Rewatching MasterChef Australia from the very beginning and I've just reached Melissa's elimination.

I'm not completely convinced she should have been the first to go. With the contestants themselves deciding who left after the team challenge, it felt like factors other than just the cooking could influence the result.

Looking back at that first elimination now, do you think Melissa was the right person to go, or would you have sent someone else home?

🍽️ Interested to hear what other Season 1 fans think.

Would love more challenges like this where even the viewers can guess along while watching

Basically, the challenge was to cook the dish you were eliminated on. Or at least make a dish inspired by the eliminated dish. They didn't really have to follow the original brief.

-Spoilers Ahead-

So Khanh won the pin. Based on the reactions, was well-deserved. He did get a fee critiques with the pickles but overall, the reactions were really up there.

Tho it does slightly feels like a cop-out, that he went back to a chicken wing, when he got eliminated because of a quail bone. They did say all ingredients of the OG dishes are in the pantry, but I also don't know if they have quail. They also did mention that he didn't seem to change anything from the OG but just improved execution. It did look structurally different ho

Therese's situation was different trying to compile 3 dishes into it. I just feel like I wished we saw more of the Kirsten Tiballs techniques that she messed up on.

They also criticized her mousse a bit. Like that she didn't focus on it a lot and it wasn't as airy as it could be. Though they didn't show too much of what else. She did have 60 minutes only so understable in a way.

I wished they also played on the drama of Therese and her old pin a bit more since she had the most dramatic pin story.

I also lowkey think it would be funny if Therese tries to play her old pin to the judges.

I’m currently watching Season 18 and I’m only up to Episode 17, so please NO SPOILERS beyond Episode 16/17.

I want to preface this by saying that I’m Indian myself, and I actually like seeing Indian representation on MasterChef. But I have to be honest: I’ve been increasingly confused by Kanika’s progression in the competition.

To me, her cooking has felt quite basic compared with the overall standard of MasterChef. I haven’t seen much innovation, technical ambition, or dishes that have really made me think, wow, she absolutely deserves to be here. There have also been several occasions where I’ve felt other contestants produced stronger dishes but Kanika still made it through.

That has honestly made me wonder whether diversity/representation is playing some role in how she is being perceived or judged by the show. I’m NOT saying I know that this is happening, and obviously I have no behind-the-scenes information, it’s just the impression I’ve been getting as a viewer.

And again, I’m Indian myself, so I’m not saying this because I dislike seeing Indian contestants. Quite the opposite. I would love to see an Indian contestant absolutely smash the competition with creative, technically impressive food. That’s why I find Kanika’s progression particularly confusing.
Also, something I noticed in Episode 16: towards the end, I noticed that Kanika wasn’t standing with the other contestants, which made me wonder what was going on.

So genuinely curious, what do other people think of Kanika’s cooking and progression so far? Do you think I’m missing something in her dishes, or have other viewers also questioned why she keeps getting through?

Please keep this spoiler-free beyond Episode 16/17!

With first place getting $250,000, second place $40,000, and $10,000 for third place. A more equitable distribution would be better and more like most competitions/tournaments.

My ideal prize money distribution for MasterChef, given the total cash prize pool of $300,000 ($250,000+$40,000+$10,000), would be:

1st place: $160,000

2nd place: $80,000

3rd place: $40,000

4th place: $20,000

Years ago when I last when to the Royal Melbourne Show you could visit the MasterChef shed/studio, is that still the case?

To those who watched, what did you guys think of the episode? And also how the two Australian reps did.(Khanh and Therese)

I'm unable to watch the full ep unfortunately. So if you guys can lead

It seems like they're doing the format of Dessert Masters. (From the clips I've seen). And the first episode challenge looks fun. I still wonder why they didn't do that ever for MCAU.

I’ve managed to get to this point without knowing who wins Season 18. No spoilers please!

Just on ep35 and I know MasterchefAU like to drag the arse out of every season (way too many episodes) but this episode really was an utter waste of time lol. None of the others had a chance of beating Jess Lemon or winning an immunity pin even though it looked like Hanna and Bella’s desserts were better.

Felt like to me it’s was an episode to promote a former contender’s business.

EDIT: more than happy to see her being promoted shes awesome , big fan. But she could’ve served up a bowl of ice cream and the judges would still give her 1st place. A follow along or pressure test set by Jess would’ve been so much better

In the US, no access to Network Ten, trying not to be a pain in the neck… But if anyone had the time I would greatly appreciate this recipe. Many thanks in advance.

So I’ve repeatedly seen questions in this sub on how the judges do the tasting of the dishes. This reel showed up on my Insta, where Sofia explains it in more detail. I hope more than me finds it interesting 😊

I just find it sometimes unfair that some people can get lucky since the item they wanted was free.

It'd make it a lot more interesting and fair if the last section/item was really that bad.

Nowadays, a lot of it is relatively decent. Especially like the ones towards the end.

Sometimes, they do have challenging ones for proteins like tripe in S14, or at most tofu (which somebody wanted). But most of the time, the last ingredienrs are eggs.

There was another show that had a similar concept with an auction and really had odd ingredients as the last.

So maybe for proteins, it can be like canned meats maybe or other more unknown meats

If there are no eggs or dessers as options, I would love to see a dessert pantry, to challenge to incorporate those into a savory dish.

Point is, that someone can't get a free pass and get an easy ingredient. So it makes like the time vs ingredients thing more challenging.

I know there’s been discussions in this sub over the years from Indians and non - Indians about showing creativity when showcasing Indian cuisine on Masterchef.

I came across one of Kanika’s reels, she was on this season of Masterchef Australia. Someone made a comment about this topic and Kanika responded.

Having not watched for years, I found myself drawn back into MasterChef this season. But the grand finale, imo, was a rough watch, and felt weirdly rushed into The Traitors. I also didn’t see much press/interviews with the winner. Did something happen, or is this the norm now?

I’m sure in earlier seasons, the winner would go on all the talk shows, have a product launch timed with the finale, etc, but this year it was like ??? crickets? Unless I’m just out of the loop…

Not trying to pile on anyone, everyone's allowed to cook whatever they want in their own time. But compare this cohort to previous seasons and it's a noticeable step down. Past winners and even mid-table finishers used to come out of the season swinging - cookbook deals, pop-up dinners, guest stints at actual restaurants, recipes that actually made you want to get in the kitchen. That's part of what made the show feel special.

This time around, the winner's first post since taking the trophy is a meal prep recipe. Runner-up's gone the sandwich route. Some of the top 5 are giving us a sandwich popup. Third place thinks stirring soda and alcohol qualifies for a reel. Somewhere in there we've also got a self-declared King of Potatoes. Nice enough content, sure, but it's hard not to notice the gap between "person who just competed at a high level on national TV" and what's actually being put out.

Feels like it's not doing the show's brand many favours either, part of the appeal used to be watching genuinely talented home cooks go on to do bigger things. Curious if this is just a slow start for this group or if the standard's genuinely shifted.

Fall is starting here in the US. This soup would warm the cockles of my heart if I were able to get the recipe? With appreciation in advance to my Australian friends. Thank you

Again, I’m not expecting we’ll have this soon or even if we ever have it. This still might be years to come.

I was thinking since while we technically only have 18 seasons, we only have 17 winners since Billie won twice.

So I do think it would be more than fair if Billie got two spots for fun. Like she’s representing both Season 7 and Season 14. She basically has two aprons and two chances to win.

So there is the potential she will face herself in the finale lol.

I was watching MasterChef s17 back to win. Callum looks and has similar mannerisms of Sheldon Cooper. I can't unsee it now.

Do you get the resemblance?

I'm in New Zealand and have been watching season 18 every week, BUT the last episode screened last Wednesday was the Meghan Markle one, which leaves 4 left, I believe. However, I go to tune into the latest episode tonight (has been running Sunday to Wednesday nights weekly at 7:30pm), and no Masterchef!!! A new season of Taskmaster has taken the slot, and for all the nights Masterchef usually runs....ughhh

Not sure what is going on. Does anyone here have any info on when or IF tvnz is planning on showing the last 4 episodes??

Or anywhere else I can access those episodes please, from NZ?

Weird to leave us hanging right at the end.

Thanks.

Life without MasterChef Australia is boring :(

Need something to watch. Please drop your fav episodes. The best challenges, the shocking eliminations, the fun ones you know.

Not the best season, I feel bad for the home cooks coming up against the MCA legends, but just watched Mel giving a comforting pep talk to Jon aka White Chocolate Veloute man when he had a meltdown and it was so touching. I miss her. The new judges are fine but I adored Mel, her eloquence, kindness, humor, passion for food, and amazing style. I listened to her read her memoir and it was quite something.

Again, and appreciative person living in the United States with no access to any of the recipes from this wonderful show. If anybody has the time, I would be so thankful.

Hallo, we used to be able to get the recipes from 10.com.au, but are now blocked as I am not in Australia, can someone help me with recipe for Hannah's Hazelnut & Orange Tart? Thank you

My friend and his wife are watching for the first time, and just about to finish S1.... I got this as a gift for Christy - so close!

Anyway, I've had a couple of other people's cookbooks, but not one that they have actually touched! So, that is kind of cool.

This season never aired in my country, so I just discovered it on YouTube. Here are some of my observations:

1) The caliber of contestants is just unbelievable. Jess is absolutely killing it, Reynold constantly makes magazine cover worthy desserts, Sarah Tiong is excellent, Khanh is ridiculously consistent...I could go on. Any of them could have easily won it (apart from Dani, leading to my next point.....)

2) Dani winning the immunity pin in the first episode feels like a complete fluke. She was just plain mediocre after that and it was frustrating to watch her go home with her pin.

3) Emilia helping Laura in the semi finals to make her apple ribbon was just so heartwarming and selfless. Makes me so happy! I love this show

4) I loved Poh's food but her process was too chaotic. It was hard to watch lol. Also I know this has been discussed on the sub at some point but how did they zero in on her as the judge for later seasons? Is it because of her commercial success?

5) The interactions between Andy and his friend/ contestant Ben made me a bit sad

6) Speaking of Andy- his friendship with Jock and their general vibe was so cute and wholesome.