Best Baker In America - General Discussion

[Eliza422]

Adam's cylinder might not have been so bad if it hadn't been GIGANTIC!!! It totally overwhelmed the very modern, beautiful work he had done on the baked cheesecake. It just looked stupid.

 

eta: I thought Marcella's (female judge?) makeup and hair looked super harsh - I think someone applied it with a trowel.

Edited May 29, 2018 by Eliza422

[MerBearHou]

30 minutes ago, Eliza422 said:

eta: I thought Marcella's (female judge?) makeup and hair looked super harsh - I think someone applied it with a trowel.

I agree -- I thought immediately of Elvira when I saw Marcella's outfit and makeup last night.  Not a good look for her.

[dleighg]

The swirl next to Lasheeda's Boston Cream Pie (did she even describe what it was?) just screamed to me "raw pork sausage," which is incredibly unappealing!

[jcbrown]

6 hours ago, Maya said:

I don’t hate Adam but there was something very satisfying about watching a giant cylinder take him down. I was starting to sense some smugness too. 

I called, "hubris" when he announced that one cheesecake was insufficient. Agreed he got too cocky. And someone needs to tell him there are other shapes. Enough cylinders!

2 hours ago, Eliza422 said:

Adam's cylinder might not have been so bad if it hadn't been GIGANTIC!!! It totally overwhelmed the very modern, beautiful work he had done on the baked cheesecake. It just looked stupid.

 

eta: I thought Marcella's (female judge?) makeup and hair looked super harsh - I think someone applied it with a trowel.

ITA! HD did her makeup no favors, especially at the beginning. It was spackled on. And that fetish-y dress she was wearing--she must have pissed off the makeup and wardrobe people, no?

[jcbrown]

I thought Jason looked a little intimidated by the French chef during the Boston cream pie judging. And where do they find his wardrobe, I wonder? He dresses like Marcus Samuelson on acid (and I happen to like Samuelson's style).

[Lunula]

Jason should NOT be a judge on this show, he should be the host. How the hell they can justify Jason as a judge with Scott Conant as the host is just beyond me. He’s making the show intolerable to watch.

[dleighg]

^I think it can only be because he couldn't use his "cute witicisms" if he were host, since he wouldn't be tasting the dishes. But I completely agree that Jason and Scott should be swapped.

[jcbrown]

I think having Jason host is a good idea, since he does not have quite the stick up his arse that Scott seems to here and he would thus make it more fun to watch. Rather than having Scott be the judge, though, I would sub in Sherry Yard or someone with more pastry credentials.

Edited May 29, 2018 by jcbrown

[Maya]

I feel kind of sorry for Jason. It’s not like he could tell the FN execs “I’m not qualified.” That would look pretty bad. I’m sure he knows he’s out of his league, how could he not?

[Koalagirl]

On 5/29/2018 at 10:12 AM, MerBearHou said:

She said it last episode too and it just grated.  

Ok, I’m so curious/annoyed/dorky that I checked online about the pronunciation of Chantilly in both English and French.  

All have 3 syllables — either “shan-Till-ee” like we’ve always heard it in the US and in French, it’s “Shon-tee-yee”

The Chantilly pronunciation lesson for the morning...back to work.

I'm being a dork right along with you because I also checked the pronunciation.    I'm not sure she is saying it as 3 syllables which possibly makes her pretentious and wrong

[Destiny74]

I think we need to have Jean Francois (that's his name, right?) say "Chantilly".  I have never heard anyone on TV drop the last syllable.  Then again, I never noticed it either, until now.  It bothered me too.  Sounds kinda pretentious.

I wish Lakeeta (I am so bad with names this season, and I literally just watched this episode 30 minutes ago) would've beat the nose ring girl.  I didn't like NRG's decoration.  The apple jerky looked really unappealing  and the judges on the Spring/Christmas bake show would've docked her for having a brown dish.  ?

I have an aversion to cooked fruit.  I don't like it.  I'm not a fan of fruit pie (I eat the crust), crisp (again, crisp eater), or cobbler (there is nothing I like about cobbler).  I like fresh apples, and baked items with applesauce but I don't like half cooked, slightly mushy fruit.  Things with  pureed fruit  or jam  is fine.  Anyway all to say nothing sounded yummy to me so I will hold back on my opinion because of my bias.

Adam needs to stop with the cylinders.  They were cool once, maybe twice. Please, no more.  I bet he does another next week "to redeem himself".

The Boston cream pies looked great.  Except the two that were all cake and little cream.  Hell, I'd probably even enjoy them.

[OldWiseOne]

On 5/27/2018 at 3:30 PM, Wings said:

I am not fond of the French contestant.  Sure he is employed as a pastry chef but that does not automatically make him better.  Are all college grads automatically smarter than those without degrees?  NOPE. 

He must be a well known and/or decorated pastry chef, because in the first episode Adam said he though Jean Francois was there as a judge.

[Wings]

15 minutes ago, OldWiseOne said:

He must be a well known and/or decorated pastry chef, because in the first episode Adam said he though Jean Francois was there as a judge.

Yes, I heard that.  Still, for me, it doesn’t automatically make him better. 

Edited May 30, 2018 by Wings

[Rickster]

11 hours ago, Koalagirl said:

I'm being a dork right along with you because I also checked the pronunciation.    I'm not sure she is saying it as 3 syllables which possibly makes her pretentious and wrong

Maybe they all should stop being so pretentious and just call it whipped cream.

[Brookside]

On 5/29/2018 at 4:17 AM, ChitChat said:

Watching sweat roll down the guys' faces while they work feverishly over their desserts is what grosses me out.  

Me too, on all cooking shows.  People complain all the time about women not tying their hair back, but don't seem bothered by sweat dripping in food.  (Plus short hair falls out too - duh.)

[Ilovecomputers]

I didn't care for Adam's green cucumber-looking Boston cream pie.   The shape reminded me of the barracks they used to show on Gomer Pyle.

[Jaded]

8 hours ago, Brookside said:

Me too, on all cooking shows.  People complain all the time about women not tying their hair back, but don't seem bothered by sweat dripping in food.  (Plus short hair falls out too - duh.)

I'm an equal opportunity complainer when it comes to sweating and hair not being tied back. I still remember an episode of Guy's Grocery Games that had a closeup of a bead of sweat rolling down the top of a guy's nose. They didn't show where it landed though of course.

[Chit Chat]

2 hours ago, Jaded said:

I still remember an episode of Guy's Grocery Games that had a closeup of a bead of sweat rolling down the top of a guy's nose. They didn't show where it landed though of course.

My co-workers and I had a waitress in Chili's one time that had a bead of sweat on her face that looked like it was going to drop at any moment.  It was really gross when she brought the cup of soup out and she leaned over the soup while putting it on the table.  Each of us at the table wanted to take our napkin and wipe her face!  Needless to say, lunch wasn't very appetizing after that.  How could no one in the kitchen not say something to her?  We were too embarrassed to point it out, but you'd think that her manager or one of the other servers would've said something.   We didn't want to get the manager and get her in trouble either.  

I guess for this show they don't want them to wear hair nets or wear a headband to collect the sweat.   I guess the producers want us to see just how hard these guys are working by showing us their sweaty faces, but for me, it's gross. I try to overlook it and just focus on the pretty desserts! A lot of the time I record the show and then FF all of the baking and drama, and then just watch the judging.  

[Madding crowd]

I don’t care for Jason and think he comes across as snippy. I don’t think he has useful critiques either. He was ok as a contestant but even then he never seemed to make elevated food.

[novhappy]

Scott’s butt looked huge in that suit. 

[LittleIggy]

2 hours ago, novhappy said:

Scott’s butt looked huge in that suit. 

What is it with him and the tight suits? ?

[novhappy]

The whole cut of the suit seems off for him!  I assume he’s muscular through the chest and shoulders which the cut emphasizes while the cut keeping it buttoned at the waist gives a slim appearance there. I assume this is what he is going for.  But then it balloons overs the butt. And over all looks way too tight. Dude needs a new tailor. 

[Marathonrunner]

Question regarding the contestants knowledge of challenge prior to the actual challenge - apologies if this already been discussed

How long ahead of time are they given the info as to what will be required? They must have time to decide on their recipes, ingredients have to be purchased, etc.

Last night's winner had never made that dessert & yet in 3 hours time she managed to out-do all the other contestants - beginner's luck? Good for her

Marcella & Jason seem (to me) to be trying too hard with their comments to prove they belong as judges on a baking competition show

[novhappy]

Trying too hard with their comments and their outfits

[Ilovecomputers]

Honey chile, I am so sick of Jason's schtick.  "That tastes like a goat would wanna do the tango with a chicken, y'all."  Just stop it!  I don't understand why Lasheeda continues to advance.  Her white chocolate leaves looked lame.  I was sure Nosering would be a contender.  There is a certain smugness to Adam that I don't like.  Florian will be a judge next week.  Hope they have the subtitles set up and ready to go, because I can hardly understand Jean-Francois and Florian was always difficult to understand on the cupcake shows. 

3 hours ago, Marathonrunner said:

How long ahead of time are they given the info as to what will be required? They must have time to decide on their recipes, ingredients have to be purchased, etc.

Lasheeda said she had never made a Marjolaine but I didn't see a print out of a recipe for her or anyone else.  Do they really just have all of the measurements and procedures memorized?  Maybe Adam does.  She did say she knew how to make all of the components, but it doesn't seem possible to know all the steps to making the whole dessert.  I'm assuming Food Network provides all of the ingredients, although on the Cupcake Wars they used to show competitors hauling flour and other ingredients and equipment to the challenge.  I've never made a Marjolaine and don't think I want to.  A napoleon is something I've wanted to do for a while with homemade puff pastry.

Edited June 5, 2018 by Ilovecomputers

[Destiny74]

24 minutes ago, Ilovecomputers said:

Honey chile, I am so sick of Jason's schtick.  "That tastes like a goat would wanna do the tango with a chicken, y'all."  Just stop it!  I don't understand why Lasheeda continues to advance.  Her white chocolate leaves looked lame.  I was sure Nosering would be a contender.  There is a certain smugness to Adam that I don't like.  Florian will be a judge next week.  Hope they have the subtitles set up and ready to go, because I can hardly understand Jean-Francois and Florian was always difficult to understand on the cupcake shows. 

Lasheeda said she had never made a Marjolaine but I didn't see a print out of a recipe for her or anyone else.  Do they really just have all of the measurements and procedures memorized?  Maybe Adam does.  She did say she knew how to make all of the components, but it doesn't seem possible to know all the steps to making the whole dessert.  I'm assuming Food Network provides all of the ingredients, although on the Cupcake Wars they used to show competitors hauling flour and other ingredients and equipment to the challenge.  I've never made a Marjolaine and don't think I want to.  A napoleon is something I've wanted to do for a while with homemade puff pastry.

GBBS has made me want to try my own puff pastry.  I haven't yet, but I still want to.

[HahYallDoin]

My DVR recording of the most recent episode won't play the last 10 minutes. Who won and who was cut? 

Thanks in advance! 

[MerBearHou]

1 hour ago, HahYallDoin said:

My DVR recording of the most recent episode won't play the last 10 minutes. Who won and who was cut? 

Thanks in advance! 

I am surprised to say that Lasheeda won the final challenge, even though she said she'd never baked a marjolaine before.  I do not know how anyone knew what to do if they had no experience with this particular cake (I've never heard of it and it's quite specific).

Becca was sent home.  She also said she'd never made a marjolaine and hers was too thick and did not have a good overall look.

The guest judge had made a marjolaine as her final task in culinary school and she was picky about it being done just right.

Edited June 5, 2018 by MerBearHou

[HahYallDoin]

7 minutes ago, MerBearHou said:

I am surprised to say that Lasheeda won the final challenge, even though she said she'd never baked a marjolaine before.  I do not know how anyone knew what to do if they had no experience with this particular cake (I've never heard of it and it's quite specific).

Becca was sent home.  She also said she'd never made a marjolaine and hers was quite thick and did not have a good overall look.

The guest judge had made a marjolaine as her final task in culinary school and she was quite picky about it being done just right.

Wow, I'm with you on the LaSheeda win. Interesting! 

Can't say I'm sad to see Becca go...that nose ring made me cringe. 

Thanks for the scoop ??

[Chit Chat]

4 hours ago, HahYallDoin said:

Wow, I'm with you on the LaSheeda win. Interesting! 

Hers seemed to be the only one in which all of the components of the marjolaine were done correctly.  Some missed the mark completely, while others were just slightly lacking in what the judges were looking for.  They showed a big diagram before the challenge of what the dessert consisted of, so I'm sure at this skill level, LaSheeda was able to quickly assess what she'd need in order to make the dessert.  Having said that though, being her first try at making a marjolaine, she did pretty darn good!  Kudos.  

It's got to be maddening for these chefs though when something turns out under baked or overcooked on this show.  I blame it on the pressure of the time constraints.  Most of them have presented some beautiful desserts.  Too bad that some of them weren't as tasty as they looked!

 

9 hours ago, Destiny74 said:

Honey chile, I am so sick of Jason's schtick.  "That tastes like a goat would wanna do the tango with a chicken, y'all."  Just stop it! 

I agree.  I'm from the South and I hate this too.  A little of it goes a long way.  Ugh!

[bilgistic]

I was glad that Jean-Francois was knocked down a peg or two when his marjolaine wasn't perfect. He started out saying he had made marjolaines so many times. Then he boasted about finishing early "as usual". Then the judges were like, "Ehhh...[proceed to tell him what he did wrong]."

Scott bringing him an "ekspresso" irritated me. Maybe they'll quit with that "joke" now, at least.

[penbrat]

Rooting for Adam but I don't mind any of the finalists this time around.  

[Jaded]

16 hours ago, HahYallDoin said:

My DVR recording of the most recent episode won't play the last 10 minutes. Who won and who was cut? 

Thanks in advance! 

Do you have Uverse? I ask because my DVR did the same thing.

[3outta5]

I like Jason as a judge, but agree he would be a great host.

[Destiny74]

I have just watched the first half.  Explain to me why the judges have different standards for each Baker?

Nose Ring Girl had nothing but sunshine and rainbows on her critic but she made a sabayon which wouldn't thicken enough to make a decent pie filling.  But they didn't mention her runny filling at all.  FF to Lasheeda who's filling was certainly not set and it was mentioned that was her problem.  So, is a runny filling an issue in a meringue pie or not?  I vote Yes.  

Also, a meringue pie has meringue topping, crust to crust.  Adam's pie was not a meringue pie, if you ask me.  It was a custard tart with meringue dollops.  It just bothers me when there is a brief and these creative bakers don't complete the brief because they're doing something modern.  Same with Max.  That was a nice looking lemon bar.

[HahYallDoin]

3 hours ago, Jaded said:

Do you have Uverse? I ask because my DVR did the same thing.

Yes! It shows as having recorded 1:03 but wouldn't play past :54. Ugh! 

I've never had that happen before. Have you?

[Jaded]

19 minutes ago, HahYallDoin said:

Yes! It shows as having recorded 1:03 but wouldn't play past :54. Ugh! 

I've never had that happen before. Have you?

This is the 2nd or 3rd time it's happened to me in the past month. I haven't called because they usually want to replace the DVR and mine has a lot of stuff on it I still need to watch.

Edited June 6, 2018 by Jaded

[Ilovecomputers]

I want one of those mini-blow torches for my kitchen.

[dleighg]

2 minutes ago, Ilovecomputers said:

I want one of those mini-blow torches for my kitchen.

I got one from BB&B. They are pretty inexpensive.

I like all the little fancy decorating things they do (sugar work, chocolate work, etc). I wish they would show those a little more completely. They go through it so fast it's almost a blur.

[Maya]

I think Jean Francois should have gone home before Becca. Has he even won anything yet? The judges never seem to love anything he makes, but he always gets a pass.

We had three male bakers in last season’s finale. Looks like it’s going in that direction this time too. Hmmm. 

[Irlandesa]

28 minutes ago, Maya said:

We had three male bakers in last season’s finale. Looks like it’s going in that direction this time too. Hmmm. 

I think LaSheeda has been coming on strong the past few episodes after a rough start so I think she makes it in. I think Adam is probably a lock.  And I'd guess Jean Francois will make it as well.

[Rammchick]

I agree about Jean Francois.  They make a big deal about him but he often doesn't hit the mark.  Is it his ego that gets in the way of him excelling or is it that he's judged more stringently than the others?  I'm not sure it isn't both.

It seems to me that Scott has relaxed quite a bit since the season started.  I actually found him very enjoyable on this week's show.  Even Marcella was kidding around.  Now if they could get Captain Corndog to shut up, they'd really have something here.

[luvapickle]

On 6/5/2018 at 10:18 AM, Ilovecomputers said:

Honey chile, I am so sick of Jason's schtick.  "That tastes like a goat would wanna do the tango with a chicken, y'all."  Just stop it!  I don't understand why Lasheeda continues to advance.  Her white chocolate leaves looked lame.  I was sure Nosering would be a contender.  There is a certain smugness to Adam that I don't like.  Florian will be a judge next week.  Hope they have the subtitles set up and ready to go, because I can hardly understand Jean-Francois and Florian was always difficult to understand on the cupcake shows. 

Lasheeda said she had never made a Marjolaine but I didn't see a print out of a recipe for her or anyone else.  Do they really just have all of the measurements and procedures memorized?  Maybe Adam does.  She did say she knew how to make all of the components, but it doesn't seem possible to know all the steps to making the whole dessert.  I'm assuming Food Network provides all of the ingredients, although on the Cupcake Wars they used to show competitors hauling flour and other ingredients and equipment to the challenge.  I've never made a Marjolaine and don't think I want to.  A napoleon is something I've wanted to do for a while with homemade puff pastry.

"Lasheeda said she had never made a Marjolaine but I didn't see a print out of a recipe for her or anyone else.  Do they really just have all of the measurements and procedures memorized?  Maybe Adam does.  She did say she knew how to make all of the components, but it doesn't seem possible to know all the steps to making the whole dessert"

I am a professional baker, & because I know most of my recipes by heart-they probably do too :)

While Lasheeda never made a marjolaine, she has made all the components of one before. So it was just a matter of knowing what order to put them in.  As for ingredients, there seems to be differing opinions on whether the kitchen is stocked or not. I think it is, but they bring their own specialty tools.

[dleighg]

I figured she knew what it was made of -- a layer of this, a layer of that, etc. And certainly the proportions of the layers are somewhat up-to-the-beholder. So I could believe that she could do a great job knowing how to make the components.

[HyeChaps]

Did Adam bring his own acetate?

[Irlandesa]

I would bet they're told what they're making in advance so they can think about the twist they'd like to place on each dessert.  If they didn't give the bakers a notification about what they're making, then there's the risk of everyone playing it rather safe with their flavors.  But with time to think about it, we get different variations. 

[Maya]

Maybe it’s an Iron Chef situation, where they’re given 2-3 possible desserts. 

[tobeannounced]

On 6/6/2018 at 10:11 PM, Rammchick said:

I agree about Jean Francois.  They make a big deal about him but he often doesn't hit the mark.  Is it his ego that gets in the way of him excelling or is it that he's judged more stringently than the others?  I'm not sure it isn't both.

It seems to me that Scott has relaxed quite a bit since the season started.  I actually found him very enjoyable on this week's show.  Even Marcella was kidding around.  Now if they could get Captain Corndog to shut up, they'd really have something here.

Captain Corndog - snort.  Lawd honey, Jason will forever be Captain Corndog for me.

I think Jean Francois is kind of sexy and funny. It breaks things up a little bit.

Count me among the U-verse users who had the ending cut off.

[tobeannounced]

I noticed for the first time that they introduce Marcella as a master pastry chef and a cookbook author. Jason was introduced as a "baking expert." Lol

[40Love]

On 6/6/2018 at 8:39 AM, Jaded said:

Do you have Uverse? I ask because my DVR did the same thing.

I have Uverse and mine did the same thing.