masterchef the professionals behind the scenes

They're encouraged to hone their cooking skills during this time and there is a well stocked pantry in the MasterChef house provided for them as well as a large range of cookbooks to study in the MasterChef house during their off time. Time off? Contestants generally have evenings and weekends off. Waiting area in the studio - known as the 'Wine Room' The first four seasons were filmed in Alexandria, Sydney. It is filmed at the MasterChef Kitchen at the Melbourne Showgrounds (in a former poultry pavilion!). It takes anywhere between 8 and 12 hours filming to produce content for one episode.

How long does filming go for? Filming days last for around 8 hours from Monday to Friday. Guest chef and mentor Shannon Bennett in the Vue de Monde kitchen showing the components of his chocolate mousse dessert The only time recipes are available to the contestants is when they are undertaking a Pressure Test challenge - that is, recreating a dish from a well-known chef. They have no access to cookbooks or internet whilst in the MasterChef kitchen during a challenge although they are given a pen and pad to jot down notes while cooking in the kitchen. Their food and cooking knowledge needs to be sound enough so that they can create dishes then and there. How much help are they allowed from recipe books, blogs and the internet? Once a challenge is announced, contestants are not allowed to look up recipes. To get to the top 24, they will need to cook between three to five dishes per contestant. From there, around 50 or so are chosen to attend the judges auditions where they cook for the judges Gary, George and Matt, to see who will make it all the way to the top 24. The potential contestants need to complete a Mystery Box challenge and a Signature Dish challenge. Hundreds of people are selected for cooking auditions in front of producers travelling around Australia. So how do you become a contestant? Contestants start with with a detailed written application form. If you'd like to wake up to a delicious email just enter your email address below. Every morning I send my friends the latest restaurant, recipe or travel story from my blog.

Masterchef the professionals behind the scenes