Best Baker In America - General Discussion

[Simon47]

This show is a reward for Jason, our newest Food Network Star. You may also know most of these people from HBC/SBC. 

[tobeannounced]

Someone commented on this in the Holiday Baking Championship thread too. I haven't seen a forum for it. So it was a reward for Jason? I just stumbled on it the other night. Had no idea it was going to be on.

[Passing Strange]

When Jason won Food Network Star people figured he'd turn up as a judge on various baking shows. I don't think this one was created for him, just that it will be the first of several where he shows up to judge.

I'm really enjoying Best Baker in America. If other people are, too, it needs a forum. I have no ideas for topic titles to include in the request, though. If anyone has any, it would be great if you could do a new show forum request.

Edited September 30, 2017 by Passing Strange

[tobeannounced]

I just did a forum request. I'm happy to change any of the topic titles if anyone has a better idea.

[Passing Strange]

2 hours ago, tobeannounced said:

I just did a forum request. I'm happy to change any of the topic titles if anyone has a better idea.

I like your titles, tobeannounced. Thanks!

[Morgana]

I've been enjoying the show; both the low-key drama and the actual high-level bona fides of the bakers.  But I only found this thread by accident -- it really needs to be a topic of its own and not buried under "Halloween Baking Championship."

[tobeannounced]

1 hour ago, Morgana said:

I've been enjoying the show; both the low-key drama and the actual high-level bona fides of the bakers.  But I only found this thread by accident -- it really needs to be a topic of its own and not buried under "Halloween Baking Championship."

I requested one a few days ago, so hopefully it will get added soon.

[GaT]

I've also been enjoying the show, the baker's level of talent seem to be higher than we usually get on these type of shows.

[grisgris]

Haven't we seen several of these folks before? I know that Aldaberto, Cheryl, Susanna and Dwayne have been in previous competitions.

[grisgris]

Hey friends! We have our new thread for this and I took the liberty of opening up some topic threads.

[Meredith Quill]

A place to discuss particular episodes, arcs and moments from the show's run. Please remember this isn't a complete catch-all topic -- check out the forum for character topics and other places for show-related talk.

[Meredith Quill]

Your Judges Topic!

[Meredith Quill]

Your Jason Topic!

[grisgris]

I was surprised and disappointed that Susanna went out so early. She did really well in the Holiday Baking Championship last year.  I enjoyed the macaron challenge because I learned a lot about what goes into making them. However, revamping baked Alaska seemed like a head-scratcher. There isn't a whole lot you can do with that one to transform it.

[mlp]

I liked Susana a lot but she herself said that she'd basically made a traditional Baked Alaska so she didn't meet the intent of the challenge.  I would have been a lot happier if Cheryl had used salt instead of sugar or something but, alas, she's still in the running and Susana is gone.

[suebee12]

Here is a comment I made the first night of the show...made it in the Genre section!

Did anyone catch Best Baker in America? Actually it felt like I was re-watching one of the Holiday Baking Championship! Lots of familiar faces including ta da, Jason as a judge. Who would have thunk it? Oh, all of us....we just knew he would start appearing as a judge. It must feel funny judging some of the folks he competed against!

It was interesting that they had a technical contest and then one for taste and looks.  I hated that Cheryl won because I didn't like her on her season and I still think she is full of herself! I did like the geo cake....it was certainly different. The Mexican lady did a cake that looked like the one she baked on the Holiday Baking Championship except this time it was supposed to be a wedding cake...I sure would not have wanted that one!

[Rammchick]

I didn't mind Cheryl too much in her last outing.  For some reason, she's insufferable now.

[tobeannounced]

Rammchick, I was coming here to say the same thing. I think Cheryl is very talented and enjoyed her designs on the holiday show, but she has dialed the snark up a bit too much for my liking this season.

I'm enjoying the judges and their comments. I don't really watch a lot of stuff on the Food Network, so I'm not familiar with the judges, but I really like the older, gray-haired gentleman. And I liked Jason on whatever prior baking competition he was on that I saw (they all run together) and am happy to see him here as well.

[susannot]

Margarita and her husband Manbun Lee need to stop entering cooking competitions.  They don't do well.

[mlp]

Actually, Philip did quite well on FN.  He won Chopped, GGG and CK and even turned up as a judge on both GGG and BBF.  He was a disaster on Top Chef.

I didn't realize Margarita was his wife until after she was eliminated and someone mentioned it here.

[Destiny74]

Margarita's hubby is Top Chef ass Phillip?  I had no idea.  Ugh.

[tobeannounced]

Yeah, thank you for that info, susannot. Didn't know that. Now I want to go back and watch it again to see if she annoys me like her husband did - lol

Edited October 8, 2017 by tobeannounced

[Passing Strange]

I didn't know that about Margarita, either. Now I don't mind that she was eliminated!

I remember Cheryl from season 3 of the Holiday Baking Championship, which Jason won. Some of the others seemed familiar, but I may have only seen snippets of them elsewhere, not the entire season or episode they were on.

Edited October 8, 2017 by Passing Strange

[Passing Strange]

I started out a Jason fan on the Holiday Baking Championship, but the folksy, down home "charm" started to grate after a while. That and the show's insistence on touting him as the Only! Home! Baker! in the competition. Then he turned up on Food Network Star and took his persona to tiresome new levels. I'm not saying he's not a nice guy or good person, I'd bet he's both. It's that he (and the network, I suspect) have created what's close to a caricature. To me, he's often annoying and sometimes hollow.

Jason seems nervous on this show so far. Some of it has to be just that it's new for him to be judging, but I wonder if some of it might be that he's feeling a little out of his league? Not only with the other judges, but also some of the contestants.

[Simon47]

I love Jason, but he seems a bit too VN on this show.

[Simon47]

Andy is a pain in the butt.

I remember Sherry from season three of HBC, but I'm surprised she didn't say anything about Jason being a judge.

Also, I remember Albert too, from Season 2 of HBC.

[Simon47]

I'm liking Sherry, but not the ego.

Not too happy to see Susana go, she was a lot calmer, more peaceful, and collective.

Andy is getting old-folk really fast. His big guy Southern accent is way off the charts, and his baking is a little sloppy as well as his character.

This is the first time I've seen Adam Rappaport. What is his job? When I think of him, I think of Stanley Rappaport from the Cosby Show.

[Simon47]

I love Jason! He is so memorable. I enjoy his cutesy schtick, his fake Southern accent, and his sayings. Marcela, meh right now, but I actually heard she left the Kitchen. I wonder why. A while ago, she said that this would be her last episode of the Kitchen. I wonder how the other people felt about that, including the dreaded Jeff Mauro.

[susannot]

I'm incredibly impressed with the bakers' skill level.  Adelberto the Macaron King of Utah especially.  I love Cheryl, because she may be arrogant, but as the saying goes, she has what it takes to back it up.

ETA:  I just finished an 8 week course in French patisserie and have taken many other baking classes.  Regrettably, I have come to the conclusion that you either have talent as a pastry chef, like musical talent,  or you don't.  I most definitely don't.  However, my goal was to be able to roll out pie dough and make a pie without disaster and I can now do that. 

I love to watch people who are really insanely talented.

Edited October 8, 2017 by susannot

[Lamb18]

On ‎10‎/‎7‎/‎2017 at 0:58 PM, susannot said:

Margarita and her husband Manbun Lee need to stop entering cooking competitions.  They don't do well.

I thought that was Philip's wife - I knew someone here would know.

[Lamb18]

I like Jason, but I feel he is underqualified to be a judge of these bakers. They are real professionals with serious credentials and award. 

[Lamb18]

I just finished the first episode, started the second and paused so I can put clothes in the dryer. My screen is filled with yellow lemon frosting. Yum!!

[susannot]

I agree, and I think he knows it.  He defers to the other two judges, especially Marcella who is classically trained.

[mlp]

Quote

 Adam Rappaport. What is his job? 

He was the highly respected editor of Bon Appetit magazine for quite a few years.  I don't know what he does now but I was surprised to see him on FN.

[tobeannounced]

He's our "home" judge - lol

[Tyrone Biggums]

He's also judging someone he beat on HBC (Cheryl), and she's better than he is.  By miles.

That has to be a bit awkward.

[magpye29]

Jason seems very subdued, here.  He cracks out a Jason-ism every now and then, but for the most part, his sparkle is limited to his increasingly showy wardrobe.

[Wings]

18 hours ago, Tyrone Biggums said:

He's also judging someone he beat on HBC (Cheryl), and she's better than he is.  By miles.

That has to be a bit awkward.

How did he win if she was so much better?  I'm not being a smart ass, I really want to know what happened.  

On 10/8/2017 at 2:00 PM, Simon47 said:

I love Jason, but he seems a bit too VN on this show.

VN?

[Lamb18]

After watching two episodes, I find he's making very good comments about the food, especially explaining why something didn't turn out right. So even though he may not have the credentials of the contestants, he definitely has a lot of knowledge.

[Lura]

I am so glad to see Jason on this show.  Shortly after winning NFNS, he announced that he and Marcella would have a show.  I like seeing some of the former contestants back again with the exception of Cheryl.  She seems almost vicious in her will to win, and I dislike her superior attitude.   I also don't care for the goofy host.  I miss Duff and especially Nancy Fuller.

[dleighg]

On 10/8/2017 at 5:00 PM, Simon47 said:

he seems a bit too VN on this show.

what is VN?

[Maya]

I agree he seems nervous. We’ll know he’s feeling a bit more comfortable when he busts out his first “Well butter my buns and call me a biscuit!!”

[dleighg]

On 10/8/2017 at 5:09 PM, Simon47 said:

Andy is getting old-folk really fast. His big guy Southern accent is way off the charts

Andy Chlebana? He's big, but I don't detect *any* southern accent on him.

[Madding crowd]

He is from Plainfield, Illinois-he has been on our local news a couple of times.

[dleighg]

7 hours ago, Madding crowd said:

He is from Plainfield, Illinois-he has been on our local news a couple of times.

That makes sense. I listened to him and thought, if he has *any* non-generic American accent, it *might* be midwestern. But to me he just sounded "American." (And I've lived enough places that I have a pretty generic accent myself :) )

[mlp]

I live about 100 miles downstate from Plainfield and Andy sounds perfectly normal to me.  Certainly not southern.

[suebee12]

I cannot say how much I would like Cheryl to go! Hoping her underdone pastry would do it, but I knew Brooke was the one going...too many things wrong with her St. Honore(is that how you spell it?) I didn't like Cheryl the last time she was on and this time is she is worse. It is one thing to be confident, but she is too much in love with her talent. Her talking heads tend to be bragging, at least to me. Hee, Andy sure seems to think the same!

I thought Jason looked quite dapper tonight. Not sure what they have done but it looks good!

[mlp]

I totally agree about Cheryl.  Can't stand her but I knew she'd be safe because she won the first round.  

This is a completely different type of show from FNS so Jason seems subdued but he also seems to be relaxing as the show goes on and his personality is more evident.  All the contestants are legitimate professionals so I'm glad all the judges are taking the competition seriously.

[GaT]

Everything looked delicious tonight, it's so nice to watch a show with people who are genuinely talented pastry chefs. 

[mlp]

I'd love to know what the contestants really think about being judged by a home cook and a woman who went to pastry school but has never worked as a serious pastry chef.  We know from the intros that most if not all of them have competed in prestigious competitions and have won impressive awards.  I'd think it would be a bit hard to swallow to be criticized by people with lesser credentials.  OTOH  They've all been on FN before so they knew what they were getting into.