance, in order to fill three positions in the top24. The three least impressive cooks will be eliminated, and the remaining six will go on to a pressure test to fight for the last apron.
S9.E3 ∙ Auditions Part 3
Pressure test set up by pastry chef Anna Polyviou, in a fight for the last apron, heading to the top 24.
S9.E4 ∙ Top 24 Mystery Box Challenge
First cook of the year for the top24 contestants, in a mystery box set-up by the 2016 winner - Elena Duggan.
S9.E5 ∙ Hidden Pairs Elimination Challenge
Benita, Benjamin, Lee and Rashedul competed in the first elimination challenge. Each had to pick an ingredient of their choice next to a cloche that contained a hidden paired ingredient and make a dish in 75 minutes.
S9.E6 ∙ Judge's Mystery Box Challenge and Invention Test
Home cooking week. Without any fancy equipment, the contestants have 75 minutes to cook with ingredients chosen by the judges. Eloise won the advantage and choose halloumi as the key ingredient for the invention test.
S9.E7 ∙ Pressure Test: Gary Mehigan's Roast Chicken, Peas and Potatoes
The three contestants with the least impressive dishes from the invention test face off in the pressure test. To survive they must keep up with Gary Mehigan as he prepares his classic roast chicken.
S9.E8 ∙ Immunity Challenge: Jarod Di Blasi
In the 32-minute first round, Eliza, Sarah and Karlie had to make a savoury dinner plate with just one trip to the pantry. Sarah's Pan Friend Barramundi with Bok Choy and Vinaigrette won the round and she advanced to the Immunity Challenge against Jarrod Di Blasi, who was the Victorian Young Chef of the Year. She chose one of the judges' home fridges (Gary's which contained Asian Ingredients) and with 75 minutes, prepped a XO Marinated Steak with Pickled Mushrooms and Potato Mash while Jarrod made a Sashimi of Whiting with Roast Bone Dressing and Avocado Puree in 60 minutes. Jarrod received overall praise on the creativity of his dish while Sarah's dish also pleased the judges but her mashed potatoes and her marinade divided the judges' opinions, giving her 23 points to Jarrod's 27.
S9.E9 ∙ 400 Gradi Team Challenge
The contestants arrived at the 400 Gradi Pizzeria headed by World Pizza Champion Johnny Di Francesco for a team challenge cooking for 250 guests. The two teams: Green Team (Diana, Karlie, Sarah, Benita, Eliza, Bryan, Ben, Trent, Callan, Pete and Ray) and Red Team (Eloise, Tamara, Nicole, Michelle, Jess, Pia, Samuel, Sam, Josh, Arum and Benjamin) had three hours preparation and service time to cook and plate an Italian three-course meal: two pizzas, a pasta dish and a dessert. During their first challenge, both teams struggled in prepping their respective pizza dough and desserts. The Red Team's pizzas received higher praise than the Green Team's, which had technical issues with the topping and the crust. However, the judges slammed their bland pasta and heavy sponge dessert compared to the Green Team's, and sent the Red Team into elimination.
S9.E10 ∙ Potato Elimination Challenge
The losing team members faced a two-round elimination challenge featuring the core ingredient: potatoes. The first round was to cook a classic side dish of chips and dip in 60 minutes. Samuel, Arum and Eloise had the Top 3 chip dishes while Benjamin, Jess, Josh and Michelle served soggy chips, sending them to the second round. After 60 minutes to cook a dish with potatoes, Jess and Michelle delivered exemplary dishes. While one of Benjamin's sweet potato doughnuts was mushy, Josh's undercooking of his potato resulted in his gnocchi being lumpy and made him the third contestant to be eliminated.
S9.E11 ∙ Masterclass: George, Gary and Matt
The judges individually presented their respective simple dishes to the contestants in their MasterClass: George demonstrated the cooking of broccoli on a grill, Gary presented a dessert that featured chocolate and beetroot, and Matt cooked nuggets and chips. Gary helped George make his Lamb Tortellini with Butter Sauce and Yoghurt Dressing.
S9.E12 ∙ Ben Shewry's Mystery Box ans Invention Test
Ben Shewry showcased his Mystery Box that contained Australian ingredients for the contestants. After 75 minutes, the top five were Jess, Tamara, Trent, Nicole and Ray, with the latter winning the challenge. Ray's advantage for the Invention Test was to choose one of the three cooking techniques that had to be highlighted in the contestants' dishes. Throughout the second challenge, Ray, despite choosing smoking as the highlight of the dish, was responsible for under-cooked crayfish and under-smoked broth, while Pia failed to plate up all of her elements. Sarah, Sam and Eloise impressed with their inventive dishes while Ray and Pia were joined by Pete in the Bottom 3.
S9.E13 ∙ Andy Bowdy's "Rita"
Pete, Pia and Ray had four-and-a-half hours to recreate pastry chef Andy Bowdy's signature twelve-element intricate layered cake. The judges were impressed with Pete's dish overall, despite him burning his second batch of candied pecans, and he was declared safe. Ray lost points in the presentation of his cake layers but was praised on the tasting apart from his thick biscuit base. Although Pia's dish had the best presentation, her meringue was soft and sugary and her bavarois was too dense. The errors in Pia's dessert outweighed Ray's bulging cake appearance and her time in the MasterChef Kitchen was over.
S9.E14 ∙ Immunity Challenge: Charlie Carrington
In the 45-minute first round, Eloise, Sam and Sarah were tasked to cook a dish with the use of a waffle maker. While Sam and Sarah opted for the sweet option for their waffle dishes, Eloise's savoury take on chicken and waffles with chilli soy caramel won her the opportunity to cook against chef Charlie Carrington of Atlas Dining in Melbourne. Eloise had the advantage to beat the chef by choosing the indulgent pantry that had sweet ingredients and, with 75 minutes, cooked a dessert of chocolate and peanut butter. The judges applaud Eloise's dish over Charlie's midnight snack dish that left them uncertain of his mascarpone ginger beer foam, awarding her the immunity pin with 28 points to Charlie's 21.
S9.E15 ∙ Relay Team Challenge
Four teams: Yellow Team (Benjamin, Sam, Eloise, Eliza, and Bryan), Red Team (Diana, Trent, Samuel, Callan, and Ray), Blue Team (Tamara, Sarah, Karlie, Jess, and Michelle), and Green Team (Benita, Ben, Arum, Pete, and Nicole) competed in a relay challenge where each member had 15 minutes of cooking time and 45 seconds to pass their instructions to the next cook. The captains Diana (Red Team), Benjamin (Yellow), Tamara (Blue) and Benita (Green) were tasked with choosing a dish that featured maple syrup. Benita and Tamara chose the savoury option for their dishes (Green's Singaporean Chilli Crab and Prawns, and Blue's Asian Sticky Pork Belly with Bao Buns and Slaw) while Benjamin and Diana opted for Maple Ice Cream desserts. Throughout the following changeovers, Benita's choice of dish confused her team members when she decided to replace the palm sugar with the syrup at the start of the cook, the Red Team struggled with their jelly element which they failed to plate at the last minute and the Yellow Team provided improvements to their dish. Michelle, who was the third to cook for the Blue Team, struggled throughout and tampered with the elements of her team's dish, forcing the last two members to salvage it. The Yellow and Red Teams were applauded for their desserts despite the missing jelly in the Red Team's dish, while the judges praised Diana's leadership and organization of her team's dish. The Blue Team's dish was criticised on their overcooked pork while the Green Team's maple flavour couldn't be detected despite using all of the syrup throughout the cook. As their dish failed to highlight the core ingredient, the Green Team were sent to elimination.
S9.E16 ∙ Kirsten Tibballs' Mystery Box Challenge and Flower Affinity Invention Test
Contestants have 90 minutes to create a delicious dessert from the mystery box ingredients however, only five dishes will be tasted and only three will move on to the immunity challenge.
S9.E17 ∙ Pressure Test: Christy Tania's Ice Cream Float
Christy Tania showed Bryan, Samuel and Trent her gravity-defying ice cream dessert for them to replicate in three hours, with thirty minutes to make their sugar balloons. The time pressure proved too much for the contestants as they had flaws in their dishes: Trent's balloon was too small as it dispersed when he presented his dish to the judges, Samuel used excess chocolate to cover the crevice of his cone after he poured his hot chocolate sauce during the cook, and Bryan's semifreddo was icy, too dense and contained dollops of meringue in the mixture, while he ran out of time to make his balloon. Ultimately, Trent and Samuel scored in taste and presentation, respectively. Despite having a good run in the competition, Bryan's first Pressure Test proved too much, ending his time in the MasterChef Kitchen.
S9.E18 ∙ Immunity Challenge: Lauren Eldridge, Angélique Pereto and Reynold Poernomo
As a team, Callan, Diana and Sam individually competed against one of the three guest pastry chefs for immunity. By knife draw: Sam was pitted against pastry chef Lauren Eldridge, Diana faced chef Angélique Pereto and Callan cooked against KOI Dessert Bar's Reynold Poernomo (from season 7). In 75 minutes, Diana made a dark chocolate sorbet with orange sauce, Sam cooked a deconstructed black forest gateaux and Callan baked a layered sponge cake with fruits, jelly, toffee and chocolate ganache. In 60 minutes, Reynold made a mango cream with spiced pineapple and lemongrass ginger consommé, Angélique decided to cook a dessert of green tea with coconut and raspberry, and Lauren did a honeycomb with crème fraiche ice cream. When Reynold's dessert scored 27 points, the judges felt Callan's use of his chocolate ganache was unnecessary and gave him 16 points. Diana's dish was liked by the judges but the creativity of Angélique's dessert highly impressed the judges, giving her a perfect score of 30 to Diana's 18. While Sam earned rave reviews on his dish, Lauren's use of two simple elements and precision earned her high praise (27-28).
S9.E19 ∙ Edible Dessert Greenhouse Art Work Team Challenge
Two teams: Red Team (Sam, Trent, Ben, Arum, Karlie, Diana, Sarah, Pete, and Eliza) and Blue Team (Nicole, Tamara, Eloise, Benjamin, Ray, Jess, Samuel, Callan and Michelle) were tasked by Darren Purchese to construct edible dessert art installations in their respective stations for public viewing in seven hours. Sarah's Red Team chose a Japanese zen garden concept while Tamara's Blue Team took inspiration of a beehive. During prep time, the Red Team overcooked their first batch of dehydrated strawberry cherry blossoms and forced them to only make 300 blossoms while the Blue Team took too long to make their honeycomb biscuits and to build their cookie cutters. Both teams were praised in their creativity by the judges but the Blue Team's installations lacked balance in the sweetness of each element over the Red Team's and sending them straight to elimination.
S9.E20 ∙ Blind Ingredient Tasting Elimination Challenge
The losing contestants (except Eloise, who used her Immunity Pin) had to correctly guess each sphere of a dessert ingredient such as liquorice, coconut, milk chocolate, ginger, macadamia nuts and dried dates while blindfolded, to avoid landing in one of three places for the second elimination round. The bottom three: Ray (who mistook grapes for watermelon), Benjamin (banana instead of rockmelon) and Tamara (cucumber rather than rockmelon) had 75 minutes to cook their desserts with the ingredient they guessed incorrectly. Both Tamara and Ray impressed with their dishes but, while Ray struggled throughout the challenge, it was Benjamin's overcooked bananas that sent him home.
S9.E21 ∙ David Thompson's Mystery Box Challenge and Invention Test
Thai cuisine expert and chef David Thompson set up a Mystery Box Challenge for the contestants to cook their dishes with his chosen Thai ingredients, with Tamara, Diana, Michelle, Karlie and Samuel selected as the top five. Karlie won the advantage in the Invention Test which was the choice between two of Thompson's dishes to cook an inventive dish with the ingredients of the chosen dish. She chose his pineapple and crab curry (over his tom yum soup) and several contestants prospered with their dishes to compete for three places in the Immunity Challenge. Tamara, Ben and Samuel had the top dishes chosen by the judges. Jess, Sam and Trent had technical errors in their dishes and were at risk of elimination.
S9.E22 ∙ Pressure Test: Josue Lopez's "After the Eucalypt Fire"
Jess, Sam and Trent had three hours to replicate "After the Eucalypt Fire", a 14-element emu dish cooked by Brisbane's Chef of the Year Josue Lopez. Despite his beetroot leaf puree being grainy, Sam was first to be declared safe. Jess' puree was bitter and lacked vibrance while Trent was praised for the cooking of his emu, his plating was unorganized and the lack of the essential crispy elements in his dish sent him home.
S9.E23 ∙ Immunity Challenge: Clinton McIver
Ben, Samuel and Tamara had 45 minutes to recreate a classic macaroni and cheese in the first round. Tamara's chilli mac 'n' cheese won her the chance to cook off against Melbourne chef Clinton McIver of Amaru. From a choice of herbs, she chose rosemary and cooked Chicken Rosemary Garlic Dumplings with Chicken Broth in 75 minutes while Clinton made a Rosemary Lamb with Pickled Vegetables and Pear in 60 minutes. Both of their dishes were praised on simplicity but Clinton's modern flavours of his dish beat Tamara's overall quality presentation by 27 points to 26.
S9.E24 ∙ South Melbourne Market Team Challenge
Four teams: Yellow Team (Ben, Karlie, Callan and Michelle), Blue Team (Diana, Eliza, Ray, and Sam), Green Team (Tamara, Sarah, Eloise, and Arum), and Red Team (Pete, Jess, Samuel, and Nicole) competed at the South Melbourne Market to cook two snacks (savoury and sweet) and sell them to 1000 people, with only two teams to be pronounced safe after they delivered the best dishes and earned the most money from the public, the bottom 2 teams will go into tomorrow's elimination and from there someone will be their last cook in the MasterChef Kitchen. All the teams struggled to plan their dishes: Michelle's Yellow Team attempted to estimate the mass of their ingredients, Tamara's Green Team took a lot of time to prepare the food and Sam's Blue Team had issues with the lime curd in their dessert. After service, the teams made $13,728 to be donated to Kidney Health Australia. The judges applauded the Blue Team's dishes that were free from flaws and declared the team safe. The Green Team was also safe with takings of $4,158. But for Red and Yellow Teams, they were sent to elimination.
S9.E25 ∙ Three Dishes from Six Eggs Elimination Challenge
The eight losing contestants faced a three-round elimination challenge to cook dishes in 45 minutes with only six eggs available. Ben, Michelle and Nicole had the top dishes in the first round. Karlie and Samuel thrived in the second round, sending Callan, Jess and Pete in the final elimination round. The judges doubted Pete's choice of cooking a simple steak and chips with a fried egg but they applauded his dish in the tasting. Callan was also safe with the creativity of his smoked egg yolk. Jess' flavours of her dish were flat while her egg cracked in the cooking which was overcooked, and she was eliminated.
S9.E26 ∙ Yotam's Mystery Box Challenge and Invention Test
Celebrity chef and writer Yotam Ottolenghi made his first appearance as this week's guest judge. His Mystery Box had ingredients that are used in Middle-Eastern cuisine: freekeh, tahini paste, lamb, date syrup, parsley, eggplant, rose water and sumac. After 75 minutes against Michelle, Eliza, Sarah and Ben, Karlie won the challenge for the second time, gaining the advantage of a 30-minute head start to cook a stuffed dish in 60 minutes. She then won the Invention Test, and joined Diana and Tamara with immunity. Pete and Ray, facing their third Pressure Test, were joined by Eloise, after all three served undercooked dishes.
S9.E27 ∙ Pressure Test: Yotam Ottolenghi's Mezze Feast
Eloise, Pete and Ray had one hour to recreate five dishes from Yotam's mezze feast: flatbreads, lamb koftas, deep fried olives, butter bean hummus and roasted ricotta with broad bean spread. Eloise won praise for the overall taste and quality of her dishes. Ray also won praise with his feast but served large chunks of onions in the koftas and some of his dishes were under-seasoned. Pete's disorganized plating failed in presentation while his flatbreads and fried olives received praise in the tasting, but overcooking his lamb and pomegranate jam was enough to send him home.
S9.E28 ∙ Immunity Challenge: Blayne Bertoncello
Karlie, Tamara and Diana compete in the first round where each of them take turns to name one of the 25 ingredients of Yotam's pastilla. Diana and Tamara were eliminated in consecutive guesses which left Karlie to cook up against O.MY head chef Blayne Bertoncello. Both of them had to feature the ingredients from the first round to cook their dishes. In 75 minutes, Karlie cooked Braised Chicken with Onion Sauce, Chipotle and Tomato while Blayne made a Tomato Salad with Chicken in 60 minutes. Karlie was praised for the cooking of her dish but received mixed reviews on the blubbery chicken skin. While Blayne's salad lacked acidity, it received overall praise for its taste and presentation, winning by 35 points to 30.
S9.E29 ∙ Vegetarian Feast Team Challenge
Two Teams: Green Team (Sarah, Karlie, Diana, Arum, Tamara, Samuel and Sam) and Blue Team (Nicole, Eloise, Callan, Ben, Ray, Michelle, and Eliza) had to cook a feast with vegetable-based dishes to impress 10 meat-eating guests and the judges. In the two-hour prep time, Callan's poor leadership and decisions pushed the Blue Team over the edge while both teams had issues in cooking their flatbreads. In the tasting, both teams' dishes were praised for highlighting the brief but their flatbreads were undercooked, and it was the Green Team's overuse of the sour plum compote that diluted and imbalanced their fried halloumi dish which sent them to elimination after the Blue Team won the challenge.
S9.E30 ∙ Visual Perception Elimination Challenge/Masterclass: Yotam Ottolenghi, George Calombaris and Gary Mehigan
The seven contestants took turns identifying a chosen sliced cross-section of an ingredient. Incorrect guesses led to three contestants being sent to the elimination round. Arum, Samuel, and Tamara had 75 minutes to cook their dishes from the pantry of ingredients that were guessed correctly in the first round. Arum's apple dessert was applauded, saving him from elimination. The verdict came down to Tamara's fruit tart with unusual flavour combinations and Samuel's vegetable tart with disproportionate quantities. As a result, Samuel was eliminated. Yotam, with assistance from Matt, presented three dishes to the contestants: a salad of cauliflower, shallots, barberries and pistachios, scotch eggs with aubergine and manchego; and a pistachio and rose semolina cake. George cooked one of the dishes from his Press Club restaurant: a potato skordalia, while Gary made a savoury yabby tomato tart.
S9.E31 ∙ Curtis Stone's Mystery Box Challenge and Power Pin Invention Test
Curtis Stone presented the ingredients for the Mystery Box challenge. Sam beat Diana and Ray to secure the advantage for the Invention Test. He chose three core ingredients (kingfish, capers and turnips) from farmers' produce. This season introduces the Power Pin that grants the wearer 15 minutes extra time in any individual challenge until the finals. The best dish in this Invention Test will win the pin. Diana, Karlie and Michelle were named the Top 3 with Karlie delivering the winning dish for the pin. The four cooks facing elimination are Arum, Ray, Sam and Tamara.
S9.E32 ∙ Pressure Test: Deniz Karaca's "Passion for Caramel"
The bottom four contestants from the invention test must now cook-off in the Pressure Test set by one of the world's top chocolatiers to avoid elimination. Who will be next to leave the competition?
S9.E33 ∙ Second Chance Cook-Off
The previously eliminated contestants returned for a second chance to cook for a place back in the competition. In two rounds, they could only choose one core ingredient from the given pantry to cook a first-round savoury dish and a second-round dessert dish. Jess, Samuel, Bryan, Tamara, Pete and Lee had the top savoury dishes and advanced to the next round. The top three in the second round were Bryan, Tamara and Jess. After her elimination in the previous episode, Tamara returned to the competition after producing the best dish.
S9.E34 ∙ Pop-Up Restaurant Team Challenge
MasterChef Australia Season 8 runner-up Matt Sinclair mentored two teams of contestants: Red Team (Callan, Diana, Sarah, Karlie, Eliza and Nicole) and Blue Team (Ben, Arum, Michelle, Tamara, Sam and Ray) to create pop-up restaurants and cook a four-course meal to be served to 100 customers in three hours. Tamara, having an advantage after earning back her place in the competition, chose to spare Eloise from the team challenge. Karlie's Red Team were assigned to cook dishes with meat and Ben's Blue Team cooked seafood dishes. Both teams struggled early in the prep time: The Red Team fell behind making their dishes due to a series of technical errors, while the Blue Team had issues of preparing their entrée and delayed their second main dish in preparing the noodles. Both of the teams' dishes show technique and flavour but the Blue Team's delayed tuna dish with technical flaws and confusing apricot flavours of their dessert took them to elimination.
S9.E35 ∙ Potluck Elimination Challenge
The contestants chose a covered bench of their choice with different ingredients and kitchen equipment, to make a dish without the use of the pantry. Ben received praise for the cooking of his Moreton Bay bug bisque. Tamara's use of the hibachi grill for her duck dish met with acclaim. Sam succeeded in the cooking of his lamb apart from his use of fruit. Michelle's crepe dessert was applauded for the use of apple in three different ways. Ray tried to think of a dish with the use of a fryer and an oven, and he decided to cook a simple fish and chips dish, of which the judges were not impressed with its lack of originality. Arum, despite his concerns of the rareness of his steak after having issues with his cooking time, was commended on the quality of his dish. It was clear that Ray's dish did not match the competition and he was eliminated.
S9.E36 ∙ Murray River Mystery Box Challenge and Invention Test: Water
Heston Blumenthal took the Top 12 contestants on a road trip around Victoria for the week's challenges inspired by the four classical elements: earth, air, fire, water. They arrive at Swan Hill on the Murray River for their first challenge based on water. Contestants were given 75 minutes to cook a dish with Heston's Mystery Box ingredients: corn, olives, oranges, Murray cod, currants, saltbush, oats and snails. Diana, Karlie and Sarah produced the top dishes, with Diana gaining the advantage of extra time and mentoring by Heston in the second round. The least-performing contestants from each challenge will be sent to this week's Elimination and they don't get to cook for the rest of the week. In the Invention Test, some of the contestants produced inventive dishes but Diana (whose elements in her dessert were disjointed), Tamara (whose technical dessert was too sweet) and Sarah (who served undercooked yabbies) struggled. Tamara only just made it to safety, but, there was no life rough for Diana and Sarah who were the first two contestants to face elimination.
S9.E37 ∙ Brim Silos Team Challenge: Earth
The remaining 10 contestants arrived at the silo mill in Brim, Victoria for their second challenge. They were divided into pairs: Green Team (Eloise and Michelle), Red Team (Tamara and Eliza) Blue Team (Callan and Sam), Yellow Team (Arum and Ben) and Purple Team (Karlie and Nicole) had 75 minutes to cook a main dish and dessert inspired by the earth. The Purple Team (Karlie and Nicole) were first to be declared safe after impressing with their saltbush lamb dish, and grapes and grains dessert. While the Blue Team's (Callan and Sam) dessert pleased the judges, their chocolate lamb dish was deemed the worst with undercooked meat and an unnecessary flavour combination. The elements conflicted in the main dish of the Yellow Team (Arum and Ben), however, their dessert was enough to save them and the Blue Team was sent to elimination.
S9.E38 ∙ Mildura Salt Flats Team Challenge: Air
The remaining 8 contestants arrive at the salt pans of Mildura for their air element-based challenge. They split into two teams: Red Team (Tamara, Karlie, Nicole and Michelle) and Blue Team (Ben, Arum, Eloise, and Eliza) had two hours to cook a three-course meal, including a salt element dessert, to be served to the guests and the judges. The progress of Eliza's Blue Team strive in the captain's poor leadership, composing a small underseasoned entrée. While Nicole's Red Team were fascinated with their entrée and main dishes, they struggled to cope their team member Michelle whose making the dessert - their whipped chocolate ganache was too thick and lacked salt in the plate. Eventually, the Blue Team wins and were pronounced safe with their other course dishes. For the Red Team, their dessert failed to meet the brief and Nicole, Michelle, Tamara and Karlie joined the others in elimination.
S9.E39 ∙ Jack's Magazine Invention Test: Fire
Arum, Ben, Eliza and Eloise faced off in their last challenge inside Jack's Magazine from Maribyrnong, Victoria. The challenge was a two-round Invention Test cooking dishes (savoury and sweet) with the element of fire as inspiration. Ben's dish met with acclaim from the judges with Arum also declared safe while Eliza and Eloise, both had technical issues with their dishes, were sent to the second round to compete and avoid landing the last place of the Elimination Round with Eliza's Peach Ember dessert beat Eloise's Rhubarb Sorbet with Smoked Italian Meringue to join Ben and Arum in the Top 3.
S9.E40 ∙ Elimination Challenge: Deception/Masterclass: Heston Blumenthal, Gary Mehigan and Matt Preston
Elimination Challenge: Deception - The contestants return to the kitchen after their four-day road trip for the Elimination Challenge. From MasterChef Australia (series 6), the contestants got 75 minutes to cook a dish that focused on culinary deception what they've never seen. While she struggled with her caramel element, Eloise was safe after delivering the dish of the day. Ultimately, Sam and Nicole (both of their dishes had less deceptive creativity) were among the Bottom 3 while Michelle presented a frigid parfait when she took a risk of using cream cheese for the base for the mixture while her coating was butyraceous and hard. Michelle's dish had too many flaws and it's enough to send her home. Masterclass: Heston Blumenthal, Gary Mehigan and Matt Preston - Heston presented dishes with different cooking methods of eggs. Gary made a Blue Eye Cod with Bacon and Mussels. Matt showcased his use of molecular gastronomy in making his ice cream bread and baked a self-saucing chocolate pudding. Lastly, Heston served a spit roasted barbecue lamb to the contestants.
S9.E41 ∙ Peter Gilmore's Mystery Box Challenge and Invention Test
Peter Gilmore's choice of ingredients from his Mystery Box tasked the contestants to cook a dish in 75 minutes. After winning the advantage for the Invention Test over Arum and Diana, Tamara was given the choice to pick one of Peter's three technical dessert dishes that were used in Pressure Tests of previous seasons: Guava and Custard Apple Snow Egg (from MasterChef Australia (series 2)), Eight Texture Chocolate Cake (from MasterChef Australia (series 4)) and Cherry Jam Lamington (from MasterChef Australia (series 8)). She chose his series 8 Pressure Test dish, requiring the contestants to cook a dish inspired by the lamington (coconut shavings) in 60 minutes. It was Eliza, Eloise and Sarah who won the opportunity to cook for immunity. Callan, Arum and Nicole failed to recreate the flavour of the dish and were sent to elimination.
S9.E42 ∙ Pressure Test: Paul Carmichael's "Bajan Fish Fry"
Arum, Callan and Nicole had three hours and forty five minutes to replicate a Bajan three-course meal - a fried snapper, a charred pumpkin with salted cod, a black pudding with cucumber and a spiced cucumber juice by guest chef Paul Carmichael. None of them managed to complete all the elements in their dishes, particularly in their pumpkin. Arum's cooking of the fish damaged the presentation, but his dishes stood out in the tasting. After Callan struggled throughout the challenge and won praise for his fish, his accompanying dishes were let down by lots of little details: too much spice and vinegar and his pumpkin was undercooked. However, despite being praised on her pumpkin as the stand out dish, it was Nicole's failure in deboning her fish and Nicole's first Pressure Test was enough to send her home.
S9.E43 ∙ Immunity Challenge: Ben Devlin
Eliza, Eloise and Sarah were given 60 minutes to cook a stuffed dish in the first round. The judges loved Sarah's chicken wings with mushroom filling and she competed in round two against chef Ben Devlin of the Paper Daisy restaurant. From a choice of similar paired ingredients, Sarah picked prawns and shrimp paste for her 75-minute cook. Both she and Ben received overall praise on their grilled prawn dishes but the professional won the challenge by one point over Sarah (28-27).
S9.E44 ∙ Blind Pairing Team Challenge
The Top 10 were divided in pairs for the team challenge: Green Team (Tamara and Sarah), Yellow Team (Diana and Sam), Red Team (Karlie and Ben), Blue Team (Callan and Eloise) and Purple Team (Arum and Eliza). Through the use of communication, they had to cook two plates of the same dish while each member was separated by a divider. None of the teams' dishes matched completely, but all won praise in the tasting. The split decision came down to the Green Team (Tamara and Sarah) and the Purple Team (Arum and Eliza) with the judges voting the Green Team as the winners. Ultimately, Eloise and Callan's overcooked scallops and Diana and Sam's misplaced praline sent them to elimination.
S9.E45 ∙ Time or Ingredients Elimination Challenge
Callan, Diana, Eloise and Sam competed in the time displacement elimination challenge from series 8 where they had to gather their ingredients from one of the following four different hidden pantries on the prescribed time limit. Eloise, Sam and Callan had 60 minutes to cook with herbs, fruits and vegetables while Diana waited for the last pantry (protein) with 30 minutes left to cook. Her risk paid off when her dish was praised by the judges, along with Eloise's ice cream dessert. The difficult decision was between Callan and Sam as their dishes did not impress. Sam's flavours had work together but his techniques let him down when his flawed elements impacted the presentation and taste of his dessert and Callan took a risk with odd flavour combinations in his ice cream dessert but while something's didn't work, the judges like his plating and his techniques were really on the money. Sam was send home. Tamara and Sarah will fly business class for the Top 9 contestants' trip to Japan after winning the team challenge.
S9.E46 ∙ Tokyo Eclectic Box Challenge and Invention Test
After arriving in Japan with the judges, the Top 9 contestants each bought one ingredient around Tokyo for the Mystery Box: scallops (by Tamara), lily root (Sarah), soya beans (Callan), honey yams (Arum), cherry blossom radish (Eloise), wagyu (Karlie), sesame dressing (Diana), miso (Eliza) and sake (Ben). After 60 minutes, the three best dishes were cooked by Karlie, Eloise and Diana, who was the winner for the Invention Test's advantage. She chose wasabi (over ginger and soy sauce). The contestants then had 60 minutes and an open pantry to cook their dishes. Beating Eliza and Sarah was Ben, whose Wasabi Ice Cream with Yam Fondants and Nutmeg Biscuit earned him a chance for immunity.
S9.E47 ∙ Kodama Eight-course Degustation Challenge
The other contestants arrive at the Michelin-starred restaurant of chef Tsutomo Kodama where each must cook a dish of a Japanese eight-course degustation menu under mentorship by George. The two contestants who produce the best dishes will join Ben in the Immunity Challenge. Tamara had the first course of shiso with crab and yuzu. Eliza was assigned to cook white asparagus accompanied with a quail egg for the second course. Diana's assigned core ingredient for the third course were clams, producing a clam broth with spring onions and ginger floss. Mackerel was assigned for Eloise's fourth course dish, with cauliflower, tomato and wasabi. Karlie had the fifth course with mushrooms in different ways. Arum's dish of marinated eye fillet with sake, broccoli and wasabi was the sixth course. Callan produced a dessert with matcha for the seventh course. Sarah was last with a savoury dessert of black sesame for the eighth course. All of their dishes (except Eloise's and Callan's, after struggling with the flavours) earned general acclaim from the judges and the customers. The dishes of Karlie and Sarah won overall praise from the judges and they joined Ben to compete for immunity.
S9.E48 ∙ Mount Fuji Immunity Challenge
Ben, Karlie and Sarah arrive at the Obuchi Tea Plantation in the foothills of Mount Fuji for the two-round immunity challenge. In the first round, each must cook a dish with one of the three Japanese fruits of their choice (fuji apple, shiranui and yuzu) to land two places in the second round. Karlie and Sarah had 60 minutes to make a dish that featured tea as the main ingredient. Sarah managed to claim the immunity pin after beating Karlie's Tea Poached Chicken Broth with her Tea Braised Pork Belly, Vegetables and Bean Curd.
S9.E49 ∙ Shinjuku Food Stalls Team Challenge
The contestants arrive at the food stalls of Shinjuku where they were divided into teams of three: Blue Team (Tamara, Sarah, and Callan), Yellow Team (Karlie, Eloise, and Diana) an Red Team (Arum, Ben, and Eliza) to cook three Japanese street foods to be served to 100 diners. The Yellow Team won the challenge with the prize of a private MasterClass and they were first to be declared safe. The Red Team's beef skewer dish lacked sauce but otherwise, they were also safe. Although the judges applauded the prawn dish of Blue Team member Sarah, it was the technical flaws of her other team members' dishes that sent them to elimination.
S9.E50 ∙ Akagi Shrine Elimination Challenge
Sarah decided to participate in the elimination round by not using her immunity pin. She, Callan and Tamara had 75 minutes to make a dish inspired by their personal past and future at the Akagi Shrine. Callan made a sushi-inspired dessert, Sarah made a dish called "steamboat" (pork with mushrooms, taro and wombok), and Tamara made pork dumplings with a spicy broth. Both Tamara and Sarah had outstanding dishes and they were both safe, whereupon Callan was eliminated when his dessert lacked flavour in its roasted rice ice cream.
S10.E1 ∙ Auditions Part 1
The amateur cooks are given one hour to recreate their signature dish for the first of the two judges' auditions. The judges introduce the nine past winners of the program, who are there to cheer them on.
S10.E2 ∙ Auditions Part 2
After handing out 18 aprons on the first day of cooking, the judges are looking for six more cooks to round out the top 24. The cooks who were given a second chance will battle it out in a challenge.
S10.E3 ∙ Hospitality Cooking Challenge
Our 2018 cooks enter the MasterChef kitchen for their first challenge as the top 24. The contestants need to imagine they are hosting the judges at their house for a meal, cooking anything they want.
S10.E4 ∙ Elimination Challenge: What's in the fridge
In the first elimination challenge of the season, three contestants fight to stay in the competition. They are given 75 minutes to cook, using only the ingredients contained in their fridges from home.
S10.E5 ∙ Eclectic Box Challenge & Precipitation Invention Test
The 23 cooks enter the kitchen for the first mystery box challenge of the season. This time, the rules are changing: the winner of the mystery box will get a game-changing advantage.
S10.E6 ∙ Pressure Test: Maggie Beer
The three contestants with the least impressive dishes from the invention test face-off in the pressure test. Queen of the kitchen Maggie Beer enters with the dish to be recreated.
S10.E7 ∙ Immunity Challenge: Shui Ishizaka
The winner of the mystery box challenge and the three best-performing cooks from the invention test will compete for immunity, with Shannon Bennett back in the kitchen to guide and mentor the contestants.How will the contestants make use of the humble egg? In the first immunity challenge of the season, one dish will crack, while the others will be eggs-quisite!
S10.E8 ∙ Team Challenge: MCG
The contestants find themselves on the turf of the iconic MCG for the first team challenge. Split into two teams, each must cook delicious and nutritious food for 50 diners using a different protein.
S10.E9 ∙ Elimination Challenge: Source of inspiration
The losing team from the MCG service challenge must face-off in this elimination challenge. The contestants must cook something inspired by the dish that made them fall in love with food.
S10.E10 ∙ Nigella's Mystery Box Challenge & Food Physics Invention Test
Nigella Lawson returned as the guest judge for the week with her choice of Mystery Box ingredients: marsala, chicken livers, squid, condensed milk, ginger, chilli, cherries, passion fruit, anchovies and thyme. The winning dish after 75 minutes earned entry to the Immunity Challenge and also an afternoon tea with Nigella in London. Out of the dishes of Genene, Gina, Jess and Reece, it was Kristen who won the challenge. The remaining contestants were given 75 minutes in the Invention Test to cook a dish focusing on the sounds of "snap, crackle and pop". Ben, Loki and Hoda succeeded in meeting the brief and were named the Top 3, mentions went to the dishes of Lisa and Reece. Adele and Jenny, who were in the bottom three last week, were once again sent to elimination along with Chloe.
S10.E11 ∙ Pressure Test: Nigella's Chocolate Feast
Adele, Chloe and Jenny were given 75 minutes to recreate four of Nigella's chocolate desserts: a white chocolate cookie dough pot, a milk chocolate brownie, a dark chocolate olive oil mousse and a ruby chocolate cheesecake. Chloe nailed the challenge with her dishes as it came down to Jenny and Adele. Jenny's mousse was too runny after struggling with her egg whites and Adele's cheesecake was rushed on the assembling while both of their cookies were underbaked. But Adele forgot the white chocolate chips in the dough batter which failed to attain the objective of Nigella's Pressure Test and that was enough to eliminate her.
S10.E12 ∙ Immunity Challenge: Alanna Sapwell
Ben, Hoda, Kristen and Loki competed in the first round, cooking pancakes in 45 minutes. Hoda and Loki both impressed with their dishes but it was Loki who won the challenge with his savoury take on the dish (dosa with two chutneys) to cook off against Alanna Sapwell, head chef of Saint Peter restaurant, in the second round. He chose one of the two citrus fruits (lemons over oranges) as the core ingredient. During her 60 minutes, Alanna cooked Squid with Ink Sauce and Lemon Dressing. Loki won praise for his Kingfish with Shellfish Lemon Broth and scored 37 points over Alanna's 34, winning him the immunity pin.
S10.E13 ∙ Brunch Service Challenge
The contestants, led by Aldo from the Red team and Kristen from the Blue team, took charge for service in two adjacent cafes (Kitty Burns and Frankie Says) in Abbotsford, Victoria and served their menu of four brunch meals prepared in two-and-a-half-hours for 75 customers each. During prep time, Brendan of the Red team was injured when his hand was cut on a broken bottle of olive oil; the other team members took charge. All of their dishes stood out during the tasting and, despite Red team losing a team member, it was the undercooked semolina crumb from the Blue team's dessert that took them to elimination.
S10.E14 ∙ Trifle Tasting Elimination Challenge & MasterClass 1
Trifle Tasting Elimination Challenge - The ten losing contestants have three minutes to taste and identify all the ingredients of Nigella's trifle in the first round. Lisa (with 18 correct guesses), Kristen (17), Reece (13), Sashi and Sarah (12 each) were announced safe leaving the others to face the second round of elimination where they had to create their dishes with all 26 ingredients from the trifle in 75 minutes. In the judging, Khanh's dessert had technical flaws on the rest of his elements despite winning praise with his pistachio ice cream. Hoda and Samira delivered standout dishes while Genene also impressed with her dish. It was between Tim and Khanh. Tim took a risk prepping a bombe Alaska in the cook. But overall, the dish was too sweet and the layers lacked precision as it collapsed after his parfait thawed completely when he presented it to the judges and, as a result, Tim left the competition. MasterClass: Nigella Lawson, Matt Preston and Gary Mehigan - The top 19 arrive at the Jacalope Hotel in Victoria for their first MasterClass with Nigella and the judges who will present their recipes (Nigella's Middle Eastern beef and aubergine fatteh, Matt's cauliflower with tarator, Gary's samosas with coriander chutney and Nigella's ginger and walnut carrot cake)
S10.E15 ∙ Gordon's British Box Challenge & Fast Food Invention Test
Gordon Ramsay, the celebrity chef, was introduced as the show's guest judge for the first time. He challenged the contestants to cook dishes in 75 minutes with his chosen British ingredients from the Mystery Box: scallops, lamb, peas, cauliflower, beer, mustard, English tea and biscuits. Brendan, Gina, Reece, Sarah and Sashi chose lamb and cooked the top five dishes, and the latter won the challenge for the second time to compete for immunity. The Invention Test tasked the contestants to cook a burger meal in 75 minutes with only the top two contestants joining Sashi in the immunity challenge. It was Reece and Samira who stood out in the challenge. Ben, on the other hand, joined Chloe and Michelle, who had previously been in a Pressure Test, for elimination.
S10.E16 ∙ Pressure Test: Raviolo of Marron
Ben, Chloe and Michelle had to follow Gordon to recreate his dish of marron raviolo with shellfish bisque and lemon vinaigrette before plating the dish ten seconds after Gordon. Ben, despite missing out the garnishes, and Chloe, despite lacking depth of flavour in her sauce, both excelled in the judging. Michelle faltered in the challenge and served her dish with an inedible unshelled marron claw and an undercooked raviolo filling, eliminating her.
S10.E17 ∙ Immunity Challenge: Jo Barrett, Gavin Hughes, John Rivera
Reece, Samira and Sashi competed as a team against three guest chefs to win an immunity pin each with mentorship from Gordon. Reece was pitted against John Rivera, Samira faced pastry chef Jo Barrett and Sashi cooked against Gavin Hughes. From the majority votes of Samira and Sashi, they chose the vegetables over fruits to cook their dishes in 75 minutes. Samira made a Pumpkin Pilaf with Quail and Saffron Jus which scored 24 points but lost to the creativity of Jo who scored 29 points with her dessert of potato, rosemary and ginger. Sashi scored 20 points for his deconstructed duck curry paired with his choice of vegetables while Gavin's roast beef with red wine sauce didn't meet the brief to highlight the vegetables as he scored 18 points. Reece produced an innovative dessert with vegetables (Cucumber Sorbet with Yoghurt Mousse) and earned 25 points while John prepped a seafood dashi with tomatoes, however, the broth was overpowering, using too much bonito flakes and the dish scored 21 points. For their respective wins, Reece and Sashi succeeded in the challenge to win an immunity pin each.
S10.E18 ∙ Three-Course Dinner Service Challenge
Gordon drafted the contestants into two teams and mentored them for the service challenge, where they had to cook a three-course dinner for fifty diners in four hours. In prep time, the communication in Chloe's Blue team faltered in the cooking and produced technical flaws in the first taste dishes critiqued by Gordon. The prawn filling for the entrée was overcooked, the salmon was raw for the main and the panna cotta for the dessert was not set. During service time, Brendan's Red team trimmed off the pork fat to improve the main dish while the Blue team changed the entrée to make up time but their main salmon dish was cooked inconsistently in the judging. The results came down to the errors of the main dishes from both teams but the flawed communication and salmon dish sent the Blue team to elimination.
S10.E19 ∙ Pressure Test: Matt Abé's Roast Chicken with Summer Vegetables and Green Herb Consommé
The contestants had to recreate a three-Michelin star chicken dish from Restaurant Gordon Ramsay by chef Matt Abé in the two-and a-half hour Pressure Test. Jo delivered her best interpretation of the dish over Ben's while the bottom three faced the judges' decision: Sarah's chicken was overdone and her other elements were inconsistent. Chloe's lacked mousse while her consommé was flat. However, despite his good run throughout the competition, Loki, who had the immunity pin last week, put his position at risk by participating the challenge. He fell under the pressure and his chicken was overcooked while the mousse was grainy, the consommé lacked flavour and the vegetables were untidy which resulted in his elimination, making him the first contestant to leave the competition with possession of the pin without ever using it.
S10.E20 ∙ 20 Box Challenge & Team Relay Invention Test
The Mystery Box challenge required the contestants to shop in 20 minutes with $20 for their choice of ingredients, and cook a dish in 75 minutes. Sarah was named the winner of the first round for the opportunity to compete in the Immunity Challenge. Samira, Genene, Kristen and Lisa, who had the remaining top five dishes, were assigned to start in the first leg of a team relay Invention Test and to highlight honey in their dishes. The Blue team produced the only impressive dish and joined Sarah in vying for the Immunity Challenge. The Yellow team improvised their dish in the first two changeovers but at the last leg, their chocolate ganache was unnecessary on the plate. The Red team struggled throughout and had overall flaws in their dish, but it was the disjointed teamwork from the Green team (Lisa, Jenny, Jo and Brendan) as they presented the least impressive dish that saw them headed to the Pressure Test.
S10.E21 ∙ Pressure Test: Darren Purchese's Peach Melba
Brendan, Jenny, Jo and Lisa were given three hours to recreate Darren Purchese's first dish, peach Melba, with a tempered white chocolate collar and a raspberry tuile encased in a sugar cage. Brendan astonished with his version of Darren's dish while Jenny's take also impressed the judges. Both of them were declared safe. Neither Lisa nor Jo plated the chocolate in their dishes but Jo overpoached her peaches and her tuile was too thick which eliminated her from the competition.
S10.E22 ∙ Immunity Challenge: Jacqui Challinor
Aldo, Jess, Samira, Sarah and Sashi had 45 minutes to cook their chicken wings with a side dish in the first round. The two best dishes belonged to Sarah and Jess, and it was the latter's first savoury dish that won her the chance to compete against Jacqui Challinor from Nomad restaurant. Jess chose the big ingredients (including eggs) to cook her lime tart in 75 minutes while Jacqui prepped barbecue prawns in 60 minutes. The judges gave praise for the tart but it was too sweet from the overuse of meringue and Jess scored 25 points against Jacqui's score of 28 for her prawn dish.
S10.E23 ∙ Two-Course Team Challenge from Memory
The sixteen contestants were divided into two teams to replicate a main course and a dessert from the restaurant Wickens at the Royal Mail Hotel in Dunkeld. The Red team, led by captain Lisa and vice-captain Reece, and the Blue team, led by Sarah and Jess, memorize the recipes of the dishes from executive chef Robin Wickens and head chef Dave Sutherland. They had to communicate to their teammates with instructions on replicating the dishes in 120 minutes. The decision was close and, while the balance of the Red team's main course was flat, their dessert was lauded by the guest chefs. The Blue team was praised with their main dish but their dessert's core element (the ice cream) was too soft and lacked cherry pit flavour, which sent them to elimination.
S10.E24 ∙ Butchery Elimination Challenge
The elimination challenge saw the contestants in two rounds set by Curtis Stone and centered on butchering. In the first round, they took turns to identify cuts of meat to avoid landing one of four places in the second round of elimination. Brendan, Chloe, Jess and Sarah were given 75 minutes to butcher and choose one cut of their beef to make a dish. Sarah's beef with corn and salsa was praised while Chloe's noodle dish impressed the judges despite mincing her beef. It came down to Jess, whose flavours in her beef salad were unbalanced, and Brendan, who served up a dish with undercooked beef. It was Brendan who departed the competition.
S10.E25 ∙ South Australia Farmers' Invention Test & Victoria Square Market Stall Service Challenge
The challenges this week took place in South Australia and in the first of the two challenges at Victoria Square, contestants were given 60 minutes to prep a dish with local produce from South Australian farms. Genene, Jess, Sashi, Sarah and Khanh had the top five dishes. After Khanh advanced to the immunity challenge, the remaining contestants were divided into pairs and ran market stalls to prep a $7.50 savoury dish and a $5 sweet dish for 500 customers in three hours before service over two hours. All teams raised a total of $7,280 for SecondBite food rescue charity. The popularity of the White team's (Reece and Sashi) chicken curry dish increased as they ran out of portions for the customers. Despite this, the team raised a total of $1,370 while the Blue team (Jenny and Samira) put up the best dishes. Both teams joined Khanh to compete for immunity. The Green team (Ben and Hoda) served overcooked kofta balls while their salad let the dish down and their milk custard dessert was underwhelming. The flavours in both of the Red team's (Chloe and Genene) dishes were bland. For these reasons, both teams were sent to the Pressure Test.
S10.E26 ∙ Pressure Test: Brendan Wessels' Lemon Meringue Pie
Ben, Chloe, Genene and Hoda arrived at the d'Arenberg Cube restaurant in McLaren Vale to recreate a lemon meringue pie by restaurateur Brendan Wessels with the use of a 3D food printer in three hours. Ben cooked with precision to interpret the dish while, despite her fennel pearls being too soft, Chloe's plate also impressed. Genene and Hoda missed the attention to detail. Hoda's dish lacked texture after excluding the crisp pearls and the feulletine for the coconut rocher but Genene's chocolate was uncaramelized while she missed out the crisp pearls, the candied ginger and the fennel garnish; lacking the significant balance in the chef's dish that left her eliminated.
S10.E27 ∙ Immunity Challenge: Jin Choi
Jenny, Khanh, Reece, Samira and Sashi arrived at one of the historic houses of Mount Lofty for the first round of the immunity challenge where they took turns choosing a random cloche and guessing the ingredient. Khanh succeeded in the challenge and cooked against South Australian chef Jin Choi from Hardy's Verandah Restaurant. Khanh took the advantage to beat the chef by picking Vegemite over peanut butter to cook his chicken and Vegemite dumplings. Jin produced a lackluster risotto dish that failed to feature the core ingredient and he had the lower score of 17 points as Khanh won an immunity pin with a score of 26.
S10.E28 ∙ Jacob's Creek Team Challenge
Two teams arrive at Jacob's Creek vineyard in the Barossa Valley where they had to cook a three-course meal featuring local produce from the vineyard, and grapes as the core ingredient, for 60 diners. Both Khanh's Red team and Reece's Blue team produced standout entrée dishes but the pork fillet main dish (Blue) was overcooked and the blue cheese mousse (Red) was unbalanced. Highlights were Red team's eye fillet with vegetables for main and Blue team's vineyard-inspired dessert. Both teams delivered two standout dishes and by unanimous vote, the Blue team won the challenge.
S10.E29 ∙ Maggie Beer's Chicken Elimination Challenge and MasterClass 2 Poh Ling Yeoh
Maggie Beer's Chicken Elimination Challenge - The contestants arrived at Maggie Beer's eatery at the Barossa Valley for their last challenge in South Australia. After Khanh escaped elimination by using his immunity pin, the others competed to impress the judges and Maggie by prepping dishes using one chicken over three rounds. Lisa and Ben were safe in the 45-minute first round while Aldo succeeded in the second within 30 minutes. This left Hoda, Jenny and Jess to face the last round with 20 minutes left. Hoda's final dish won praise but Jess undercooked her chicken coating. While Jenny's chicken impressed and her corn salad was flat, none of those elements overall are cohesive, sealing her elimination. MasterClass: Callum Hann, Matt Preston, George Calombaris and Poh Ling Yeow - The contestants returned to Adelaide for their MasterClass with recipes from the judges and series runners-up Callum Hann (series 2) and Poh Ling Yeow (series 1), both of whom reside in South Australia. Callum barbecued an octopus paired with beetroot and cavolo nero, Matt baked two interpretations of mac 'n' cheese, George made a savoury take on his afternoon tea and Poh demonstrated her rhubarb and pistachio mille-feuille.
S10.E30 ∙ Bread Box Challenge & Re-invention Test
Contestants were given 60 minutes to make a dish with one loaf of bread as the Mystery Box ingredient. Aldo, Gina and Ben delivered the Top 3 dishes with Gina advancing to the Immunity Challenge. A re-invention test required the remaining contestants to re-create a dish with the ingredients from spaghetti bolognaise. Reece, Sashi and Khanh succeeded while Hoda, Lisa and Sarah had the least appealing dishes and were sent to elimination.
S10.E31 ∙ Pressure Test: Alla Wolf-Tasker's Autumn Harvest
In two hours and forty-five minutes, the bottom three contestants had to recreate Alla Wolf-Tasker's Autumn-inspired duck dish. During the verdicts, Hoda's carrots were raw and Sarah forgot to plate her chestnut purée after the cook. While Lisa's presentation of the dish was too large, her plate had too much chestnut and celeriac purées, leaving the dish unbalanced which sealed her exit from the competition.
S10.E32 ∙ Immunity Challenge: Andy Harmer
Gina, Khanh, Reece and Sashi faced a three-round sudden death skills challenge: dice vegetables in brunoise cut, prep a hollandaise sauce and cook a salted caramel sauce. After Reece and Gina are eliminated in the first two rounds, Sashi beat Khanh for an opportunity to face executive chef Andy Harmer from Melbourne and win a second immunity pin. Sashi's advantage was to choose one ingredient from each of two different pantries. With 75 minutes to cook a dish of lamb and peas, Sashi's dish impressed while Andy's take was also praised after 60 minutes but his lamb was slightly undercooked and he scored 24 points. For the first time in the ten-year competition, Sashi won a second immunity pin with an overall score of 27 points.
S10.E33 ∙ Dandenong Ranges Team Challenge
The contestants arrived at the Dandenong Ranges for the team challenge, set by the judges and guest chef Lennox Hastie of Firedoor in Sydney, where they had to prep a three-course meal using open-fire cooking in two hours for 60 Victorian firefighters. Hoda's Blue team was assigned to cook dishes with seafood and Ben's Red team cooked a three-course meal of meat. After service, both teams were applauded with their entrées but both had serious issues with their chocolate desserts due to their inexperience of cooking on an open flame. The Red team struggled throughout more than the Blue team as their main steak dish had technical flaws in the other elements which sent them to elimination.
S10.E34 ∙ World Cuisine Elimination Challenge and Second Chance Cook-Off
Aldo, Ben, Chloe, Gina, Jess and Sarah each had 45 minutes to cook a prawn dish with their assigned cuisine: French, Greek, Mexican, Spanish, Thai and Vietnamese. Jess won overall praise from the judges for her dish and she was first to be announced safe while the dishes of Sarah, Gina and Chloe also stood out. Ben, who served a disjointed prawn dish with shells and underwhelming elements, and Aldo, who served inconsistently cooked prawns with bland flavours, were named the bottom two to determine the next contestant eliminated. The judges decided Aldo's dish was least impressive. To be reinstated in the Top 12, he competed against the twelve previously eliminated contestants who had to cook a dish in one hour. Lisa, Brendan and Michelle delivered standout dishes. Ultimately, it was Brendan's poached lobster with carrot dressing and bonito bavarois that impressed the judges and he earned his place back in the competition.
S10.E35 ∙ Adriano Zumbo's Mystery Box Challenge & Croquembouche Invention Test
On the first day of challenges centering on desserts, the twelve contestants were tasked to cook their dishes in 30 minutes with ingredients from the Mystery Box chosen by Adriano Zumbo. Ben, Jess, Sashi, Sarah and Reece are tasted for the Top 5. Reece and Ben are applauded and advanced to contest for immunity. The second challenge divided the contestants into pairs where they were given a task of baking their take of a mini croquembouche in two hours. The Red pair of Kristen and Chloe delivered and joined the boys for immunity. The Green team (Gina and Jess) and the Purple team (Sarah and Sashi) had technical issues with flavour, sending them to the Pressure Test.
S10.E36 ∙ Pressure Test: Katherine Sabbath's Birthday Cake
Cake artist Katherine Sabbath was welcomed as the guest judge to introduce one of her cake designs: a raspberry white vanilla layered cake with tempered white chocolate raspberry bark as the Pressure Test dish. After Sashi used one of his immunity pins, the others had 75 minutes to recreate her cake. Sarah won praise for the baking of the cake, however, her buttercream was eggy and her chocolate was too soft. Jess thrived with the presentation of her dish albeit rushed in the spreading of her buttercream while her chocolate was undertempered. Unlike her fellow competitors' cakes, Gina's was underbaked and the presentation did not match Katherine's which saw her eliminated.
S10.E37 ∙ Immunity Challenge: Alice Wright
Ben, Chloe, Kristen and Reece took turns naming one of 36 flavours of gelato where a lone contestant would advance to compete in the second round of the Immunity Challenge. Kristen succeeded to compete against pastry chef Alice Wright and, from a neapolitan ice cream, chose chocolate (over strawberry and vanilla) to cook her dessert in 75 minutes. During the tasting, Alice had technical errors in her dish despite winning praise for the flavours but Kristen had technical issues in her mousse as it was overpowered with the other flavours. As both of their desserts were flawed, Kristen was not awarded a pin after the result ended in a tie on 18 points with the professional.
S10.E38 ∙ Restaurant Takeover Team Challenge
Executive chef Adam D'Sylva was the contestants' mentor for a lunch service challenge at his two Melbourne restaurants, Coda (Vietnamese cuisine) and Tonka (Indian cuisine) where they had to prep and serve a four-course meal (two sweet main courses and two savoury desserts) in four hours. The Blue Team served 40 customers at Coda while the Red team served 48 customers at Tonka. During prep time, Brendan's Red Team had a shaky start in prepping their main course dishes while Sarah's Blue Team struggled with their kingfish dish when the grill was too hot. After service, both teams missed the brief in two of their dishes and it was the Red Team's undercooked cauliflower dish and flat dessert samosas which sent them to elimination.
S10.E39 ∙ Chocolate Wheel Elimination Challenge
Ben, Brendan, Chloe, Hoda, Khanh and Samira each had to spin an edible game wheel made out of chocolate by Kirsten Tibballs to determine their assigned ingredient (almond, banana, cinnamon, coconut, lemon or peppermint) to cook a dessert in 75 minutes. Brendan and Khanh, who both had cinnamon as their core ingredient, delivered the top two dishes while Samira (who had banana) and Chloe (with almond) also impressed. All four of them made it into the Top 10. Ben's jam for his lamington was too thick but it was Hoda's unnecessary use of cinnamon which overpowered her dense cake batter that sent her home.
S10.E40 ∙ Mystery Box Challenge & Royalty Cooking Challenge
For making it into the Top 10, the contestants each received $10,000 from Coles to develop their food career. In 60 minutes, the contestants had to use all of the ingredients from the Mystery Box (kalette, lemon, yoghurt, coriander seeds, extra virgin olive oil, gin and mint) to make a dish. Samira, Khanh and Kristen had the top dishes and Khanh won for the second time to compete for immunity. The others had to cook a dish fit for a king in 60 minutes. Samira and Kristen won out to compete for immunity along with Brendan as the Top 3 but Chloe, Sarah and Jess had technical flaws in flavour and were named as the Bottom 3.
S10.E41 ∙ Pressure Test: Saransh Goila
With 150 minutes for the cook, Chloe, Jess and Sarah had to re-create a tandoori chicken in a butter sauce with coriander mint chutney, pickled onions and roomali bread by guest chef Saransh Goila. After Chloe was pronounced safe, Jess and Sarah missed the flavour palate of Saransh's dish. However, when the latter strayed in her recipe by grilling her chicken with the skin on, it left an unpleasant texture and charred bitterness to the dish. This was enough to eliminate Sarah.
S10.E42 ∙ Immunity Challenge: Ashley Davis
Brendan, Khanh, Kristen and Samira were given an open pantry to pick only five ingredients to cook a dish without staples in the ten-minute first round. Khanh won the opportunity to compete against two-Michelin-star chef Ashley Davis in the second round. Between the two pantries, he was given the opportunity to select a 15-minute head start by picking the first pantry or losing the time advantage by choosing the second pantry also, and cooking with the chef in 60 minutes. Khanh risked the challenge by choosing both pantries to cook his duck breast with persimmon and ginger sauce. The dish scored 25 points but he lost to Ashley's dish of John Dory and abalone with autumn vegetables that scored 27 points.
S10.E43 ∙ Royal Reception Catering Team Challenge
The Top 9 arrive at Darwin and are divided into teams of three to take charge of prepping 450 canapés (gluten-free, halal, savoury and vegetarian) with native Australian ingredients and local produce to cater a Royal reception for Prince Charles, his wife Camilla and 150 guests in three-and-a-half hours. During prep time, the White team struggled under Kristen's orders with their wattleseed baguettes and duck tarts lacking an accompaniment while the Blue team also fell behind with their zucchini canapés and lamb canapés. Despite having wasted their prep time making wallaby tartare for their canapés, the Red team's menu stood out in the tasting and won the challenge, sending the other two teams to elimination.
S10.E44 ∙ Nitmiluk National Park Elimination Challenge
The contestants arrive at the Nitmiluk National Park and Sashi used his last immunity pin to avoid the Elimination Challenge. Ben, Brendan, Jess, Kristen and Samira had 75 minutes to cook a dish inspired by their photographs of the surrounding scenery.
S10.E45 ∙ Mini Box Challenge & Condiment Invention Test
The remaining contestants faced five consecutive challenges where losing contestants would be sent to elimination at the end of the week. To celebrate the tenth season, the surviving contestant would receive a special advantage after the last challenge. The first challenge was a Mystery Box where each contestant received a different single ingredient to cook three servings for the judges in 60 minutes. The bottom two was between Chloe (with inconsistently cooked duck) and Ben (with an overall dish of flat elements and underwhelming sauce) with the latter being the first contestant through to the elimination round. In the second challenge, the others had 75 minutes to make a dish that featured either oil, salt or pepper. While Khanh's dish was disjointed, Kristen lacked an accompaniment to counteract her dish and she became the second contestant to face elimination.
S10.E46 ∙ TV Dinner Re-invention Cook-off
The six remaining contestants competed in the third challenge where three of the six picked their choice of the three frozen dinner meals to pit against their rivals and re-invent the dish in 75 minutes. Sashi picked fish 'n' chips to pit against Khanh, Chloe cooked against Jess with beef and three vegetables, and Samira chose the chicken meal to face Reece. They succeeded in beating their competitors to advance for tomorrow's next challenge.
S10.E47 ∙ Time or Ingredients Cook-off
Chloe, Samira and Sashi had to gather their ingredients from up to four different hidden pantries, with one pantry being revealed every 15 minutes. Samira and Sashi selected dairy and canned food with 60 minutes left while Chloe waited for root vegetables and cooked in 45 minutes. Sashi's third dessert dish won praise from the judges, Chloe's beetroot salad was too simple with less ingredients after struggling in the cook but Samira's choice of one of her selected cheeses (gorgonzola) and anchovies clashed on the overall tasting which made her the sixth contestant to be sent to elimination.
S10.E48 ∙ Panama Dining Room Service Challenge
Chloe and Sashi arrived at the Panama Dining Room in Melbourne to cook a two-course meal for 30 customers under mentorship from Gary. For the main course, Sashi had to cook seafood while Chloe was assigned meat. After service, Chloe and Sashi had noticeable flaws in their dishes but Sashi struggled further in the prep time as he left an errant scale and bone in two of his fish dishes while his dessert had technical issues. This was enough to put him in the last spot for tomorrow's elimination round. For surviving all the challenges, Chloe was awarded the 10-Year Superpower Apron that grants her immunity from the judging in a future elimination challenge, right up to the tasting stage.
S10.E49 ∙ Pressure Test: Peter Gilmore's Snow Egg & MasterClass 3
Pressure Test: Peter Gilmore's Snow Egg - The losing contestants from each challenge, except Reece who used his immunity pin, had to recreate three servings of Peter Gilmore's Snow Egg from season 2 in two-and-a-half hours and plate the dish in ten minutes. During the tasting, Jess received praise for her interpretation of the dish. She was safe along with Ben and Khanh, who also impressed. The bottom three had technical errors with each of their elements: Samira's custard lacked guava purée, Kristen's cream was grainy while her granita melted away after adding too much sugar in the mixture which made it too sweet, and Sashi's meringue was grainy. Consequently, Kristen's granita affected the balance of Peter's Snow Egg and was enough to seal her elimination. MasterClass: Gary Mehigan, George Calombaris, Matt Preston and Peter Gilmore - The judges presented their dishes to the contestants: Gary's venison and mushroom ravioli, George's crocodile avgolemono and Matt's crusted lamb shoulder with beetroot salad, while Peter presented his smoked pig jowl.
S10.E50 ∙ Visit from Loved Ones
Culinary goddess Nigella Lawson arrives in the kitchen for a week of challenges and surprises. The lid is lifted on Nigella's mystery box to reveal some of her favourite ingredients.
S11.E1 ∙ Auditions Part 1
Auditionees cooked their dishes within an hour to secure their places in the Top 24. Eighteen hopefuls received aprons with three votes from the judges, and thirteen contestants with one or two "yes" votes have to cook again for the six remaining spots in the competition.
S11.E2 ∙ Auditions Part 2
MasterChef alumni Billie McKay, Matt Sinclair and Poh Ling Yeow guide thirteen hopefuls in their second audition with 75 minutes to cook with their choice of ingredients from one of the three pantries selected by each mentor. Each dish will be tasted blindly by the judges. During the judging, Dee was the first to advance with her Sri Lankan crab curry. Afterwards, Larissa, Sandeep, Christina, Monica and Leah also succeeded with their dishes and claimed the last five places in the Top 24.
S11.E3 ∙ Desert Island Cooking Challenge
The first cook in the competition tasked the Top 24 to prep a dish in 75 minutes they'd cook if they were on a 'Desert Island'. For this week, there are no elimination challenges and the four contestants with standout dishes compete in the first Immunity Challenge. The cooks who succeeded in that challenge were Dee, Mandy, Joe and Tim.
S11.E4 ∙ Immunity Challenge: Keeping up with Curtis Stone
To win the first immunity pin, the four contestants had to follow steps from Curtis Stone in cooking his steak and chips with broccolini and bearnaise sauce. In the judging, all four impressed but Dee's bearnaise was fatty and lacked mustard seeds while both Joe's and Mandy's steaks were slightly undercooked. Despite his mistake of putting sugar in his sauce, Tim's other elements succeeded, giving him the pin.
S11.E5 ∙ Judges' Favourites Mystery Box Challenge & Black Box Elimination Challenge
The Top 24 faced the first Mystery Box Challenge. Inside, the judges had selected nine ingredients, with the contestants to cook with at least one in 75 minutes. The five standout dishes (Tessa, Tim, Steph, Abbey and Anushka) were named and the first to compete for Immunity will be Abbey. The other contestants faced another Mystery Box containing black ingredients with 75 minutes to cook. The top three contestants will compete for immunity but the bottom four will be announced and the contestant who cooked the worst dish will be eliminated while the others were sent to tomorrow's Pressure Test. Tim used his immunity pin to skip the challenge. Tessa, Kyle and Derek triumphed and joined Abbey for the Immunity challenge. Yossra, Huda, Nicole and Dee were judged worst. Huda cooked a steak paired with eggplant and a tomato blackberry vinaigrette. Unfortunately, the judges found the steak overcooked while the dish as a whole lacked flavour, and she was eliminated.
S11.E6 ∙ Pressure Test: Darren Purchese's Bombe Alaska
Dee, Nicole and Yossra had to recreate the recipe of Darren Purchese's bombe alaska in 45 steps. Nicole impressed despite the lack of tempered chocolate in her caramel ice cream. While her meringue coating was uneven, Yossra's dish also won praise. However during the cook, Dee's ice cream was too thick and she had to remake it but her second take was too eggy and her brownie was too dry and heavy, making her the next contestant to leave the competition.
S11.E7 ∙ Immunity Challenge: Max Sharrad
Abbey, Derek, Kyle and Tessa cooked their fried chicken dishes in the 45-minute first round. Both Tessa's buffalo wings and Derek's Korean chicken wings impressed the judges and for the first time, they advanced to the second round to cook against Young Chef of the Year Max Sharrad. In 75 minutes, they chose oranges as the core ingredient for their dishes. Derek's white chocolate orange mousse lacked finesse, scoring 16 points. Max's kingfish and orange dish received 19 points but lost to Tessa's 28 points for her pork belly dish, winning her the immunity pin.
S11.E8 ∙ Briagolong Drought Buffet Team Challenge
Two teams cooked a feast for the local farmers and volunteers of disaster relief charity Lions Need for Feed at Briagolong, Victoria with three hours to prep three mains highlighting the core ingredient (meat for the Red team and seafood for the Blue), three side dishes and one dessert before serving in ten minutes. During the cook, both teams struggled early in prepping their dishes. The dishes from Tim's Red team earned overall praise from the judges. Larissa's Blue team also impressed with their dishes but despite special mentions in Sandeep's prawn curry and Christina's sticky date pudding, the dishes cooked by each team member lacked cohesion as a complete buffet menu, sending them to elimination.
S11.E9 ∙ Favourite Ingredients Elimination Challenge/Masterclass: George Calombaris, Poh Ling Yeow, Billie McKay, Matt Sinclair and Matt Preston
Favourite Ingredients Elimination Challenge - After Tessa used her pin to skip elimination, the other members of the losing team had to cook with either their favourite or least favourite ingredient, with the bottom four dishes being sent to the second round. Christina, Kyle, Walleed and Yossra had 60 minutes to cook with their remaining ingredient. Yossra struggled to cook with her least favourite ingredient and her white chocolate mousse was heavy, didn't set and was overpowered by the flavour of the orange. The judges agreed that her fellow competitors redeemed themselves from their first round dishes and Yossra was eliminated. Masterclass: George Calombaris, Poh Ling Yeow, Billie McKay, Matt Sinclair and Matt Preston - George, Matt and the mentors presented their dishes to handle the competition: George used this week's mystery box ingredients to make his tortellini with broth, Poh cooked her two desserts using orange selected from the Invention test: a spiced orange brûlée tart and a cocoa pistachio pâté sablée with an orange salad, Billie demonstrated a dish showcasing carrots in four ways, a duck red curry cooked by Matt Sinclair and Matt Preston's five elements recipe in five minutes: flatbread, instant chipotle mayo, pickled jalapeños, microwave salsa and cooked proteins - chicken and prawns.
S11.E10 ∙ Nigella's Mystery Box Challenge & Team Relay Invention Test
Nigella Lawson brought her selected ingredients in the Mystery Box: mint vanilla bean, lamb mince, whiting, semolina, date molasses, red plums, red whitloff and nigella seeds; for the contestants to cook a dish in 75 minutes. Jess advanced to the Immunity Challenge with her pavlova with vanilla and plums. The remaining contestants in the top five start the first leg of a team relay Invention Test, cooking dishes featuring pistachios. Simon's Yellow team succeeded with a lone savoury dish and in the tasting, Abbey's Green team and Nicole's Red team failed to highlight the nuts - during the changeovers, Walleed, the second cook in the Red team, changed the dish and mistook star anise as the core ingredient until Kyle, who was last in the cook, salvaged it. The dish lacked balance but Abbey's poor performance as captain and lack of teamwork produced a dish with technical issues, sending her team straight to elimination.
S11.E11 ∙ Pressure Test: Nigella's Tarragon French Roast Chicken
The bottom five were given 90 minutes to recreate Nigella's roast chicken with the contestants' choosing two sides and a sauce. In the tasting, Leah and Abbey excelled with the latter earning the dish of the day. Mandy's side dishes impressed but her gravy was bland and Larissa's fennel was undercooked. But ultimately, the combination of half-cooked potatoes and bitterness and sourness of her gravy were enough to send Monica home in a sad farewell.
S11.E12 ∙ Immunity Challenge: Coskun Uysal
In the first round, the cooks prep a custard dish (sweet or savoury) in 60 minutes to compete for immunity. Simon's Japanese set custard beats Tessa's chilli chocolate creme brulee to cook against guest chef Coskun Uysal. With 75 minutes to cook, Simon selected duck, onion, garlic, bay leaf and peas for his dish. Coskun served a roast duck with peas two ways in 60 minutes, scoring 36 points to Simon's overcooked duck leg with 24 points.
S11.E13 ∙ Historical Three-Course Meal Team Challenge
Two teams prep at the State Library Victoria to recreate a three-course dinner from 20th century royal state receptions in Australia, to be served for 80 teachers from Victoria in two-and-a-half hours. The Burgundy team led by Steph prep the menu for Queen Elizabeth II's first visit in 1954 while the Purple team led by Kyle cooked dishes during the coronation of Prince Edward of Wales in May 1920. The Purple team struggled early on their entrees at prep time. During service, their whiting was inconsistently cooked but the Burgundy team had served their mains with undercooked chicken. Despite their efforts to fix it and overall praise for their entree and dessert, they are at risk of elimination after the rival team won the challenge.
S11.E14 ∙ Condiments Elimination Challenge/Masterclass: Gary Mehigan, Nigella Lawson and Matt Preston
Condiments Elimination Challenge - The ten contestants facing elimination each take turns to guess the names of a condiment in front of them in the first round. Abbey, Jess, Mandy, Steph and Tati, with incorrect guesses, had 60 minutes to make a condiment that complements their dishes. While the others are announced safe, Jess and Mandy faced elimination. Jess' sweet potato dumplings impressed in the judging but had issues with the texture of the filling. Mandy served a peri-peri chicken with roasted cabbage and while her peri-peri sauce earned praise, the rest of the elements in her dish were too greasy and failed to highlight her sauce, leaving her eliminated. Masterclass: Gary Mehigan, Nigella Lawson and Matt Preston - The remaining contestants attended their second MasterClass from Nigella and the judges at Fresh Select Farm in Werribee. The judges presented their recipes: Gary's Thai fish larb and Matt's vegetable lasagne. Nigella, with help from George, cooked her two favourite recipes: chilli mint lamb cutlets with mint and preserved lemon sauce, and sticky toffee pudding.
S11.E15 ∙ Rick Stein's Mystery Box Challenge & Fish and Potatoes Invention Test
Famed chefs made guest appearances in each challenge for this week. Rick Stein brought his Mystery Box with ingredients for the contestants. Larissa was the first to advance to the Immunity Challenge with her grilled cuttlefish with bone marrow puree and tomato sugo. In the 75-minute Invention Test, the remaining cooks had to make a dish featuring fish and potatoes. Abbey, Steph and Tati thrived and joined Larissa for immunity. Derek, Leah and Jess fell short with their dishes and were named as the bottom three.
S11.E16 ∙ Pressure Test: Clare Smyth's Pear and Lemon Verbena Vacherin
Clare Smyth gave four hours for Derek, Jess and Leah to replicate her intricate dessert of meringue, pears and lemon verbana before they plated it in ten minutes. Derek succeeded with his dish and Leah also impressed but her pear discs are too thin. Last to be tasted was Jess and her meringue was fragile and thin while her cream was loose. The dish had collapsed after plating, leaving the judges to eliminate her.
S11.E17 ∙ Immunity Challenge: Donovan Cooke
Abbey, Larissa, Steph and Tati had 45 minutes to cook their dishes using one of three commercial appliances: a sandwich press, an electric kettle or a microwave. Donovan Cooke returned to cook against Tati who won the first round. In 75 minutes, she selected chillis from the garden to cook her dish. Tati cooked a Thai green grilled spatchcock with pumpkin and coconut but in the tasting, the dish received mixed reviews in the presentation and cohesion. After judging, Donovan succeeded with his whiting, mussels and chillis to beat Tati and scored 27 points to 21.
S11.E18 ∙ Street Food Service Challenge
The cooks divided into three teams of six, taking responsibility for serving three international street foods (two proteins and one vegetarian) to 120 customers, the judges and Yotam Ottolenghi at HWKR Food centre in Melbourne. Nicole's Yellow team will serve Mexican food, the Green team under Simon as captain cooked the steet foods of India and the Blue team led by Tessa prep the Malaysian dishes. In 90 minutes, all teams struggled in prepping their dishes but Nicole was able to manage her team to finish before service. Despite minor reviews on their last dish, the other dishes stood out and the team are pronounced safe. The Blue team had problems with their nasi goreng as the rice was claggy and the sambal was not cooked enough while their beef satays had mixed reviews in the tasting. However, the Green team fared worse throughout the cook with all of their dishes - they stumbled early on in the prep and in service; their tandoori chicken was too salty, the vegetarian samosas lacked a flavoursome sauce and they forgot to prep the rice for their fish curry.
S11.E19 ∙ Deli Items Elimination Challenge
The six cooks took turns to name different deli items with the first three to choose incorrectly going to elimination: Ben, Blake and Tati were given 60 minutes to cook their dishes with correctly-identified ingredients from the first round. In the judging, Tati's laksa won overall praise. The judges thought Ben's cheeseboard lacked execution but while Blake impressed with the cooking of his beef; his potato puree was too sticky while the other elements of his dish didn't meet the mark, eliminating him.
S11.E20 ∙ Dumpling Box Challenge & Top Secret Invention Test
The daily challenges this week remained in secrecy for the contestants to determine the objectives. Din Tai Fung restaurant chef Edward Yulianto teaches the cooks how to make dumplings for their first challenge. After 75 minutes, Christina and Derek produced two standout dumplings over the others (Anushka, Joe and Tati). The judges selected Derek by split decision to advance. The other contestants cook their own dishes to secure one of the three remaining places in the Immunity Challenge. Tati, Larissa and Sandeep all succeeded but Anushka, Leah and Kyle failed to deliver, sending them to the Pressure Test.
S11.E21 ∙ Pressure Test: Leno Lattarulo's Seafood Paella
Anushka, Kyle and Leah had to decipher and recreate a paella by Leno Latturlo in 90 minutes without a recipe. After the judges tasted, Anushka's dish excelled. Kyle's ratio of the rice was off but Leah burnt her rice, creating a bitter char, and led to her elimination.
S11.E22 ∙ Immunity Challenge: Secret Chef
The judges presented their favourite sauces for Derek, Larissa, Sandeep and Tati to use with their dishes in the 60-minute first round. Sandeep's used Matt Preston's tamarind and chipotle ketchup for his lobster masala to win and cook against the guest chef, who was revealed during the 60-minute cook. Lemons were chosen from the citrus fruits on offer, with 75 minutes to cook a dish.The guest chef was revealed to be season 4 winner Andy Allen who cooked a confit squid with adobo sauce and corn salsa, but he lost to a perfect score of 30 points from Sandeep with his lemon pepper chicken with lemon rice and raita, earning him the immunity pin.
S11.E23 ∙ Italian Four-Course Meal Service Challenge
Two teams of contestants cooked a four-course Italian menu for 80 guests led by Rosa Mitchell of Rosa's Cantina for Abbey's Red team and Olimpia Bortolotto from Cecconi's for Christina's Green team. During prep time, the Red team decided to cook a beef cheeks dish despite Rosa's suggestion for the main and guessed the ratios of their panna cottas for dessert while the Green team struggled to prep their pasta for the entree. Their dishes impressed in the tasting but their calamari dish for the appetizer had issues and against the overall praise of the Red team's dishes, the Green team are sent to elimination.
S11.E24 ∙ Blind Taste Test Elimination Challenge
The contestants had to guess an ingredient while blindfolded. Ben, Joe, Kyle, Simon and Steph had 60 minutes to cook their dishes in the second round while the judges tasted each dish blindly after the cook. Simon's lamb dish earned praise in its technicality, Joe's dish earned praise in the flavours despite his pasta being too thick, Steph's tart also won praise while Ben's sambal prawns was least impressive and Kyle's pumpkin was too firm and his pork ribs are not braised enough. Afterwards, the other three are announced safe leaving Ben and Kyle as the bottom two. However, with an undercooked pork and a raw pumpkin, Kyle was eliminated from the competition.
S11.E25 ∙ Brisbane Box Challenge & Howard Smith Wharves Food Truck Challenge
The first challenge in Queensland tasked the contestants to cooks with native Queensland ingredients from the Mystery Box in 60 minute at Howard Smith Wharves in Brisbane. Tati, Abbey, Tessa and Nicole all delivered impressive dishes as the Top 5 but Simon won with his crab salad and advanced to the Immunity Challenge. The remaining cooks were divided into pairs: Dark Green Team (Walleed and Joe), Red Team (Abbey and Derek), Maroon Team (Larissa and Steph), Green Team (Tati and Sandeep), Blue Team (Anushka and Nicole), Yellow Team (Tessa and Christina) and Purple Team (Ben and Tim), with each team running a food truck to serve $7.50 and $5 dishes with two-and-a-half hours for prep. The teams raised over $5000 for SecondBite. Abbey and Derek delivered the best dishes while Nicole and Anushka raised the most at $1,045. Both teams advanced to the Immunity Challenge with Simon. Christina and Tessa's dishes lacked execution while Tati and Sandeep struggled in the prep time and their chilli dish was too thin but the other teams fared worse throughout the cook - Larissa and Steph set their ovens for their food truck on fire, leaving no food to serve for the customers. Raising the least money, they were sent to elimination. Joining them were Tim and Ben who delivered two disappointing dishes.
S11.E26 ∙ Pressure Test: Shannon Kellam's Chocolate de Passion
Larissa, Steph, Tim and Ben had to recreate Shannon Kellam's intricate dessert based on memory from the demonstration prior to the cook. Although facing a few issues before the end of the challenge, Larissa excelled with her presentation and outstanding flavours in the dish, earning her dish of the day. Steph also impressed the judges with her take on the dish. In the end, although Ben had issues with flavour and his chocolate work, Tim had too many technical errors in his dish and he was eliminated.
S11.E27 ∙ Immunity Challenge: Ben Williamson
In the first round, Abbey, Anushka, Nicole, Derek and Simon all had to cook a dish that heroed ginger. Anushka won the challenge with her chicken and prawn dumplings with ginger broth to cook against chef Ben Williamson in round 2. Anushka chose pineapple to hero and cooked a Pineapple Lemon Cake that scored her 19 points as the pineapple flavour was not strong enough, but Ben Williamson made a salad dish that heroed lemon myrtle and he scored 25 points, so Anushka did not win the pin.
S11.E28 ∙ Noosa Barbecue Feast Team Challenge
In the Noosa Surf Club Restaurant BBQ Challenge, Walleed's Blue Team and Joe's Green Team competed to make two meat dishes and two side dishes for 150 diners each. On the Blue Team, Abbey's Turmeric Garlic Prawns stole the show and although their lamb was inconsistently cooked and Walleed's leadership was questioned, they received high praise and his Blue Team won the challenge. On Joe's Green Team, although their beef and eggplant went down well, their prawns were way over-cooked and they landed in elimination.
S11.E29 ∙ Seafood Elimination Challenge/MasterClass: Ash Martin at The Homage, Spicers Hidden Vale
Seafood Elimination Challenge - This week's elimination took place in two rounds. In the first round all the losing team contestants had to take part in a Skills Test, where they had to peel prawns, fillet and debone snapper, and take the tail out of two bugs. The three contestants that did the best job were safe whereas the other four went into round 2. The three safe contestants were Tessa, Steph and Christina. The other four had to create a seafood platter using the seafood they prepared. Nicole and Simon made exceptional dishes and they were declared safe. Ben's ceviche lacked heat and acidity, but it was Joe's inconsistently cooked seafood platter which eliminated him from the competition. MasterClass: Ash Martin at The Homage, Spicers Hidden Vale - The contestants participated in their third masterclass at the Homage Restaurant, located within the Spicers Hidden Vale resort, with the head chef Ash Martin. Ash cooked, showcasing local and sustainably sourced Queensland produce, charred yabbies and smoked damper on the Homage's trademark smokehouse coal pits. The judges also cooked a number of dishes, with Matt demonstrating a 'chocolate torte with rum and chilli' and a 'steamed pudding with ginger marmalade', Gary created a 'curry two ways' and George made a 'surf and turf' all using local produce.
S11.E30 ∙ Everything Mystery Box Challenge and Whole Ingredients Invention Test
The contestants had to use all of the items in their mystery box: extra virgin olive oil, Greek yoghurt, brussels sprouts, lamb rack, rosemary, lemon, leek and parsnip. Only the top three dishes, Derek, Tessa and Simon's, were chosen for tasting, with Simon's being declared the winner and he advanced to a chance at immunity. For the invention test, the contestants were asked to produce a dish that featured every part of a chosen ingredient. Abbey, Ben and Tessa produced stand-out dishes sending them through to immunity. Waleed, Nicole and Christina, who each had major flaws in their respective dishes, were sent to the elimination challenge.
S11.E31 ∙ Lucky Dip Elimination Challenge and Second Chance Cook-Off
Nicole, Christina and Walleed had to blindly choose a protein and a side ingredient to pair in their dish. Christina impressed the judges with her Chinese-inspired Duck and Spinach Broth, earning high praise and being announced safe. Although Nicole had issues with the grape elements to her Rabbit and Grape dish, Walleed completely missed the point of his artichokes, leaving out the heart and was therefore eliminated. All the eliminated contestants, including Walleed, had the opportunity to win their way back into the competition. They all had to create a dish using a pair of ingredients from the selection in the previous elimination challenge. The top 4 dishes belonged to Yossra, Jess, Kyle and Tim, and Tim won to earn his way back into the competition.
S11.E32 ∙ Immunity Challenge: Jesse McTavish
Abbey, Ben, Simon and Tessa awoke to a letter from the judges containing instructions to visit Coles to buy one fresh ingredient for round one of the immunity challenge. The contestants had to use three of the chosen ingredients in a dish. The winner, Tessa, cooked off against Jesse McTavish from North Bondi Fish. Tessa chose to hero cheese and onion over salt and vinegar. Jesse made an onion soup with croutons and scored 22 points from the judges but it was no match for Tessa's Cheese and Onion Millefeuille that wowed the judges, scoring her 27 out of 30 and earning her the immunity pin.
S11.E33 ∙ Picnic at Hanging Rock Team Challenge
Maggie Beer and the judges instruct two teams who had three hours to assemble 25 picnic baskets containing dishes (savoury, a sandwich, a salad, a dip dish and a dessert) for 100 picnickers in Hanging Rock, Victoria. The Red team under Anushka's captaincy struggled in prep time and served their dishes late. Their dishes were well received but were uninspired while their frittatas and salads had too many ingredients. Against the overall praise of the dishes of Derek's Green team, Anushka's poor leadership dragged the Red team to elimination.
S11.E34 ∙ Herbs and Spices Elimination Challenge
Sandeep, who couldn't participate in yesterday's team challenge, used his immunity pin to avoid elimination. The first round required the losing team members to cook dishes featuring herbs. Abbey, Christina and Larissa, who served undercooked dishes, were sent into the second round to feature spices. Christina was first to be declared safe with her mussels dish featuring turmeric. Larissa also impressed with her ginger dessert but despite an impressive run, Abbey's dish did not meet the brief. The spices did not feature heavily enough, her fried calamari was too fatty and it was her overuse of the oil in the dish that was her undoing.
S11.E35 ∙ Heston's Mystery Box Challenge & Cereal Invention Test
The Top 12 faced the Mystery Box challenge to cook dessert dishes with ingredients selected by Heston Blumenthal. Larissa beat Tessa and Steph to advance in the Immunity Challenge while the other contestants cooked their second dessert dishes featuring cereals. Ben, Anushka and Tim excelled but Derek, Steph and Simon faltered during the cook and produced their dessert dishes with technical errors. They were sent to elimination which was announced to start straight away in a two-day Pressure Test.
S11.E36 ∙ Two-Day Pressure Test: Kate Reid's Black Forrest Lune Croissant
The bottom three had 90 minutes to prep Kate Reid's croissant recipe in the first day and bake it before garnishing on the next day. During the tasting, Simon's croissant won praise. Although Derek left out the tempered chocolate, his croissant was baked well. The judges were impressed with Steph's dish but the frangipane was undercooked akin to raw cake mixture. While she nailed the presentation, it was not enough to keep her safe. This outweighed the missing chocolate of Derek's croissant and Steph was eliminated from the competition.
S11.E37 ∙ Immunity Challenge: Alice Wright
Larissa, Ben, Anushka and Tim had to create ice cream cones for the judges and Poh. Anushka, Ben and Tim all made impressive ice cream cones but Tim's stood out from the pack. He not only got a chance to cook for immunity, but he won a place in the Top 10. In Round 2, Tim cooked off against Alice Wright and they had to hero one of a selection of nuts, Tim chose walnuts. Tim's fig and walnut dessert scored him 19 points, but it was no match for Alice's apple walnut and mascarpone dessert which scored her 26 points, therefore Tim did not win the pin.
S11.E38 ∙ Blind Pairing Team Challenge
The remaining contestants (minus Tim who already secured his place in the Top 10) had to cook in pairs with a wall dividing each pair. Their challenge was to cook two identical dishes in look and taste. The teams were: Green Team (Tati and Tessa), Red Team (Nicole and Christina), Blue Team (Larissa and Ben), Purple Team (Simon and Sandeep) and Yellow Team (Anushka and Derek). The red team won and the blue team was also declared safe advancing them into the Top 10 sending the other teams into elimination.
S11.E39 ∙ Sugar-Free Elimination Challenge
Anushka, Derek, Simon, Sandeep and Tati had to create a dessert without sugar after Tessa used her pin to advance to the Top 10. Sandeep cooked a rice kheer with puri but the dish was average. The judges found the saffron overpowered the pudding while the bread was uncooked. Also failing to impress was Tati whose dish was deemed too sweet. On the other hand, Derek, Anushka and Simon won praise with their dishes. Sandeep became the next contestant to be eliminated.
S11.E40 ∙ Best-Selling Mystery Box Challenge & Best-Loved Invention Test
There was no pressure test this week and no bottom three in the invention test. The top 10 had to cook with a mystery box filled with Coles' best-selling ingredients. Although Derek's dish impressed the judges, Nicole won the challenge, advancing to the immunity challenge. In the invention test, the contestants had to hero one of three of Australia's most loved foods: Milo, Vegemite and tomato sauce. Larissa and Tati both impressed with their dishes, but Simon won the challenge to advance to the immunity challenge with Nicole.
S11.E41 ∙ Jock Zonfrillo's Challenge
In this challenge, each of the eight contestants were given an indigenous ingredient chosen by Jock Zonfrillo to feature in their dish. The winner of the challenge would join Simon and Nicole in this week's immunity challenge. Larissa stood out by making the only dessert and although it wowed the judges, Tessa's dish was deemed best by the judges and she won the challenge.
S11.E42 ∙ Immunity Challenge: Phil Wood
Tessa was given a choice of one of the pairings for both her and Phil Wood. She chose beef and onion. Her dish wowed the judges who deemed it a restaurant worthy dish. She scored 27 but Phil Wood scored 30 points, making him the winner of the challenge.
S11.E43 ∙ Best Diners Team Challenge
Contestants, led by Christina in the Green team and Larissa in the Yellow, had to cook a four-course meal for 40 diners featuring Delicious magazine's 2018 picks for Australia's best produce: Holy Goat Cheese's goat and cow milk cheese, coral trout from Mark Eather Seafood, Wagyu beef from Mayura Station, and Golden Delicious apples from Moonacres Farm. Both teams struggled during prep but managed to finish in time to serve the diners who were revealed to be the contestants' loved ones. The Green team's dishes earned praise, but their apple dessert was overpowered by the cinnamon ice cream. However, it was the Yellow team's undercooked wagyu that sent them to elimination.
S11.E44 ∙ Food Waste Management Elimination Challenge
Anushka, Ben, Larissa, Simon and Tati faced a challenge set by Massimo Bottura on minimising waste cooking with the four most-discarded ingredients in Australian homes. Tati, Simon and Larissa succeeded while the bottom two was between Ben and Anushka. Anushka did not showcase technique in her dish and it lacked flavour but Ben wasted half of his duck. Not only did he fail to met the brief but his dish was undercooked, thereby eliminating him.
S11.E45 ∙ Déjà Vu Mystery Box & Memories Invention Test
The Top 9 were each given one of the previous mystery boxes at random to use for their mystery box challenge. Simon, Larissa and Derek were chosen as the top 3 and all had perfect dishes but Derek stood out and won after using the Everything box from Week 7. In the invention test the remaining eight had to cook a dish inspired by a moment in time. Larissa and Simon stood out with their dishes and joined Christina in the Immunity Challenge. Tessa, Tim, Tati, Anushka, and Nicole all had problems with their dishes. Anushka, Tati and Tim were named as the bottom 3 to head into the pressure test.
S11.E46 ∙ Pressure Test: Kirsten Tibballs' Apple Pie
Anushka, Tati and Tim were asked to recreate Kirsten Tibballs' Apple Pie in three and half hours. All three struggled but Tim won the dish of the day. The final verdict was between Tati and Anushka. They both overcooked their crust, but it was Tati who took her caramel too far and created a bitter taste that overpowered her other elements. These flaws eliminated Tati from the competition.
S11.E47 ∙ Immunity Challenge: Adam D'Sylva
Derek, Christina, Larissa and Simon had to create a dish with chicken as the main ingredient using their assigned cuisine. Larissa and Derek had the two best dishes with Larissa advancing o the second round to cook off against Adam D'Sylva. Her advantage was to pick any ingredients from an open pantry but they must all fit in one basket. Larissa relied on strategy to win and chose sweet ingredients such as corn, popcorn, cornflakes, curry leaves, blackberry. Adam scored three sixes totalling his score to 18. Larissa got three sevens, which brought her total score to 21 and won her the immunity pin.
S11.E48 ∙ The Q Train Team Challenge
The eight contestants had to cook in a Q Train Challenge, with Larissa and Anushka (Purple Team), Derek and Simon (Green Team), Nicole and Christina (Yellow Team), and Tessa and Tim (Maroon Team). Both the Purple and Yellow Team won the challenge after impressing with their dishes sending the other two teams to elimination.
S11.E49 ∙ The Time Auction Elimination Challenge
Tessa, Simon, Derek and Tim compete in the MasterChef time auction where they bid for ingredients with time rather than money. The more time they spend buying ingredients, the less time they have to cook. Both Tessa and Simon's dishes impressed the judges and they were declared safe. Tim's dish was criticized for his undercooked pork belly. But it was Derek that faulted under pressure, attempting to make quail's egg yolk ravioli for the first time. It didn't work out, so he quickly turned his pasta dough into fettuccine and made an onion sauce, topping it with a sous vide duck egg he'd cooked as a backup. It wasn't enough, and Derek was eliminated.
S11.E50 ∙ Western Australia Mystery Box & Surf and Turf Invention Test
Anushka won the Mystery Box. Tessa won the invention test.
S12.E1 ∙ Premiere: Immunity Challenge: Finale-Worthy Dish
Your favourites are back for another crack at the coveted MasterChef title. Up for grabs tonight is this season's only immunity pin and joining them all week is chef extraordinaire, Gordon Ramsay.
S12.E2 ∙ Team Challenge
Each team must cook a three-course meal for 120 guests. The judges reveal three ingredients: black garlic, ginger and potatoes. Each team must feature one of the ingredients in each course.
S12.E3 ∙ Relay Style Team Challenge
Teams must cook a three-course meal in a relay style cook. Each team member starts a course and after 20 minutes must swap to the next course. The most cohesive menu with the best dishes wins.
S12.E4 ∙ Immunity Challenge: Keeping Up with Gordon
After impressing the judges in yesterday's round robin relay challenge, the winning team are back in the kitchen cooking for immunity and a chance to be safe from the next elimination.
S12.E5 ∙ Gordon Ramsay's 90-Minute Elimination Challenge
Every contestant is up for elimination, except the winner of Thursday's immunity challenge.The pressure mounts for all contestants to deliver delicious dishes and keep their place in the competition.
S12.E6 ∙ Ultimate BBQ Challenge
Today the contestants compete in the ultimate BBQ challenge, cooking for a staggering 1200 people.The team who least impresses, will find themselves cooking in tomorrow's pressure test.
S12.E7 ∙ Two-Round Pressure Test: Orana
In the first pressure test of the season contestants must cook three dishes from Judge Jock Zonfrillo's three-hatted, award-winning restaurant, Orana. The least impressive dish will send someone home.
S12.E8 ∙ Melissa Leong's Mystery Box
In the first mystery box challenge of the season, the 22 remaining contestants discover the ingredients have been chosen from all corners of the globe, by judge Melissa Leong.
S12.E9 ∙ Immunity Challenge: Judges' Taste Test / MasterClass
The five contestants with the most impressive dishes from yesterday's challenge find themselves back in the kitchen ready to cook off in an immunity challenge. Plus, a MasterClass with Andy and Jock.
S12.E10 ∙ Judges' Ingredients Elimination Challenge
In today's elimination challenge, every contestant bar one, the winner of the immunity challenge, is up for elimination. The contestant with the least impressive dish will be going home.
S12.E11 ∙ 3-Round Team Showdown
The contestants are split into three teams of seven and compete in a three-round cook-off. After the third round the bottom six contestants are revealed and will cook off in tomorrow's pressure test.
S12.E12 ∙ Self Pressure Test
It's a pressure test with a difference. Each contestant has written their own pressure test recipe and has to create a dish to wow the judges. The least impressive dish will send its maker home.
S12.E13 ∙ Barter Mystery Box
The judges reveal that each contestant's mystery box contains four ingredients which they can barter with one another for. The top four dishes will see their makers cook for immunity tomorrow.
S12.E14 ∙ Curtis Stone's Time Auction Immunity Challenge
Today's immunity challenge with Curtis Stone sees four contestants compete in a MasterChef time auction. The more time they spend on buying ingredients, the less time they have to cook.
S12.E15 ∙ Textures Elimination Challenge
Today's challenge is all about texture. In round one contestants must cook a dish with the best crunch. Round two is all about a gooey texture. The least impressive gooey dish will send its chef home.
S12.E16 ∙ Thai Team Challenge
The MasterChef contestants leave the kitchen for a week of off-site challenges. Teams must make two entrees and three mains for 50 diners. The least impressive team faces a pressure test.
S12.E17 ∙ Pressure Test: Helly Raichura's "Pasta Not Pasta"
Helly Raichura, of Enter Via Laundry, bases this taste test on her popular dish, 'pasta not pasta'. Contestants who guess the least ingredients correctly must replicate the dish in a challenge.
S12.E18 ∙ Suburban Mystery Box
Today's ingredients are sourced by locals who grow fruit and vegetables in their back yards.The three most impressive dishes from today's mystery box challenge will cook in an immunity challenge.
S12.E19 ∙ Sushi Train Immunity Challenge
Three contestants are told they must prepare 100 small plates each, consisting of five different dishes. Dishes are then colour-coded and served to the judges on a sushi train in this blind tasting.
S12.E20 ∙ Home Delivery Elimination Challenge
In today's take-away elimination challenge contestants must make a dish that will stand the home delivery test. Contestants have 90 minutes from the start of the cook to completed delivery.
S12.E21 ∙ Double Twist Team Challenge
Contestants learn that there will be a twist with every challenge this week, so they must think on their feet to survive another week in the MasterChef kitchen. Tonight two twists really stir the pot.
S12.E22 ∙ Pressure Test: Darren Purchese's Passionfruit Pavlova
Contestants have three hours to complete a simply stunning Darren Purchese dish but in the final hour of the cook, a twist which no one could anticipate is thrown at the contestants.
S12.E23 ∙ Twist-ery Box
Contestants have 75 minutes to cook a dish using one or more of the eight ingredients in the mystery box. The contestants are pushed to the limit when a twist is delivered to their benches.
S12.E24 ∙ 'Hot N Cold' Immunity Challenge/MasterClass
Katy Perry guest judges a very special Hot N Cold challenge to honour the iconic MasterChef theme song. The contestant with the best dish will find themselves safe from Sunday's elimination.
S12.E25 ∙ Elimination Challenge: World Cuisines and Flavor Pairings
Contestants are cooking off against the other contestant on their bench. The best dish from each bench will be safe, while the remaining contestants must cook in the elimination round.
S12.E26 ∙ Savoury and Sweet Team Challenge
Jo Barrett and Matt Stone from Oakridge Wines mentor today's service challenge with each team cooking a sweet or savoury menu. The team with the least impressive menu face tomorrow's pressure test.
S12.E27 ∙ Pressure Test: Peter Gunn's Black Box
Contestants must replicate chef Peter Gunn's "Black Box" from his restaurant Ides. The contestant with the least impressive dish will be going home.
S12.E28 ∙ Shannon Martinez's Vegan Mystery Box
Contestants must create a vegan dish using at least one ingredient from the mystery box set by vegan chef, Shannon Martinez. The top four dishes will cook off in tomorrow's immunity challenge.
S12.E29 ∙ Comfort Food Immunity Challenge
Tonight's immunity challenge is fought in two rounds. In one round contestants must create a delicious dish using instant noodles. The top two from round one must make a nostalgic and comforting dish.
S12.E30 ∙ All-In Kingfish Elimination
Josh Niland of The Fish Butchery breaks down a kingfish for each of the contestants to choose a cut to cook with. The contestant with the least impressive dish will be going home.
S12.E31 ∙ Two-Dish Team Relay Challenge
Each team must cook two dishes - one main and one dessert. Each contestant has twenty minutes to cook and they have just 45 seconds to hand over the dish to the next contestant in the relay.
S12.E32 ∙ Immunity Pressure Test: Kirsten Tibballs' "Meljito"
Queen of chocolate and guest chef, Kirsten Tibballs reveals for today's pressure test, the contestants must create her wow-factor dessert, the meljito.
S12.E33 ∙ Memories Mystery Box
The contestants lift the lids of their mystery box to find a photo sent by their loved ones. the contestants have one hour to create a dish inspired by the memory in their family photo.
S12.E34 ∙ Fairy Tales Immunity Challenge
Contestants must create a dish inspired by one of seven classic fairytales. With an open pantry and garden, the contestant with the best dish and the strongest concept will win immunity.
S12.E35 ∙ All-In Elimination: Unusual Flavour Combinations
Contestants must make a dish that has two different flavoured ice-creams that only work when they are eaten together. In round two, they must make a dish using one of five unusual flavour pairings.
S12.E36 ∙ Heat 1: Citrus Invention Test
Contestants cook a sweet or savoury style dish championing a citrus fruit of their choice. in round two, they use the same fruit but their dish must be in the opposite style.
S12.E37 ∙ Heat 2: Coskun Uysal's Meat Dessert Challenge
Contestants discover they must create a dish inspired by chef Coskun Uysal's chicken rice pudding dessert. With this in mind, they must create their own dessert featuring a meat or protein.
S12.E38 ∙ Heat 3: Lotto Mystery Box
Today's mystery box ingredients are decided entirely by the luck of the draw, with numbered lottery balls corresponding to 25 ingredients on display.
S12.E39 ∙ Fast-Track to Top 10 Challenge
Each round in today's immunity challenge is worth ten points and the contestant with the highest score at the end of round three will win immunity and be free from elimination on Sunday.
S12.E40 ∙ All-In Pressure Test: Aussie Classics
It's an Australian-themed pressure test. First up contestants must cook a delicious savoury pie and sauce. The bottom four must then create a dish celebrating what Australia means to them.
S12.E41 ∙ Blind Pairing Team Challenge
Teams of two must create two dishes using a chosen ingredient. Dishes must be identical in taste and appearance but they will not be able to see each other while they cook, so communication is key.
S12.E42 ∙ No-Recipe Pressure Test: Benjamin Cooper's Jungle Curry
Benjamin Cooper, Executive Chef of Chin Chin Melbourne sets tonight's pressure test where contestants must recreate his jungle curry with rice and roti...without a recipe
S12.E43 ∙ Smoking Mystery Box
Today's mystery box is all about smoke. Contestants can use any method of smoking as long as one element has been smoked with a smoking gun. The top four will cook in tomorrow's immunity challenge.
S12.E44 ∙ Sudden-Death Pumpkin Immunity Challenge
Today's immunity challenge is all about resourcefulness. The contestants are each presented with a pumpkin and have 90 minutes to cook three dishes that feature pumpkin in some way.
S12.E45 ∙ Elimination Challenge: Street Food and Fine Dining
Charlie Carrington of Melbourne restaurant, Atlas, sets today's elimination challenge focusing on food from different countries. The contestant with the least impressive dish will be sent home.
S12.E46 ∙ Golden Mystery Box
In today's golden box mystery box challenge, the contestants have to create a dish using one or more of the golden ingredients. The top four dishes will battle it out in tomorrow's immunity challenge.
S12.E47 ∙ Time or Ingredients Immunity Challenge
Every five minutes an ingredient that can be used in their cook is revealed to our contestants. They can start cooking at any time but only have access to the ingredients revealed up to that point.
S12.E48 ∙ All-In Elimination: One-Inch Cube Challenge
Tonight's elimination will take place over two rounds, the first of which is the classic blind taste test. The first four contestants who guess incorrectly will go into round two.
S12.E49 ∙ Two-Dish Everything Box
The judges reveal that today contestants need to use ALL the ingredients in their mystery box to create two dishes - a sweet and savoury dish in 75 minutes.
S12.E50 ∙ Alphabet Immunity Challenge
Three heavy hitters of the competition go head to head. Who will make top six?
S13.E1 ∙ Premiere
The best home cooks from around the country will face challenge after challenge to see who will rise to the top and take home the coveted title of Australia's next MasterChef.
S13.E2 ∙ Auditions - Day 2
The judges are looking for just five more cooks to round out the Top 24. The home cooks who are given a second chance will battle it out for the remaining aprons.
S13.E3 ∙ Emelia Jackson Mystery Box
Today's mystery box is selected by MasterChef Australia champion, Emelia Jackson. The three best dishes will be awarded an immunity pin that can be played at any time during an elimination cook.
S13.E4 ∙ Chicken Or The Egg?
In today's two round challenge, contestants must create dishes that feature a chicken or an egg. The contestant with the least impressive dish will be the first sent home.
S13.E5 ∙ Superstars Week - Nigella Lawson (Elimination Challenge)
Superstars Week kicks off with Nigella Lawson. contestants must recreate Nigella's favourite dish based on her detailed description. With no ingredient list, recipe or visual reference to work from.
S13.E6 ∙ Superstars Week - Yotam Ottolenghi (Team Challenge)
Yotam Ottolenghi presents his favourite favour bombs - numbing oil, fenugreek marinade and chipotle peanuts. Each team must create a meal which needs o feature one of Yotam's flavour bombs.
S13.E7 ∙ Superstars Week - Massimo Bottura (Elimination Challenge)
The judges reveal today's elimination challenge is over two rounds and is set by cooking legend, Massimo Bottura. Massimo presents his take on the classic dish, mac and cheese.
S13.E8 ∙ Superstars Week - Clare Smyth (Mystery Box)
Clare Smyth reveals the dish that has inspired her choice of mystery box ingredients. Contestants must create a sweet or savoury dish using ingredients that Clare has chosen.
S13.E9 ∙ Superstars Week - Heston Blumenthal (Immunity Challenge)
Heston Blumenthal sets an immunity challenge in which contestants must use a popular breakfast ingredient to create a delicious dessert.
S13.E10 ∙ Poh, Callum & Reynold (Elimination Challenge)
MasterChef alumni Poh, Callum and Reynold present the contestants with three dishes from their venues. Contestants must create a dish worthy of a place on the menu at any of these establishments.
S13.E11 ∙ Least & Most Comfortable (Team Challenge)
Each team must cook the same six dishes within the time allocated. Each contestant on the team will cook one of the dishes and will be judges against the same dish made by the other two teams.
S13.E12 ∙ Sweet & Savoury Tart (Elimination Challenge)
Each contestant must choose the dish they feel most comfortable making; a savoury tart or sweet tart. Jock then switches the dishes and contestants must cook the dish they're least comfortable with.
S13.E13 ∙ Staples (Immunity Challenge)
Contestants must create a dish using the staple ingredients under their benches as well as two ingredients from the garden for flavour. Contestants with the top 5 dishes will compete for immunity.
S13.E14 ∙ Choose Your Ingredient & Masterclass
Contestants must choose an ingredient they would like to feature in a dish, but they won't know the ingredient they must pair it with until they have locked in their choice. A Masterclass follows.
S13.E15 ∙ That's The Way The Cookie Crumbles (Elimination Challenge)
Keen as mustard, the contestants have to cook a dish that interprets one of the classic food sayings on display. The contestant who fails will be going home. That's the way the cookie crumbles.
S13.E16 ∙ Meet The Masters
It's Meet the Masters Week. This opportunity gives the contestants close-up insights into the skills of the best culinary masters in Australia.
S13.E17 ∙ Meet The Masters (Pressure Test)
The least impressive team from yesterday's master team challenge must cook off in today's pressure test.
S13.E18 ∙ Meet The Masters (Mystery Box)
Today, the contestants enter the MasterChef kitchen ready to take on the mystery box challenge set by a Michelin-starred chef.
S13.E19 ∙ Cooking With Fire (Immunity Challenge)
In a very special challenge, the top four contestants from yesterday's challenge meet in the MasterChef kitchen to be taught a lesson in cooking with fire. The most impressive cook wins immunity.
S13.E20 ∙ Meet The Masters (Elimination Challenge)
For the final cook of Meet the Masters Week, the bottom four contestants must make a dish that demonstrates how they have mastered a skill, flavour or technique they have learnt across the week.
S13.E21 ∙ Service Challenge - Tonka (Immunity Challenge)
Andy reveals that every challenge this week will be a service challenge and all 16 contestants are in with a chance at winning immunity from the elimination.
S13.E22 ∙ Service Challenge - Movida (Immunity Challenge)
This challenge is all about the ingredients. Each team must feature the same ingredient in each course.
S13.E23 ∙ Service Challenge - Lucy Liu (Immunity Challenge)
For this challenge, two pantries are on offer: a European pantry and an Eastern pantry. By the toss of a coin, the team that win the toss get to choose their desired pantry.
S13.E24 ∙ Service Challenge - Stokehouse (Immunity Challenge)
Each team has two-and-a-half hours to cook a three-course meal and each course must champion a colour chosen by the toss of a coin.
S13.E25 ∙ Relay Challenge (Elimination)
Each team must create a dish that features the ingredient hidden underneath the tablecloth and must also use an allocated electrical appliance at some stage during the cook.
S13.E26 ∙ Vegetables (Invention Test)
Contestants must choose from either a potato, broccoli, carrot, brown onion or zucchini, to make a delicious dish featuring the vegetable of choice, but not necessarily a vegetarian dish.
S13.E27 ∙ Pressure Test
In today's pressure test, it's a fight to stay in the competition and four contestants must recreate a dish without ever seeing it.
S13.E28 ∙ 11 Utensils (Mystery Box)
The contestants must create a dish using only the 11 utensils in the mystery box. The dish can be sweet or savoury, with an open pantry and access to the garden.
S13.E29 ∙ Hot Chillies! (Immunity Challenge)
The contestants must cook a dish using some of the hottest chillies in the world. The dish that best highlights the heat and flavour of their chilli will win immunity.
S13.E30 ∙ Game ID (Elimination Challenge)
This elimination is played over two rounds. In the first round, contestants must identify the 14 game meats on display. The six contestants with the lowest scores will cook off in round two.
S13.E31 ∙ Second Chance Week (Top Four)
It's Second Chance Week in the MasterChef kitchen. Across the week, 11 previously eliminated contestants are back with not one, but two chances to get back in the competition.
S13.E32 ∙ Second Chance Week (Pressure Test)
Renowned pastry chef Anthony Hart reveals his pressure test dish: chocolate oasis. The contestants have 2 hours and 15 minutes, plus a further eight minutes to plate up Anthony's creation.
S13.E33 ∙ Clear Or Hidden (Mystery Box Challenge)
The 10 returning contestants can choose between a clear mystery box where the ingredients are visible or a regular mystery box where the ingredients are hidden.
S13.E34 ∙ It's A Knockout!
Four contestants are told they will have two-and-a-half hours to prepare a three-course menu. But the catch is that after each course is tasted, one contestant will be knocked out of the competition.
S13.E35 ∙ Murray Cod (Elimination Challenge)
Josh Niland demonstrates how to make the most of a Murray cod utilising the entire fish. For this challenge, contestants are given one Murray cod and must use the same fish for up to three rounds.
S13.E36 ∙ Pair Up With Crayfish (Team Challenge)
Contestants must pair up with another contestant to form seven teams. Each team must create crayfish two ways, one familiar dish and one inventive dish, utilising the freshly caught crayfish.
S13.E37 ∙ Vego (Elimination Challenge)
The four contestants cooking in this elimination challenge discover they will be cooking a vegetarian dish, with all ingredients harvested fresh from Dairy Flat Farm in Daylesford.
S13.E38 ∙ Melbourne Inspiration (Mystery Box)
The mystery box reveals a map of Melbourne and a camera phone to take pictures. The contestants must explore the city streets and laneways to take a picture that will inspire their dish.
S13.E39 ∙ Kate Reid Pastry (Immunity Challenge)
Jock introduces Kate Reid, the mastermind behind Lune Croissanterie. Contestants must use Kate's world-class pastry and turn it into a dish that is not a croissant.
S13.E40 ∙ 90 Minute Cook Time (Elimination Challenge)
The contestants must decide how much of their ninety-minute cook time they use in round one, because they will only have the remainder of that time to cook in round two.
S13.E41 ∙ Home Delivery (Team Challenge)
Teams must create a three-course home delivery menu and can choose any theme or cuisine for their menu. Each team has three hours to produce sixty serves.
S13.E42 ∙ Khanh Nguyen's Pork Wellington
Guest chef Khanh Nguyen from Sunda has taken South-East Asian food to the next level. The contestants must create Khanh's dish: pork wellington with lattice crackling and flavours of banh mi.
S13.E43 ∙ 4 Ingredient Barter (Mystery Box)
Jock reveals this mystery box is different. Contestants need to use four ingredients in their final dish, but before the cook starts, they can barter for the ingredients from each other.
S13.E44 ∙ The Top Four (Immunity Challenge)
The top four cooks from the latest mystery box challenge battle it out for immunity and a guaranteed spot in the top ten.
S13.E45 ∙ Nu Nu Ingredient ID (Elimination Challenge)
Contestants must correctly identify ingredients in three dishes from Nick Holloway's Nu Nu menu. The five contestants who name the least amount of ingredients correctly will cook off in round two.
S13.E46 ∙ Episode #13.46
The top ten contestants arrive at URBNSURF, the home to Australia's first ever surf park in Melbourne's west to discover they will be running Andy Allen's restaurant, Three Blue Ducks.
S13.E47 ∙ Episode #13.47
Contestants must cook a sweet pressure test recipe of their own design. Darren Purchese will be running the floor and mentoring the contestants and the judges will do a blind tasting of each dish.
S13.E48 ∙ Episode #13.48
After watching emotional messages from their family members, Melissa explains that contestants must make a dish inspired by their family. The top two dishes will cook in tomorrow's immunity challenge.
S13.E49 ∙ Episode #13.49
In today's challenge, the contestants must keep up with Curtis Stone as he cooks his ultimate roast chicken dish. Andy, Jock and chef Nornie Bero show off their skills in a delicious Masterclass.
S13.E50 ∙ Episode #13.50
Today there is a massive double elimination. Contestants must choose between cooking with the black mystery box or the black cloche, with the ingredients only revealed when they make their choice.
S14.E1 ∙ Premiere
The kitchen welcomes 12 emerging home cooks and 12 of the program's most loved past contestants. Together they will share their love of food and compete to become Australia's next MasterChef.
S14.E2 ∙ Episode #14.2
In a massive service challenge, it's Fans versus Favourites, course versus course in the ultimate three-course battle, with the winning teams heading to the immunity decider challenge.
S14.E3 ∙ Episode #14.3
Split into four teams across four benches, 12 contestants discover they have 75 minutes on the clock to create a dish using the ingredients from a particular layer of the balanced diet food pyramid.
S14.E4 ∙ Episode #14.4
It's this season's first immunity challenge. Choosing ingredients from mystery cloches, the contestant with the best dish wins immunity and will sit out the elimination challenge.
S14.E5 ∙ Episode #14.5
It's the first elimination of the year. The makers of the best jaffle in round one will be safe, but the chef with the least-satisfying dish that changed their life in round two will go home.
S14.E6 ∙ Episode #14.6
Contestants must create a dish using the same ingredients that were in the very first mystery box in MasterChef season one, The least impressive fare will send their chefs to a pressure test cook-off.
S14.E7 ∙ Episode #14.7
Dessert king Adriano Zumbo returns to the kitchen for a pressure test like no other. The contestant with the least impressive take on Zumbo's Polly Want A Waffle will be sent home.
S14.E8 ∙ Episode #14.8
Fighting for a shot at immunity, contestants face the infamous team relay challenge. This time, teams won't even know the mystery ingredient until the clock starts. Plus, the first Masterclass of 2022.
S14.E9 ∙ Episode #14.9
The winning team in the previous relay challenge join the top-two mystery box winners for a chance at immunity as they try to Beat The Chef, who just happens to be MasterChef favourite Matt Stone.
S14.E10 ∙ Episode #14.10
Bonjour. Get ready for this episode's classic service challenge with guest chef Shannon Bennett. Each team must cook a French-inspired entree, main and dessert for 20 diners plus the judges.
S14.E11 ∙ Episode #14.11
Guest chef Shannon Bennett returns with 10 of his favourite fridge and pantry items to create today's mystery box. The two least impressive cooks will face off in tomorrow's pressure test.
S14.E12 ∙ Episode #14.12
MasterChef alumni and dessert king Reynold Poernomo returns to set this pressure test dish: his new intricate signature dessert, noi. The chef who fails to cope with the dish will be sent home.
S14.E13 ∙ Episode #14.13
Guest chef Curtis Stone leads teams out to the garden for a fast food versus fancy food service. With 80 ravenous diners waiting, the winners will head to the next immunity challenge.
S14.E14 ∙ Episode #14.14
Guest chef Curtis Stone returns as contestants cook a tasty dish worthy of immunity. But in this classic challenge, as their pantry of ingredients increases, their cooking time decreases.
S14.E15 ∙ Episode #14.15
Who will crack in an 'eggscellent' elimination challenge that sees contestants given just one egg to create the tastiest dish? Fail, and they must scramble to cook for their lives in round 2.
S14.E16 ∙ Episode #14.16
Twenty-six alphabetical mystery boxes contain single ingredients that correspond with the letter on the box. Chefs must cook using their designated ingredient, with the bottom four headed for a pressure test.
S14.E17 ∙ Episode #14.17
Fat Duck pastry chef Gareth Whitton sets this pressure test with his smoked pecan and butterscotch tart. The dish that least resembles Gareth's creation will send its maker home.
S14.E18 ∙ Episode #14.18
London's celebrated chef Clare Smyth has selected cherries and honey as two core ingredients that teams will need to cook with in this service challenge, as they duke it out for a shot at immunity.
S14.E19 ∙ Episode #14.19
The winners from the service challenge compete in a two-round dual duel immunity challenge. The contestant who creates the two most impressive dishes will dodge the elimination bullet.
S14.E20 ∙ Episode #14.20
It's elimination day and the creator of the best Round 1 fare will keep their team safe. Those fighting to avoid the drop must then prepare a tasty dish to be left overnight and cooked the next day.
S14.E21 ∙ Episode #14.21
In a grungy Fitzroy warehouse, contestants lift the lids on their mystery boxes, leading to coffee beans spilling out across their bench as judges reveal they must create a dish that features coffee.
S14.E22 ∙ Episode #14.22
Arriving at Alla Wolf-Tasker's Lake House restaurant, contestants must re-create his summer cucumbers with Murray cod dish. The contestant whose dish least resembles Alla's will be going home.
S14.E23 ∙ Episode #14.23
Teams need to create the prefect date night meal including an entree, main and dessert for 25 couples plus the judges. The two teams with the least impressive menu will head to a shock elimination.
S14.E24 ∙ Episode #14.24
The bottom two teams from the previous challenge face elimination and must split their 90-minute cooking time over two rounds, with the creator of the least impressive second round dish going home.
S14.E25 ∙ MasterClass 2
Andy creates stuffed zucchini flowers with a prawn mousse, Jock shows us how to use eggplant and Country Cob Bakery's Chan and Ryan make slow cooked BBQ beef with quail egg pie, and curry scallop pie.
S14.E26 ∙ Episode #14.26
It's time to switch things up, and everyone is now cooking for themselves to stay in the competition. The maker of the best dish will win a cash prize of $10,000 and a game-changing immunity pin.
S14.E27 ∙ Episode #14.27
The mystery box has been set by the queen of the kitchen, the legendary Maggie Beer. The four least impressive dishes created from the mystery box will send their makers into a pressure test.
S14.E28 ∙ Episode #14.28
Teams need to create the prefect date night meal including an entree, main and dessert for 25 couples plus the judges. The two teams with the least impressive menu will head to a shock elimination.
S14.E29 ∙ Episode #14.29
Teams face a service challenge for 60 hungry diners at the stately Werribee Mansion. To win a shot at immunity, contestants must turn humble ingredients into a fine dining entree and posh main course
S14.E30 ∙ Episode #14.30
Contestants vie for immunity from elimination over a two-round fry-up, and must create the best dishes using an everyday air fryer before cooking a sweet or savoury dish using a deep fryer.
S14.E31 ∙ Episode #14.31
Competitors must identify a selection of leafy greens and herbs. The first six contestants to incorrectly name the produce must create their tastiest dish that celebrates greens to avoid elimination.
S14.E32 ∙ Episode #14.32
Andy opens the mystery box to reveal a mini storm cloud as lightning flashes around the kitchen. Contestants must create a dish for a rainy day, with a fast track to the immunity challenge at stake.
S14.E33 ∙ Episode #14.33
Gelato master Donny Toce presents his intricate dessert, Honey, comprising a honey tuille, gelato honeycomb, and blown sugar beehive for this Pressure Test, and failure will send someone home.
S14.E34 ∙ Episode #14.34
Contestants become artists for a creative service challenge, and the judges expect three-course masterpieces as they take inspiration from a virtual forest at digital art gallery The LUME.
S14.E35 ∙ Episode #14.35
An imposing figure appears in the kitchen: iconic chef Marco Pierre White. Contestants face a pressure test to win immunity by recreating his panache of sea scallops, calamari and ink sauce.
S14.E36 ∙ Episode #14.36
Contestants must create a dish using ingredients from culinary king Marco Pierre White's array of pantry items that he uses at home. The least impressive dish will ensure elimination for its maker.
S14.E37 ∙ Episode #14.37
Contestants enter the kitchen for a smoking mystery box challenge. They must create a dish that incorporates a burnt element or has the flavour of fire, for a shot at a huge advantage.
S14.E38 ∙ Episode #14.38
It's an elimination pressure test with a difference. The contestants won't see or taste the dish, and they won't be given a recipe. All they have to go on is a review written by judge Melissa Leong.
S14.E39 ∙ Episode #14.39
Vying for a shot at immunity, contestants are split into two teams for a service challenge. Each team must curate a three-course menu for either the Japanese or Italian restaurant they are cooking in.
S14.E40 ∙ Episode #14.40
You have a ticket to the silver screen for a movie food immunity challenge. After a popcorn taste test, the remaining competitors must create a blockbuster flavour choc-top that will thrill filmgoers.
S14.E41 ∙ Episode #14.41
Someone will be eliminated and miss out on the top 10 as contestants attempt to create an entrancing dish that transports the judges and legendary guest chef Rick Stein to a special place.
S14.E42 ∙ Episode #14.42
Top 10 Week kicks off with one tough mystery box: it's the everything box, and all ingredients inside must be used. Plus, anyone who cooks a top dish this week will be safe from elimination.
S14.E43 ∙ Episode #14.43
Contestants have been asked to write their own Pressure Test overnight. Now, they must handle their own pressure and exceed the high bar they have set for themselves and bring their best dish yet.
S14.E44 ∙ Episode #14.44
This challenge is the classic invention test. Our cooks must be inventive, creative and able to think outside the box as they reimagine a classic we all grew up with: the humble fruit salad.
S14.E45 ∙ Episode #14.45
The cooks of the four top dishes this week have won immunity from the elimination. Now they battle it out to win the final immunity pin, but only if they can ace the infamous Time Auction.
S14.E46 ∙ Episode #14.46
Six contestants are cooking to survive in a challenge played out over three rounds, where they can only pick one ingredient to use: pumpkin, chicken or fish. What would you cook to stay in the game?
S14.E47 ∙ Episode #14.47
In a Mystery Box challenge that focuses on detail, plating and using what's available from a choice of tiny ingredients, cooks must plate up a winning entrée-sized dish to avoid a Pressure Test.
S14.E48 ∙ Episode #14.48
Chef Khanh Nguyen reveals his seafood plate for the Pressure Test, and there are 99 ingredients, 143 steps and 13 pages in the recipe. The chef whose dish least resembles Khanh's will go home.
S14.E49 ∙ Episode #14.49
In this service challenge, contestants are cooking for their loved ones, and must serve an entree, main and dessert. The team with the best menu will win a shot at the next immunity challenge.
S14.E50 ∙ Episode #14.50
Today's challenge is to tame one of these very prickly ingredients: chestnuts, stinging nettle, prickly pear or sea urchin. The best dish will win its maker immunity from the week's elimination.
S15.E1 ∙ Premiere
Expect the unexpected when MasterChef Australia returns with a season of Secrets and Surprises. Judges Melissa Leong, Jock Zonfrillo and Andy Allen are joined tonight by special guest Jamie Oliver.
S15.E2 ∙ Episode #15.2
Jamie Oliver is back for another day in the MasterChef Australia kitchen. Contestants must bring their A-game if they want to secure one of two spots in the first Immunity challenge of the season.
S15.E3 ∙ Episode #15.3
There's a catch to the flavour bombs that Jamie Oliver has left behind for the contestants to cook with today - they will only be revealed 15 minutes into the cook and must be included in the dish.
S15.E4 ∙ Episode #15.4
Contestants must raid Shannon Bennett's fridge to create the tastiest dish in 45 minutes. The winner will go head-to-head with Vue de monde's Hugh Allen in the hope of winning an elusive immunity pin.
S15.E5 ∙ Episode #15.5
Contestants fight to stay alive in the first elimination challenge of the season. Cooking from favourite childhood memories, the least impressive dishes over two rounds will send its maker home.
S15.E6 ∙ Episode #15.6
This season's first Mystery Box sees fan favourite Poh Ling Yeow back in the MasterChef kitchen for one night only. Contestants must create a winning dish with little more than under bench staples.
S15.E7 ∙ Episode #15.7
Former MasterChef winner and dessert queen Emelia Jackson is here to share her secrets. Using Emelia's choux pastry recipe, contestants must create a superb sweet or savoury dish to avoid elimination.
S15.E8 ∙ Episode #15.8
Get your orders ready, it's time for the first Service Challenge of the season. Two teams, aided by mentors Matt Sinclair and Sashi Cheliah, must cook an Entrée and a Main course dish for 30 diners.
S15.E9 ∙ Episode #15.9
Winner winner chicken dinner. Contestants must turn Andy's spit roasted chooks into a banger dish, with the winner cooking off for an Immunity Pin against Three Blue Ducks chef, Darren Robertson.
S15.E10 ∙ Episode #15.10
MasterChef royalty Julie Goodwin returns, and survival is on the menu. Those who pick a wrong ingredient in Julie's seafood stew must cook to avoid elimination using only the items in Julie's recipe.
S15.E11 ∙ Episode #15.11
Big Week lives up to its name as the contents of MasterChef's biggest ever Mystery Box are revealed. Contestants must think outside the box and big up the flavour to avoid tomorrow's Pressure Test.
S15.E12 ∙ Episode #15.12
Pressure Test elimination looms as three contestants strive to replicate Eddie Stewart's Tokyo Lamington Tower, featuring Snickers, strawberry matcha, charcoal pumpkin and yuzu curd meringue flavours.
S15.E13 ∙ Episode #15.13
As thousands of hungry punters descend on Melbourne's hip Grazeland, it's surf and turf for the masses with two teams vying for a shot at Immunity in MasterChef's biggest ever service challenge.
S15.E14 ∙ Episode #15.14
With an Immunity Pin at stake, whoever creates the best dish with a mystery appliance in round one will earn first pick of flavour pairings and a 15 minute head start against guest chef Sergio Perera.
S15.E15 ∙ Episode #15.15
Slow and steady keeps their place. Facing elimination, contestants embark on a two-day challenge with 45 minutes to marinate, pickle, brine and more in an overnight cook to finish off the next day.
S15.E16 ∙ Episode #15.16
Contestants try to bowl the judges over by elevating humble breakfast cereals into nostalgic classics. Who will cry over spilt milk with a Pressure Test awaiting the worst cereal offenders tomorrow?
S15.E17 ∙ Episode #15.17
Guest chef Donato Toce reveals his superb Viennetta ice cream cake. Pressure Test contestants will need ice in their veins to replicate the nostalgic dessert or risk being frozen out of the kitchen.
S15.E18 ∙ Episode #15.18
Two teams must wok hard to create a sumptuous banquet at a suburban Chinese Restaurant as they hope to takeaway a crack at Immunity. Will our judges deem their plates of fortune to be sweet - or sour?
S15.E19 ∙ Episode #15.19
Great frypans of fire. It's an Immunity Pin fracas as a field of faves fan the flames in a flipping flambe free-for-all. Who will face fab French foodie Gabriel Gate in a fierce fight to the finish?
S15.E20 ∙ Episode #15.20
Fancy a final trip down memory lane for a '70s-themed dinner party? A little fermented curd will do the trick. Then, time travel for the taste buds leads to a tearful farewell to one contestant.
S15.E21 ∙ Episode #15.21
It's home cooks versus pro cooks in a culinary smackdown. The gloves are off as three contenders go toe-to-toe with Jacqui Challinor and her Nomad Restaurant warriors. Who will deliver the knockout blow?
S15.E22 ∙ Episode #15.22
Three more contestants battle the best of the best, dueling with Nick Holloway's Nu Nu crew in a mind-blowing three-course Pressure Test whipped up by Aru and Sunda Restaurant's gifted chef, Khahn Nguyen.
S15.E23 ∙ Episode #15.23
Louis Tikaram and his Stanley Restaurant team sprint to the kitchen for a blind relay against three MasterChef contestants. With no handovers and zero communication - who will be the runaway winners?
S15.E24 ∙ Episode #15.24
Who can knock Jock's socks off in a shock rock around the clock? Three cooks face the chopping block against Serai's flock. Time is docked for the best stock. Tick tock, tick tock, don't get crocked.
S15.E25 ∙ Episode #15.25
Our home cooks are wading into treacherous waters as global seafood superstar Rick Stein brings his best squid game. Who will end up sleeping with the fishes in a chaotic aquatic 2-part challenge?
S15.E26 ∙ Episode #15.26
Contestants must push the boat out to hook the catch of the day as Australia's top chef Josh Niland reels them in with his unique skills, before setting a gnarly John Dory Mystery Box challenge.
S15.E27 ∙ Episode #15.27
One contender will be shafted as a saucy twist with a standout ingredient ensures stiff competition between the bottom three, who must replicate iconic chef Luke Nguyen's zesty ph? without a recipe.
S15.E28 ∙ Episode #15.28
Australia's homegrown superstar Curtis Stone visits the MasterChef kitchen to mentor and motivate two teams facing off in a massive Service Challenge to create next level root vegetable dishes.
S15.E29 ∙ Episode #15.29
It's a golden opportunity to relish in Curtis' Condiment Cook-off. Today's tastiest condiment wins its maker Immunity, plus their creation will be on Coles supermarket shelves Australia-wide tomorrow.
S15.E30 ∙ Episode #15.30
Australia's most beloved food icon, Maggie Beer, is in the Masterchef kitchen to spread the joy and inspire a full field of black apron contestants as they compete in a 2-round Elimination Challenge.
S15.E31 ∙ Episode #15.31
The week kicks off with a bang as a Mystery Box Challenge allows our Top 9 to turn the tables on Jock, Andy and Melissa. It's what's inside that counts as our home cooks try to surprise the judges.
S15.E32 ∙ Episode #15.32
Chef Nelly Robinson presents Mr. McGregor Garden - a whimsical dish that sends three home cooks down a tricky Pressure Test rabbit hole. For one unlucky contestant there will be no fairytale ending.
S15.E33 ∙ Episode #15.33
Greece is the word. The National Gallery of Victoria's Temple of Boom is the Herculean setting where food will be given the Midas touch in a big fat Greek Service Challenge odyssey with a twist. Opa.
S15.E34 ∙ Episode #15.34
For a hot shot at an Immunity Pin, the lucky mug to grind out the best sweet coffee dish moves on to stir things up in a tea-for-two brew-ha-ha against The Ritz-Carlton's perky pastry chef Kay-Lene Tan.
S15.E35 ∙ Episode #15.35
It's a colour palette for the palate with a pearler of a taste test to set the tone. Who will then be caught red-handed and feeling blue cooking an elimination dish that highlights one chosen colour?
S15.E36 ∙ Episode #15.36
Contestants must include every ingredient in the dreaded Everything Box to plate up a meal. The makers of the bottom three dishes will face tomorrow's mind-blowing Pressure Test.
S15.E37 ∙ Episode #15.37
Internationally renowned chef Clare Smyth of Sydney's Oncore Restaurant is here to put contestants through their Pressure Test paces with a complex dish inspired by beef, oyster and Irish stout pie.
S15.E38 ∙ Episode #15.38
At the beautiful grounds of the O.MY Farm, contestants are split into 3 teams of 2. After foraging for one ingredient to hero in a dish, only THEN do they find out what course they'll be cooking.
S15.E39 ∙ Episode #15.39
Hear ye, hear ye. It's crunch time in a cracker of an Immunity Challenge. Judges are listening for the loudest, most rip-roaring dish that offers both aural pleasure and sizzling taste. Sound good?
S15.E40 ∙ Episode #15.40
Consummate pastry chef and chocolatier Kirsten Tibballs is here to set a sweet Elimination Challenge over two rounds. Who will pud up some patisserie magic and who will dessert the kitchen?
S15.E41 ∙ Episode #15.41
With an open garden, open pantry and an open mind, freshness will be front and centre as our Top 5 let their imaginations run wild competing for a spot in the next Immunity Challenge.
S15.E42 ∙ Episode #15.42
A road trip to All Saints Estate in the Murray offers a high-stakes showdown with a classic Time Auction. A bidding war for ingredients is just the opening salvo in a battle for a shot at Immunity.
S15.E43 ∙ Episode #15.43
We're at the pointy end in cactus country, and the most succulent Mexican dish will earn its maker a stab at Immunity. Needles to say, the winner will be dancing a salsa in this thorny alfresco fiesta.
S15.E44 ∙ Episode #15.44
Our judges face their toughest decision yet in a service challenge at the incredible Stick Shed in Murtoa. Who will separate the wheat from the chaff in our grain event and be first into Finals Week?
S15.E45 ∙ Episode #15.45
An all-out ancovy assault and a ding-dong Dijon duel sees contestants pitted against each other in pairs for the first Elimination round, with the bottom two duking it out to remain in the competition.
S15.E46 ∙ Episode #15.46
Emotions run high with a semi final spot at stake, as contestants feel the love in a tear-jerker of a Mystery Box. Hearts and souls will go into a MasterChef version of their family's favourite dish.
S15.E47 ∙ Episode #15.47
Bennelong Restaurant's Peter Gilmore demonstrates how to create an intricate and tasty seafood dish. With no recipe, contestants must use total recall to perfectly replicate the dish or be eliminated.
S15.E48 ∙ Episode #15.48
The final three must keep up with Curtis Stone as he whips up a magnificent beef dish. The contestant whose plate most closely resembles Curtis' creation will earn a whopping advantage for the semifinal.
S15.E49 ∙ Episode #15.49
Our Top 3 must create an entrée, main course and dessert for a hungry crowd of diners and judges. The two contestants with the most exciting overall menu will earn their ticket into the Grand Finale.
S15.E50 ∙ Grand Finale
It's Grand Finale Day, and whichever cook scores the most points across two rounds will lift the trophy aloft, claiming $250,000 in prize money, and the title of MasterChef Australia winner, 2023!?
