‘MasterChef Junior’ season 8 episode 5 recap: Which home cook can’t keep up while cooking for 21 pregnant guests? [UPDATING LIVE BLOG]
The best young home cooks between the ages of eight and 13 have been cast to compete in Season 8 of “MasterChef Junior” on Fox. Once again, Gordon Ramsay leads the judging panel and is joined by renowned chef Aarón Sánchez and Emmy-winning talk show host Daphne Oz. The winner of “MasterChef Junior” wins the coveted trophy and $100,000. They’ll also take home a brand new Viking kitchen, amazing countertop appliances, kitchen tools, bakeware and a trip to Caesar’s Palace in Las Vegas.
Below, read our minute-by-minute “MasterChef Junior” recap of Season 8, Episode 5, titled “Junior Edition: Daphne’s Baby Shower,” to find out what happened Thursday, April 14 at 8:00 p.m. ET/PT. Then be sure to sound off in the comments section about your favorite young cooks on Fox’s reality TV show and who you think has what it takes to win the entire competition.
SEE Daphne Oz on joining Gordon Ramsay for ‘MasterChef Junior’
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8:00 p.m. — Previously on “MasterChef Junior”! Eva, Ivy and Starla dominated the donut hole challenge and were declared safe. The remaining 10 cheftestants had to compete in a mystery box challenge full of stinky ingredients. In the end, it was 12-year old Maclain who stunk up the kitchen the worst and got sent home. Now 12 contestants remain in contention for the “MasterChef Junior” title!
8:06 p.m. — Gordon and Aarón have decided to throw a baby shower for Daphne. But it’s not just for Daphne, it’s for 21 other soon-to-be mothers as well. The “MasterChef” restaurant will be full of guests and the young home cooks will be responsible for cooking all of the food. Next, Gordon announces the teams have already been picked: Girls vs. Boys. Cruz is confident the boys are stronger, but Ivy is adamant that girls cook better. Team captains tonight are Liya for the Girls and Grayson for the Boys. Daphne tells the Blue Team to make a chicken dish and the Pink Team to make a fish dish. Both teams are required to make dessert as well. Their 60 minutes starts now!
8:15 p.m. — The teams spend time deciding what should be on their menus. The girls seem a little more confident in their food and unified as a team. Gordon tells everyone he wants to see an example of their dish in the next 20 minutes, just in case they need to make adjustments before guests arrive. Freddy makes a mistake at the chicken station, putting raw garlic on top of the meat after it’s been pan-seared, rather than basting the chicken in the garlic. Gordon is losing confidence in young Freddy.
8:25 p.m. — Ciara improperly cooks her quinoa, but there’s still time to correct things before the judges have a taste. Daphne thinks Liya is a good leader and “absolutely has her team’s attention.” Over on the boys’ side, A’Dan and Freddy appear to be butting heads. With 30 minutes expired, A’Dan asks to switch stations and accuses Grayson of being a bad team captain. Furthermore, the chicken is undercooked. Gordon orders Grayson to rectify this situation right now! Over on the girl’s side, Molly has overcooked the salmon and the tomatoes are undercooked. There are a lot of improvements to be made!
8:35 p.m. — A parade of pregnant women enter the “MasterChef” kitchen in anticipation of their meals. The teams have just about 20 minutes to finish cooking and serve the guests. Aarón checks in on the Pink Team while Gordon gives the Blue Team a reality check. Freddy has cooked eight chicken breasts even though they need 21. Gordon tells the youngster to get it together! Next, Gordon yells at Grayson to quit playing around with desserts and make sure the chicken is done. Grayson complains that nobody is listening to him, but Freddy says nobody can hear Grayson. This team is in turmoil. Just when it seems things couldn’t get worse, Gordon realizes the Blue Team is still plating raw chicken. He threatens to shut the kitchen down and send all of them home if they can’t figure this out immediately.
8:40 p.m. — “How can you be in the Top 12 of ‘MasterChef Junior’ and not be able to cook 11 pieces of chicken in an hour?” questions Andrew. It’s the quote of the night. Freddy and A’Dan continue to argue about whose fault this all is. Finally time expires and the service staff comes to grab the plates. As the pregnant guests eat and judge the plates, Gordon tells the young chefs he has never seen such silly mistakes. Now it’s time to get the desserts out. The Pink Team is making brownies while the Blue Team makes strawberry shortcake.
8:50 p.m. — Both teams plate and serve their desserts. This seems to have gone much smoother than entrees. The girls celebrate their teamwork while they boys continue to bicker. A’Dan is pointing out what each member of the team did wrong, which upsets Freddy more than anyone. These two just don’t get along. Freddy thinks if Grayson would have spoke up louder as a team captain they wouldn’t have had all the problems they had.
8:59 p.m. — The pregnant diners have all voted for their favorite dish. The winning team of tonight’s challenge is the Pink Team! That means all the girls are safe this week. One of the six boys is going home. The judges take a moment to deliberate. When they return, Aarón announces that 85% of the diners voted for the Pink Team. That’s a landslide. Daphne says her chicken was completely raw. Gordon names Freddy, A’Dan and Cruz as the bottom three. Ultimately, it’s Freddy who couldn’t keep up in the kitchen. The 12-year old will head back to Philadelphia and celebrate all the great things he was able to accomplish.
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