Master Chef 2021

[Smowball]

Just started this eve to watch this years series on catch-up, I’m 3 episodes in so far. God what an appalling standard compared to previous years! Several contestants 100% should not have gone thru at all. Any thoughts??

[Smowball]

I check that tonight tonight - they all have the same outfits each separate episode. Seems they do first part in morning and put whoever thru, then whoever has to cook again comes back in afternoon

[pastafreak]

I read that all the food is cold by the time they come to tasting. I'd imagine a fair amount of time passes between tastings.

[TonyV]

Yes I expect it is Pasta, but who wants cold gravy, but it's not real life, just TV

[Smowball]

And I guess judging must also involve personal taste - I mean it must be hard to judge a dish/food that you don’t actually like lol

[Mamyalynne]

I've had many a cold plate of food, comes with being a Mum - good gravy is good hot or cold.

Well, mine is ;-)

[Smowball]

Lol and why not Mamya!

[dave50]

One of the ladies said she lived ON the beach in Kent, any idea where this might be?

[grumpy01]

South East England.

[dave50]

Yes I know South East England, I meant whereabouts in Kent, it sounded rather idyllic.

[grumpy01]

I know that’s what you meant.I assume it means they live very near the beach and spend a lot of time there.As Kent is a very coastal county it could anywhere around it.

[naomi24]

I think some people confuse Masterchef with Masterchef the Professionals. These are not professionals. They're ordinary people from all walks of life. Perhaps that's why cooking skills and presentation don't meet higher standards.

[AuntPollyGrey]

I would say that in comparison to previous years there is a much higher proportion of 'Home Cooks' than aspiring chefs. Perhaps this is a good thing as it gives confidence to home cooks, even if it's just 'well I could do better than that!' You can basically see who is going to be in the final week very early on, and I doubt it will be Betty and her Hot Pots. :-)

[Prudie]

I was going to say the same as Naomi ref mixing this batch of contestant with the professional series. I have been watching this in real time since it started 2 or 3 weeks ago. One week they were all really good and then there was a bunch in second week that were not. I've not noticed they were any worse than previous series. I also think the judging is quite fair, I can nearly always guess who they are going to take through and send home correctly.

[TonyV]

OK naomi, but these people have been through a selection process, so should be the best?

[davebro]

Used to watch it a few seasons ago - seems to be past it's sell by date now.

[Smowball]

I know they’re not professionals - but seeing as they’ve gone thru video interviews, selection processes etc and thousands enter I would have thought that lots of them wouldn’t make such glaringly obvious mistakes. Maybe it’s nerves.....

[FoxLee2]

How does it work when they are cooking for past winners or other professional chefs and they are given 1 and a quarter hours to produce 2 courses. It looks like they all start at the same time but surely it must be staggered else why would you get John and Gregg harassing them about being ready on time and then 'you've got 15 minutes for your next course. Their 'hurry up, hurry up' drives me mad.

[grumpy01]

They’re not helped when the grocer hovers around asking them what they’re cooking.I wish someone would tell to him to .... ...

[Smowball]

Agree foxlee and grumpy x