MasterChef fans still questioning show's standard after latest disasters

What did you miss?

MasterChef viewers have continued their complaints about the standard of contestants after the latest episode featured a number of kitchen disasters.

The latest batch of amateur cooks had a nightmare in their heat, with accusations of overdone and underdone dishes, as well as flavours that didn't go together.

It followed on from the previous episode where one contestant accidentally sprinkled salt instead of sugar over his dessert, leaving viewers questioning the show's standards.

What, how, and why?

MasterChef's latest heat saw a number of kitchen disasters, including crunchy rice, underdone aubergine, and quail described as "the uninvited guest on the plate".

BBC's cooking contest is notorious for putting cooks under pressure which often leads to silly mistakes, but Thursday's group of contestants hit more stumbling blocks than usual.

One challenge saw the cooks asked to prepare quail, which threw many of them - including Chaz, who was told that his quail was "the uninvited guest on the plate" as it didn't go with the rest of his food.

Meanwhile, Mathu tried to make congee but served up rice that was still crunchy rather than the porridge texture she was aiming for.

Many of the contestants were criticised for undercooking meat - but Penny managed to overcook her lamb while leaving an unappetising think layer of unrendered fat over it, served alongside an uncooked aubergine.

Steve was told his cheesecake dessert looked good, but the guest judges - as well as hosts John Torode and Gregg Wallace - complained that it tasted of neither white chocolate nor cardamom.

By the midway point in the episode, viewers were unconvinced as one person commented on X: "Straight in the bin...all of em," while someone else agreed: "They should all cook again they are all rubbish."

Some viewers had an issue with the small amount of chips Steve served with his steak as one person wrote: "If I can count the amount of chips on my plate there ain’t enough of them," and someone else commented: "'chunky chips' - literally 4 of them, dear me."

After Penny's final dish for the judges, one viewer wrote: "Yeah Penny definitely had to go, seriously what kinda #Masterchef is this?"

Commenting on the standard generally, a viewer wrote: "Too many one trick ponies going through the first rounds these days."

Someone else added: "Fair play they’re all top notch at a bit of meat or fish with rice or potato…..genius almost."

What else has been happening on MasterChef?

During Wednesday's episode, viewers were left questioning the standard of contestants as one amateur cook accidentally sprinkled salt over his dessert instead of sugar.

After tasting the dish, Wallace told him: “I think you may have sprinkled salt on there instead of sugar… I am picking up a little bit of salt.” Looking bashful, he replied: “Fingers in the wrong jar.”

The gaffe left fans scratching their heads, with some taking to X to comment. One moaned about the "lack of any talent on display this year from 99% of people". "How on Earth do you accidentally use salt in a dessert," they asked.

“All you need to do to get to the quarter finals these days is know the difference between salt & sugar,” sniped someone else.

MasterChef next airs on BBC One at 7.30pm on Friday.

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