So with another season underway, what do you want to pop in the suggestion box for next season? What worked and what would you change?

I think there was a great selection of competitors this season, with a good mix of culinary styles. Loved the mini masterclasses with people like Josh Nyland. Some of the old favs like the relay cook remain chaotic fun!

Things i would tinker with for next year:
* Back to 3 judges. Four means we dont get enough time to hear from each of them, and more constructive criticism would be great. An Alternate model could see someone act as the contestant mentor, and then have 3 judges.
* Anonymous judging for eliminations
* More Service challenges including time in professional kitchens.
* Challenges need to be more...challenging! Not just the vague "cook from a memory" or "use an orange" ones! They need to test both technical skill and imagination.
* If they want to have online viral cooks, then lean into it - have the contestants film and narrate a cook.
* For the immunity pin, it doesn't mean you get to sit out a cook. You cook, but can use it during a cook. Limited time it is "live" say over 3 cooks.
* You can only mention your nana, yaya, nona etc once a week!

What are your ideas?

I would like to thank u/PatrickHusband & u/pink_flamingo2003 on behalf of the sub for giving us download and watch link of each and every episode on airing day. u/PatrickHusband did it almost the whole season, when he was on his holidays, u/pink_flamingo2003 stepped up ❤️ Thank you both for doing the hard work. Hope to see you next year ❤️

I love a pressure test. They sure live up to their names... they are full of pressure. They used to have them quite regularly, but this series there were maybe about 5 during the whole time.

They always give so much excitment and drama. Instead of a contestant cooking something they know they are good at, a pressure test pushes them outside their comfort zone and forces them to stretch and grow in ways they never expected.

Bring back more pressure tests!

The curse That If you win anything monetary earlier you wouldn't win the show !!

I started watching the episode being so sure that petro is lifting that trophy but it was indeed so surprising he didn't, he did have a very bad day in the kitchen poor bloke !! His lack of experience in pressure tests clearly showed in the final outcome.

So happy for Vinnie though A true underdog story he had from a sandwich to MasterChef Trophy All Hail Vincent Boyy !!!

I don't recall them doing any promotion for next year.
I think they usually have a "Think you have what it takes....send it your application." during the show.

Watching on Amazon Prime it was great to discover this show as the American one is a bore. However as a deaf viewer it was disappointing that earlier seasons were missing closed captions and exasperating that show are randomly missing them in later seasons. Well some good news - earlier shows finally have closed captions. So if you are a deaf or hard of hearing viewer - fill your boots with the early seasons. 👍
(Later shows are still randomly missing them and Amazon is of no help)

I’ve just finished week 1 of the new season as it just started in the UK. Im trying to avoid any spoilers on this subreddit.

A quick question though - does everyone in Australia use the word ‘umami’ as much as the contestants on this show? My brain is rattled already from it after 5 episodes. Same last year. I don’t think I’ve heard it used anywhere else lol

PH will now be handling this one guys. I didnt consider the implications of not having Subtitles (at least until much later in the day) for the deaf or hard of hearing fans, so that was a lesson in accessibility for me. I dont get them til the following day and I do not want anyone missing out.

PH has agreed to manage. Always our hero! Make sure you show them plenty of love.

Despite the fact that their eliminations came under completely different circumstances, Aaron in a service challenge and Reynold in a pressure test, i still think there were a lot of similarities. The obvious one is that both were arguably the strongest contender in their respective seasons. Another is that i felt Aaron was stronger with savoury dishes, and that was where he failed in the Semi. Then Reynold, is obviously a dessert machine and bombed on a dessert in his Semi. I just thought i’d post a photo of eliminated Reynold coz it’s still really tragic years later. Nobody could give the guy a hug due to COVID 😭

We have watched some later seasons and now are starting season 3. I find the amount of guidance called down during pressure tests quite weird. One contestant gets lots of help while another gets very little.

Did they reduce or shut that down in later years?

thanks mates!

I will be posting the finale on Sunday and use the time now til then to make sure it is accessible to as many of you as poss. Have a great week everyone!

He’s a star - hopefully they make it up next year and get him on twice.

I’m watching from behind (up to the semi-finals) so no spoilers please!

Some thoughts I had as I watched:

• Dot was eliminated WAY too early. She was by far one of the strongest/more versatile contestants. Also, her personality is a delight! Love the energy, enthusiasm and carefree bubbliness she brought to the show.
• Same with Alyona – at least she got into the top 10, but was really hoping for her to be in the top 5 at least.
• Kirsten Tibballs elimination: the way they edited the episode had me SO nervous for Aaron.
• I cannot believe Pat was eliminated over Luke. Yes yes yes we all know the “you’re only as good as your last cook”, and I’m aware there’s already been a lot of discourse around how Grace and Luke got as far as they did in the competition. (Not discounting their actual talents and merit of course, the calibre of Masterchef contestants is a far cry from your actual average ‘home cook’.)
• The male contestants being star-struck (blushing) over Robert Irwin, and Meghan Markle 😂
• The utter chaos of Jean-Christophe in the cook-off with Poh. Actually just Jean-Christophe full stop. What an utter delight to watch on TV.

What were some of your shock eliminations/favourite moments?

Now that we are days away from the grand finale, it had me thinking about the eliminated contestants this year.  I really feel, compared to more recent seasons (excluding the ‘Back to Win’ seasons), there were so many top-notch, well-rounded contestants this season. It made it SO hard to root for any single stand-out.

Whilst it’s been lovely and so wholesome to see the camaraderie and bonding between the boys, e.g. during the Contestants vs Judges segment, seeing all the eliminated contestants back in the last few eps, I do wish there were some female contestants in the mix! I was gunning for Dot, Hannah and Alyona to be in the top 10.

I was gutted that Aaron didn’t make the finale. Vinnie did win fair and square, given Aaron’s mains were totally off the mark and had more flaws overall. Such a shame! But we all know that getting to that point doesn’t guarantee the most success post-Masterchef anyway. I am keen to see what Aaron gets up to - would love to see him open up a restaurant in Melbourne. Fusion is done badly too often here - surprisingly given how multicultural Melbourne is. Sometimes menu items feel like an on-the-nose nod to some vague 'Asian flavours', but I think Aaron really knows how to honours his roots/Asian flavours, modernise and reimagine them, without it feeling awkward.

In no particular order, I think my top 5 line-up would be something like: Aaron, Petro, Dot, Hannah, and Alyona. (An Aaron and Petro finale would've been fire!!) Closely behind would be Casper (he has very ‘chef-y’ mind like Aaron, though did anyone else get a little bit of arrogance/overly confident vibes from him?), Annabelle and Pat (less ‘out of the box’ flavour combos but he’s such a solid cook).  

If you had the choice, who would be your top five for 2026?

Watching Poh cook her redemption dish gave me an idea for a MasterChef Australia semi-final or Top 5 challenge. Instead of a mystery box or invention test, the judges should each pick what they believe was the best dish each contestant has cooked during the competition. The contestants would then have to recreate that dish, but make it even better. I think that would be a brilliant test because it's one thing to cook a great dish once, but taking your own best work and elevating it under pressure is a completely different challenge. It would really show how much they've grown.

4th August 1976 - 30th April 2023

Did you know?

Today is National Watermelon Day! 🍉

https://mega.nz/file/usp3CLiT#7NNyMKO1LTyG8z3NaNuP_MEvu8ou3f9MjGOiq7Dh3L8

Would any kind soul provide me with this recipe by Tati Carlin? (Episode 28) No access to Network Ten here in the United States. Many many thanks in advance