MasterChef (American TV series) season 4

MasterChef (American TV series) season 4
Country of origin	United States
Original release
Network	Fox
Release	May 22, 2013

Season 4 of the American competitive reality television series MasterChef had a premiere on Fox on May 22, 2013.

Top 19

Contestant	Age	Hometown	Occupation	Status
Beth Kirby	29	Chattanooga, Tennessee	Writer, Photographer	Top 15
Bethy Rossos	28	Estacada, Oregon	High School P.E. Teacher	Top 15
Bime Cruz	35	Taunton, Massachusetts	Boxing Coach	Top 15
Bri Kozior	22	Doylestown, Pennsylvania	Theatre Assistant	Top 15
Eddie Jackson	32	Americus, Georgia	Personal Trainer/Former Pro Football Player	Top 15
Howard Simpson	26	San Diego, California	Barback	Top 15
James Nelson	26	Victoria, Texas	Retail Sales	Top 15
Jessie Lysiak	27	Social Circle, Georgia	Yacht Stewardess	Top 15
Jonny Blanchard	28	Marlboro, Massachusetts	Carpenter	Top 15
Jordan Roots	29	Minneapolis, Minnesota	Delivery Driver	Top 15
Krissi Biasiello	34	Philadelphia, Pennsylvania	Paralegal	Top 15
Luca Manfe	31	Astoria, New York	Restaurant Manager	Top 15
Lynn Chyi	27	San Diego, California	Systems Administrator	Top 15
Natasha Crnjac	26	San Diego, California	Stay-at-Home Mom	Top 15
Savannah Sturges	27	San Diego, California	Special Ed. Teacher	Top 15
Kathy Prieto	29	Bronx, New York	Office Assistant	Eliminated 12 June
Malcolm Green	27	Cambridge, Massachusetts	Unemployed	Eliminated 5 June
Adriana Guillen	26	New York, New York	College Admissions Rep.	Eliminated 5 June
Sasha Foxx	42	Tuscaloosa, Alabama	Singer	Eliminated 29 May

Elimination table

Place	Contestant	Episode
		4		5	6		7	8	9
	Beth	IN	IN	WIN	HIGH	IN	LOW	WIN 1	IN	LOW
	Bethy	IN	IN	WIN	IN	WIN	WIN	IN	IN
	Bime	HIGH	IN	WIN	IN	WIN	NPT	IN	HIGH
	Bri	IN	IN	WIN	IN	IN	PT	IN	IN
	Eddie	IN	IN	PT	IN	IN	WIN	IN	WIN	IMM
	Howard	IN	LOW	NPT	LOW	IN	WIN	IN	IN	LOW
	James	IN	IN	NPT	HIGH	IN	WIN	IN	IN
	Jessie	IN	WIN	WIN	IN	LOW	WIN	IN	IN	WIN
	Jonny	IN	IN	LOW	IN	IN	WIN	IN	IN	LOW
	Jordan	IN	WIN	NPT	IN	IN	NPT	IN	HIGH
	Krissi	HIGH	IN	PT	IN	IN	PT	IN	IN	WIN
	Luca	IN	IN	WIN	WIN	IMM	LOW	PT	IN
	Lynn	IN	IN	WIN	IN	IN	WIN	IN	IN	LOW
	Natasha	WIN	IMM	WIN	IN	IN	LOW	WIN1	IN
	Savannah	IN	IMM	LOW	IN	IN	WIN	IN	IN
16	Kathy	IN	IN	PT	IN	LOW	LOW	ELIM
17	Malcolm	IN	LOW	WIN	IN	ELIM
18	Adriana	IN	IN	ELIM
19	Sasha	IN	ELIM

^Note 1 : Beth and Natasha were among the bottom four in the first part of the episode but won the team challenge against Luca and Kathy in the second part.

  (WINNER) This cook won the competition.

  (RUNNER-UP) This cook finished in second place.

  (WIN) The cook won the individual challenge (Mystery Box Challenge or Elimination Test).

  (WIN) The cook was on the winning team in the Team Challenge and was directly advanced to the next round.

  (HIGH) The cook was one of the top entries in the individual challenge, but did not win.

  (IN) The cook was not selected as a top entry or bottom entry in an individual challenge.

  (IN) The cook was not selected as a top entry or bottom entry in a team challenge.

  (IMM) The cook won the Mystery Box Challenge (except episode 7, a Team Challenge and the following Pressure Test) and did not have to compete in the Elimination Test or the next round of the competition.

  (IMM) The cook was select by Mystery Box Challenge winner and did not have to compete in the Elimination Test.

  (PT) The cook was on the losing team in the Team Challenge, competed in the Pressure Test, and advanced.

  (NPT) The cook was on the losing team in the Team Challenge, but was exempted from the Pressure Test

  (LOW) The cook was one of the bottom entries in an individual elimination challenge, but was not the last person to advance.

  (LOW) The cook was one of the bottom entries in an individual elimination challenge, and was the last person to advance.

  (ELIM) The cook was out from MasterChef.

Episodes

Episode 1

• Original airdate: Wednesday May 22, 2013
• Audition 1:

Episode 2

• Original airdate: Wednesday May 22, 2013
• Audition 2:

Episode 3

• Original airdate: Wednesday May 29, 2013
• Audition 3 and Boot Camp:

The remaining contestants were asked to prepare a dish in 60 minutes using various cuts of lamb at their choice. When 15 minutes left, Joe started to take off some aprons due to many mistakes. At the end of time, all but eight contestants were divided into two groups, and one advanced to the MasterChef kitchen. The judges then tasted the remaining eight dishes, in couple of two. Malcolm, Jonny, Bri (despite being a vegetarian) and Beth had the best ones, and went on in the competition. However, after a while, even the Italian restaurant manager Luca (who failed to impress the judges in the third season's audition) was admitted, bringing the total of competitors to 19.

The total number of contestants near the end of episode three is actually 20; there is a clean shot of all 20 contestants, which occurs when Luca joins the rest of the contestants. However, at the beginning of episode four, there are clearly only 19 contestants.

Episode 4

• Original airdate: Wednesday May 29, 2013
• Mystery Box Challenge :

The mystery box for this episode challenged the contestants to create a high quality dish using simple ingredients - namely chocolate, potato, bacon, and tomato. The top 3 consisted of Bime, who created a Potato Hash topped with a Poached Egg, Natasha, with a Lemon and Chocolate Tart, and Krissi, who made a Potato and Bacon Frittata served with a Tomato-Basil Salad. Between the three, Natasha emerged as the winner, with the judges raving over her dessert. This was the first time in MasterChef history that a dessert won a mystery box challenge.

• Elimination Challenge:

Contrasting with the mystery box challenge, the elimination challenge for this week was to test how the contestants treat some of the world's most expensive and high-end ingredients. Since Natasha won the mystery box challenge and thus given immunity from elimination, she was given the advantage of choosing the difficult ingredient that her fellow competitors would have to cook with - langoustine, veal chops and Stilton blue cheese. Additionally, her third advantage was that she could pick one other contestant to be safe from elimination. Natasha ended up picking Savannah, whom she felt was no threat in comparison to the others. For this challenge, the top two dishes belonged to Jordan, who created a delicious Langoustine Bisque, and Jessie who made a delicious dish of Tempura Fried Langoustine, despite never having worked with the ingredient before. Gordon then announced that both Jordan and Jessie would become team captains in the first team challenge. The three worst dishes belonged to Sasha, for making a heavy shredded langoustine and cheese grits; Malcolm, for making a stuffed langoustine over pasta, and Howard, for making a poached langoustine over a simple salad, which Gordon refused to taste. In the end, Sasha was deemed to have produced the worst dish and was eliminated.

Episode 5

• Original airdate: Wednesday June 5, 2013
• Team Challenge:

For this team challenge, the contestants found themselves having to work together to feed over 300 elementary school children at Emperor Elementary School. As Jessie and Jordan produced the two best dishes in the last invention test, they became Team Captains for this challenge. On her Red Team, Jessie picked: Lynn, Bethy, Beth, Bime, Natasha, Bri, Luca, Malcolm. For the Blue Team, Jordan picked: Savannah, James, Eddie, Jonny, Krissi, Adriana, Howard, Kathy. Each team was assigned to create one entree and one dessert. The meal must contain a protein, a starch, a vegetable and a fruit. The blue team swiftly decided on their menu of Pasta with Turkey Meatballs and Green Bean Salad and an Apple Crisp for dessert. The red team, on the other hand, took their time coming up with the menu, eventually agreeing on a Chicken Teriyaki with Rice and Corn Entree and a Strawberry Crumble for dessert. Despite their initial quick decisions, the blue team realized that they would have to make 600 meatballs and changed their menu halfway through prep time, instead making a meat sauce to go with the pasta. The red team also came across difficulties during prep due to their overly salty teriyaki sauce. Fortunately, they managed to salvage the sauce by sweetening it up. In the end, the Red Team scored 58% of the votes, making them the winners of this challenge.

• Pressure Test:

As the blue team lost the challenge, they had to face the dreaded pressure test. This week, the judges tested the contestants baking abilities by having them create a delicious Cheesecake in 90 minutes. Gordon revealed to Jordan, the Team Captain, that he could excuse any 3 of his team members, including himself, from the pressure test, ensuring their safety from elimination. He chose to save Howard, James and himself, much to Krissi's dismay. As for the final products, Krissi created a Cheesecake with a Raspberry Compote and Raspberry Bombs. Kathy made a Cheesecake with a Blueberry-Blackberry Compote. Eddie, despite his lack of baking experienced, managed to create a Vanilla Bean Cheesecake with a Mixed Berry Compote. While the judges criticized him for not draining the berries, resulting in the berries tainting the color of the cake, they commended him for his great effort. Krissi, Kathy and Eddie all managed to produce cheesecakes that granted them immediate safety from elimination. The other three contestants were not as lucky. Jonny made a Pineapple Cheesecake with Coconut and Raspberry-Blood Orange Whipped Cream. The judges found the flavor of the cheesecake pleasant but chastised his choice of pineapple, adding that the cake's appearance could have also been improved. Despite her confidence in her baking abilities, Savannah produced an overly sweet Salted Caramel Cheesecake with a Hazelnut-Almond Brittle and a Honey Whipped Cream that the judges agreed contained too much crust. Lastly, Adriana made a Guava Cheesecake topped with Mango and Shredded Coconut. While the judges appreciated her attempt to be creative, the canned guava paste added an overall strange and unpleasant taste to the cake. The bottom 3 consisted of Jonny, Savannah and Adriana. Ultimately, Adriana was the one to be eliminated for her poor choice in using guava paste.

Episode 6

• Original airdate: Wednesday June 5, 2013
• Mystery Box Challenge:

Before the contestants could lift the boxes to reveal the Mystery Box ingredients, the judges revealed that they would be cooking alongside a famous professional chef. The chef turned out to be none other than Gordon Ramsay himself. The Mystery Box included typical Japanese ingredients such as black cod, black and white Sesame Seeds, shiitake mushrooms, baby beets, ginger, cauliflower, soy sauce, rice wine vinegar, rice and miso paste. As the 60 minutes began, the contestants began to start their prep and cooking whereas Ramsay did not start cooking immediately, saying that 60 minutes was "too much time". Instead, he observed the other contestants and only began to cook at the halfway point, 30 minutes. Even though he started to cook a half hour later than all the other contestants, he whipped up a beautifully tasted and presented dish of Sesame Seed Crusted Black Cod on a bed of fragrant Rice with Caramelized Cauliflower and a Roasted Peanut-Miso Sauce. Before the top 3 were announced, the judges singled out Howard, calling his meal "appalling", as the Black Cod in his dish was completely raw. The top 3 cooks consisted of James, who made a Pan Seared Crispy Black Cod with a Toasted Sesame and Cauliflower Puree and a Shiitake Mushroom Salad with a Miso Vinaigrette; Beth, who cooked a dish similar to Gordon's: Sesame Crusted Black Cod with Caramelized Beets and Cauliflower with a Miso Vinaigrette; and Luca, who created a dish of Pan Seared Black Cod with Butter Sauteed Shiitake Mushrooms and Snap Peas with a Miso Glaze. The judges decided that Luca's dish excelled, notably his sauce, and he was determined as the winner of this week's mystery box.

• Elimination Challenge:

The theme for this week's elimination challenge was Dessert. As Luca won the mystery box, he received the usual advantages: immunity from competition and choice of the dessert his fellow competitors would have to make, among 24 cookies, 12 cupcakes or a classic 3 layered cake. He chose the option of 12 cupcakes for his competitors. Luca also received a third advantage: taking away the mixer of one contestant, forcing that person to mix all ingredients by hand. Luca chose to take Jordan's mixer because of Jordan's choice to save himself in last week's Pressure Test. This challenge proved to be difficult for some contestants. However, some managed to succeed and create fantastic finishing products. The top 2 batch of cupcakes belonged to Bime, who presented the judges with Vanilla Cupcakes with Vanilla and Milk Chocolate Whipped Frosting, and Bethy, who astounded the judges by creating 3 different and tasty cupcakes. She made a 1) Bananas Foster Cupcake with a Mascarpone-Cream Cheese Frosting and Homemade Caramel, 2) Raspberry Lime Cupcake with Lime Buttercream and 3) Almond Chocolate Cupcake with Hazelnut Liqueur. Bime and Bethy, as a reward for their wins, will become captains in the next team challenge. The judges also praised the cupcakes of Howard, who redeemed himself after the mystery box, and Jordan, who had no mixer; his cupcake was tasted also by Luca, who liked it. The bottom 3 batches of cupcakes belonged to Malcolm, who made a Buttermilk Cupcake with a Mascarpone-Cream Cheese Frosting and a Rum Banana Cream filling, which the judges found to have a displeasing taste and texture; Kathy, who made Vanilla Cupcakes with some having a crushed peanut base and some having a chocolate peanut butter base, and Jessie, who made two types of cupcakes, the first being a Vanilla Bean Cupcake with Cream Cheese Frosting and Hazelnuts and the second being a Chocolate Coffee Cupcake with Cream Cheese Frosting. The judges criticized the small appearance of her cupcakes as well as the dense texture of the cake itself. In the end, Malcolm's cupcakes were deemed the worst and he was eliminated.

Episode 7

• Original airdate: Wednesday June 12, 2013
• Team Challenge:

Having won the previous invention test, Bethy and Bime were chosen to be team captains of this week's team challenge. This week's challenge for the two teams was to prepare 101 New York Strip steaks with a sauce and two sides of fresh produce for Some of California's finest Firefighters. Initially, the Bethy's blue team consisted of: Lynn, Jessie, James, Howard, Jonny, Savannah and Krissi. While Bime's red team had: Jordan, Eddie, Luca, Natasha, Bri, Beth and Kathy. However, since Bethy had the best dish from the last invention test, she was given the opportunity to steal one of Bime's team members and give him one of her initial picks. She chose to steal Eddie from Bime, as she felt that his experience on the grill would benefit her team. Along with this, she chose to give up Krissi to Bime. As for the menus, the red team quickly decided to make a New York Strip steak with a Red Wine Reduction. Sauce served with Sauteed Mushrooms and a Cauliflower Puree. The blue team decided to create a New York Strip steak with a chimichurri sauce served with Grilled Asparagus and Potatoes. In the end, the blue team managed to gain almost 70% of the votes, ensuring them safety from the pressure test.

• Pressure Test:

As the red team lost the team challenge, they were made to compete against each other in the pressure test. This week, the judges tested their ability to pull of a classic but technically difficult breakfast dish: Eggs Benedict. Since Bime was the team captain, the judges excused him from taking part, much to the disappointment from his team members, who criticized his lack of leadership. Bime was also allowed to excuse another team member who he felt was the biggest help in the challenge. Bime chose Jordan, even though he considered him to be a big threat in the competition. Left to compete in the pressure test were Krissi, Luca, Natasha, Kathy, Beth and Bri. Only 2 out of the 6 competitors managed to produce worthy dishes. The judges loved Krissi's Eggs Benedict despite having made her hollandaise sauce with only 1 egg as her first batch 'broke'. Even though she had never made this dish prior to his challenge, Bri managed to create the best Eggs Benedict. Both Krissi and Bri were deemed safe from elimination. As for the other four, Luca, Kathy, Beth and Natasha produced unpleasant dishes, despite the latter two being initially confident. For the first time in Masterchef history, the judges could not choose the worst dish and all four remaining competitors were asked to leave the kitchen as they were to take part in another pressure test to determine which one of them would be leaving the Masterchef Kitchen.

Episode 8

• Original airdate: Wednesday June 12, 2013
• Continued Pressure Test: Las Vegas Round:

As they failed to produce acceptable dishes in the last pressure test, Luca, Natasha, Kathy and Beth were brought to Las Vegas to compete in yet another pressure test that would decide which one of them would be sent home. For this pressure test, the judges revealed that they would be working in Gordon Ramsay's Vegas restaurant, BurGR. The two teams were required to create a gourmet burger recipe and prep and cook them for dinner service. Each diner would receive one burger from each team. The judges also revealed that VIP guests would be visiting the restaurant and judging the teams. The teams consisted of Beth and Natasha on the blue team and Luca and Kathy on the red team. The blue team decided on a 'Hangover' style burger with Crispy Prosciutto, Gruyere Cheese, Aioli and topped with a Fried Egg. The red team opted for a more simple burger with Caramelized Onions and Arugula. Throughout prep, the blue team struggled with the cook on the fried eggs, realizing that it may take up too much time. They eventually decided to scrap the fried eggs and top their burger with Goat Cheese, Crispy Prosciutto, Aioli and Arugula. Both teams came across difficulties during service, with the blue team burning burger buns and the red team serving raw burgers. The VIP guests turned out to be their fellow MasterChef contestants. With the red team working ahead of time, they managed to sabotage the blue team as Luca noticed that the red team was falling behind. His strategy paid off as the blue team failed to produce their final four burgers in time, leaving 4 of the judging contestants to only receive a burger from the red team. Despite losing votes, the blue team (Natasha and Beth) managed to receive most of the votes, winning the second pressure test of the week. Luca and Kathy were left to compete against each other in the final pressure test, a MasterChef cook-off.

• Pressure Test: Cook-off:

For the final pressure test in Las Vegas, the judges told Luca and Kathy that they were each to produce an extremely intricate and expensive dish: Butter Poached Lobster with a Shaved Fennel Salad. Both Luca and Kathy each came across difficulties during the hour, with Luca incorrectly butchering the lobster and Kathy not sufficiently managing her time. In the end, Luca's Butter Poached Lobster was decided to be better and Kathy was sent home. However, before she left, Gordon invited her to visit one of his restaurants in New York to aid her in continuing her culinary career.

Episode 9

• Original airdate: Wednesday June 12, 2013
• Mystery Box Challenge: The contestants were treated to a mystery box featuring various ethnic foods from Russia, Spain, China and several others. The judges also refrained from telling the home chefs what it was they would be cooking. The top 3 chefs consisted of Bime, Eddie and Jordan with Eddie winning the challenge. Eddie received immunity for the Pressure Test and the opportunity to choose what pasta dish the other home cooks would cook.
• Pressure Test: The home chefs were asked to make a dish of agnolotti for the judges and Joe's mother, restauranteur, author and television host Lidia Bastianich. Eddie was given a third advantage by choosing which two cooks would be unable to watch Lidia's demonstration of how to properly make agnolotti. Eddie chose Lynn and James to miss the demonstration. When the pressure test ended, Krissi was announced as one of the best dishes of the night, but Jessie received the win. Both chefs will be team captains in the next team challenge. Beth, Howard, Johnny and Lynn were in the bottom four however Beth and Johnny were named as third and fourth worst with Lynn and Howard being in the bottom two. In the end, Howard was asked to leave the kitchen.