S18.E04: Hell Freezes Over

[Drogo]

The chefs are surprised with winter jackets and then must compete in a sled race for an advantage in the upcoming challenge, during which the two teams must prepare their best winter soups. The winning team is rewarded with a luxurious day and night in Palm Springs. After a troublesome dinner service, Chef Ramsay makes an extreme change in the teams.

[galaxychaser]

Trevor is so ugly.

Gizzy what a horrible name. Is is short for gizzard?

guys vs. girls as usual. Boring...

[Pepper the Cat]

That was a waste of an episode.

Ditch the Veterans vs Newvies theme and revert to the old, tired Men vs Women.

what a disappointment 

[xcrayon2215x]

Trevor is really irritating to be honest. I don't get why Ramsay didn't eliminate anyone. 

[preeya]

Bullshit episode.

[susannot]

Some of the soups sounded delicious though....

[cooksdelight]

I’m glad I went to a high school football game instead of staying home to watch, sounds like.

[Mindthinkr]

I don’t mind as a punishment that Gordon will have the losing team prep both kitchens. What I don’t get is hard manual labor. 30 tons of ice and snow just sounds backbreaking. Then he wonders why these people are making stupid mistakes in the kitchen. They’re physically and emotionally worn out. 

For a punishment I’d like to see Gordon send the losing team to a soup kitchen to do a lunch service. Not his 5 star food, but in this case soups, sandwiches and salads would have been appropriate. I think of all of the food that he doesn’t think is perfect that goes into the garbage. Wasteful. If the contestants saw the need to feed others, then maybe they’d give more care into what they’re fixing (under extreme pressure). Can’t some of the food (the undercooked stuff for instance) be recycled into a stew or something rather than the waste bin? 

Edited October 20, 2018 by Mindthinkr
To make more sense.

[preeya]

8 hours ago, Mindthinkr said:

I don’t mind as a punishment that Gordon will have the losing team prep both kitchens. What I don’t get is hard manual labor. 30 tons of ice and snow just sounds backbreaking. Then he wonders why these people are making stupid mistakes in the kitchen. They’re physically and emotionally worn out. 

It's California, why didn't they just let the snow melt?  Then they could have used all that person power for something more productive. 

Edited October 20, 2018 by preeya

[Yeah No]

I thought I saw 2017 at the end of the credits so it could have been filmed last year for all we know.

The only thing I learned from this episode is that when faced with a choice between veterans vs. newbies or men vs. women, I actually prefer men vs. women.  And that's not saying much either.  Otherwise, meh.

[cooksdelight]

They usually film a year or slightly less in advance.

[GreyBunny]

Well, damn. I was promised cross-kitchen sabotage complete with snickering and mustache twirling and all I got was someone forgetting a pork chop. Boo.

[Chyromaniac]

On 10/19/2018 at 8:59 PM, galaxychaser said:

Gizzy what a horrible name. Is is short for gizzard?

On a previous thread I speculated that she probably has a younger sibling, who had trouble pronouncing “Lizzy” somewhere around age 2-5 and the nickname just stuck.

On 10/19/2018 at 9:22 PM, Pepper the Cat said:

Ditch the Veterans vs Newvies theme and revert to the old, tired Men vs Women. 

Yeah- it’s like when I watched Survivor, they would trot out some “game-changing” gimmick every season, that would invariably get dumped after like 3 episodes.  If anything, it’s kind of hilarious how Ramsay is selling this switch as a way to fix team chemistry, when we’ve seen how well “men vs women” has worked on virtually every other season of this show...

[preeya]

35 minutes ago, Chyromaniac said:

On a previous thread I speculated that she probably has a younger sibling, who had trouble pronouncing “Lizzy” somewhere around age 2-5 and the nickname just stuck.

Yeah- it’s like when I watched Survivor, they would trot out some “game-changing” gimmick every season, that would invariably get dumped after like 3 episodes.  If anything, it’s kind of hilarious how Ramsay is selling this switch as a way to fix team chemistry, when we’ve seen how well “men vs women” has worked on virtually every other season of this show...

Until someone screws up badly and is exiled to the opposing team where they become the lone opposite sex.

[English Teacher]

Where the heck what was promised in the preview.  I get editing monkeys are at work, but they suggested an entire storyline that didn’t come close to happening. 

[mlp]

Quote

 all I got was someone forgetting a pork chop. 

After Gordon demanded to know whodunit and nobody responded, the editors added a bit they said was shortly before service began which seemed to show who put the pork chop in the oven.  It went by so quickly that I didn't catch who was in the shot.  Did it show the culprit?

[preeya]

To me, it looked like GR was the culprit. He was showing someone (Chris) how to prepare the pork.

The clip is captioned 10 minutes before opening. The discovery was made well into the entree service. I'm surprised no one smelled the pork was burning. Or is this just some more HK bullshit.

Edited October 21, 2018 by preeya

[justawatcher]

I predicted in the thread for episode 2 that Kevin would win. I stand by that. The team switch up thing was the only way to not eliminate him.

[mlp]

Quote

To me, it looked like GR was the culprit. 

That sure looks like Gordon.  Thanks.

[Eataton]

Does anyone know why there's no show this week?

[justawatcher]

World Series

[Chicago Redshirt]

On 10/20/2018 at 9:39 AM, Mindthinkr said:

I don’t mind as a punishment that Gordon will have the losing team prep both kitchens. What I don’t get is hard manual labor. 30 tons of ice and snow just sounds backbreaking. Then he wonders why these people are making stupid mistakes in the kitchen. They’re physically and emotionally worn out. 

For a punishment I’d like to see Gordon send the losing team to a soup kitchen to do a lunch service. Not his 5 star food, but in this case soups, sandwiches and salads would have been appropriate. I think of all of the food that he doesn’t think is perfect that goes into the garbage. Wasteful. If the contestants saw the need to feed others, then maybe they’d give more care into what they’re fixing (under extreme pressure). Can’t some of the food (the undercooked stuff for instance) be recycled into a stew or something rather than the waste bin? 

 

HK food is for the following groups only: 1. Firefighters/police officers/military members (just so GR can complain along the lines of "Don't these heroes deserve better?" after the inevitable screwup) 2. B-list celebrities 3. Rando paid extras  4. People who want a wedding/anniversary/homecoming/sweet 16 on the cheap. 5. Chefs serving as judges and 6. Kids. I think that covers all the people who have ever been served by Hell's Kitchen.

[Mindthinkr]

7 minutes ago, Chicago Redshirt said:

HK food is for the following groups only: 1. Firefighters/police officers/military members (just so GR can complain along the lines of "Don't these heroes deserve better?" after the inevitable screwup) 2. B-list celebrities 3. Rando paid extras  4. People who want a wedding/anniversary/homecoming/sweet 16 on the cheap. 5. Chefs serving as judges and 6. Kids. I think that covers all the people who have ever been served by Hell's Kitchen.

And the families of the contestants. 

I still think there is a lot of waste. 

[PepperMonkey]

My sable ferret's name was Gizmo and we called him Gizzy! :)

[NowVoyager]

On 10/21/2018 at 3:12 AM, GreyBunny said:

Well, damn. I was promised cross-kitchen sabotage complete with snickering and mustache twirling and all I got was someone forgetting a pork chop. Boo.

 

On 10/21/2018 at 1:20 PM, mlp said:

After Gordon demanded to know whodunit and nobody responded, the editors added a bit they said was shortly before service began which seemed to show who put the pork chop in the oven.  It went by so quickly that I didn't catch who was in the shot.  Did it show the culprit?

 

On 10/21/2018 at 1:47 PM, preeya said:

To me, it looked like GR was the culprit. He was showing someone (Chris) how to prepare the pork.

The clip is captioned 10 minutes before opening. The discovery was made well into the entree service. I'm surprised no one smelled the pork was burning. Or is this just some more HK bullshit.

 

 

21 hours ago, mlp said:

That sure looks like Gordon.  Thanks.

This bit was interesting. They really could have edited it out because The Forgotten Porkchop had nothing whatever to do with the service. GR put it in the oven & told the Brain Damage Guy to flip it & kiss it on the grill. I guess he didn't write it down.

There were a number of steaks that seemed to go straight from the pan to GR slicing & plating without resting them. Maybe he did & they just didn't show it, but it made me cringe.

Boo to the teams going back to boys vs. girls.

Edited October 22, 2018 by NowVoyager

[lynny]

1. I’m super annoyed that there was literally zero sabotage when the preview made it sound like blue team would spend their entire kitchen prep time leaving bombs for red team. And there were zero bombs! Yeah, they exaggerate the promos but they just made up an entire story line that didn’t happen. 

 

2. Men vs women. Fuck that. I actually thought the chemistry was better with mixed teams. Though the men vs women split does tend to bring out the raging misogynists a bit earlier. 

Edited October 23, 2018 by lynny
Spelling

[Rammchick]

On 10/22/2018 at 4:50 PM, NowVoyager said:

There were a number of steaks that seemed to go straight from the pan to GR slicing & plating without resting them. Maybe he did & they just didn't show it, but it made me cringe.

I'm far from being squeamish, but what makes me cringe on this show is how much he's shown actually handing/fondling/touching food that's about to be delivered to someone.  Those of you in the know, is this actually done in the business, or is this GR doing it for show? 

[Mindthinkr]

43 minutes ago, Rammchick said:

I'm far from being squeamish, but what makes me cringe on this show is how much he's shown actually handing/fondling/touching food that's about to be delivered to someone.  Those of you in the know, is this actually done in the business, or is this GR doing it for show? 

It has always been y understanding that if you are going to handle food...especially raw...you wash your hands after touching it and/or wear disposable gloves and trash them before touching cooked food. The lack of seeing hand washing and their hands on approach to various dishes gives me the willies. 

[mlp]

Quote

 what makes me cringe on this show is how much he's shown actually handing/fondling/touching food that's about to be delivered to someone.  

I've often thought that I'd never want to eat at Hell's Kitchen for this very reason.  Gordon handling stuff bothers me less than most of the others though.  At least he's clean unlike my impression of Brett, for example, who looks unwashed and creepy.  Maybe this goes on in all fine dining restaurants.  If so, I don't want to know it.

[bluepiano]

On ‎10‎/‎25‎/‎2018 at 11:05 AM, mlp said:

I've often thought that I'd never want to eat at Hell's Kitchen for this very reason.  Gordon handling stuff bothers me less than most of the others though.  At least he's clean unlike my impression of Brett, for example, who looks unwashed and creepy.  Maybe this goes on in all fine dining restaurants.  If so, I don't want to know it.

I have an in-law who worked at a famous fine dining restaurant in New York. He always said that the diners would be shocked if they saw what went on in the kitchen. This was several years ago, so maybe standards have been raised, but my guess is that chain restaurants are probably a lot more by the book when it comes to hygiene.

On ‎10‎/‎22‎/‎2018 at 7:05 PM, lynny said:

 Men vs women. Fuck that. I actually thought the chemistry was better with mixed teams. Though the men vs women split does tend to bring out the raging misogynists a bit earlier. 

After not having made it through the past few seasons, I was ready to give this one a try based on the change in format. But now back to the same old same old. I guess GR missed yelling about the men vs. the women. Rookies vs. veterans wasn't doing it for him. Or maybe that was the plan from the beginning. Whatever, I was disappointed. Now we have to wait for him to make his usual changes to break up single gender teams. Same old same old.

On ‎10‎/‎19‎/‎2018 at 6:59 PM, galaxychaser said:

Gizzy what a horrible name. Is it short for gizzard?

In the opening episode she said it a nickname for Elizabeth, but it does sound like a name a child would make up as an insult. It is horrible name. But my main issue with her is that tattoo sleeve, with ink so dark it make her whole arm look black and diseased. I just don't get it.

Edited October 27, 2018 by bluepiano

[DropTheSoap]

New season, but I got the same old hate for Brett. Not sure who'd have him cook for them. There must be a number of "low bar" opportunities in Italian neighborhoods.

[Jersey Guy 87]

On 10/26/2018 at 11:40 PM, bluepiano said:

I have an in-law who worked at a famous fine dining restaurant in New York. He always said that the diners would be shocked if they saw what went on in the kitchen. This was several years ago, so maybe standards have been raised, but my guess is that chain restaurants are probably a lot more by the book when it comes to hygiene.

From my experience working as a dishwasher in high school and talking with friends who worked in restaurants at some point as well this stuff goes on everywhere.  I would never eat at the restaurant I worked at because I knew what happened in the kitchen, with every other restaurant I can pretend that stuff doesn't go on.

[bluepiano]

It's similar with health issues. People like the way restaurant food tastes but have no idea the amount of fat and sugar that's been added to their dish. Maybe that's part of the attraction of eating out. You can be blissfully ignorant that you're eating stuff made in way you'd never cook at home.

At that same famous fine dining restaurant I mentioned, my relative told me that their secret ingredient was duck fat. They used gobs of it. No wonder every sauce tasted so rich.

Edited October 31, 2018 by bluepiano

[Yeah No]

On 10/21/2018 at 8:49 AM, Chyromaniac said:

On a previous thread I speculated that she probably has a younger sibling, who had trouble pronouncing “Lizzy” somewhere around age 2-5 and the nickname just stuck.

Could be, as her real first name is Elizabeth, hence "Lizzy", hence "Gizzy".

31 minutes ago, bluepiano said:

It's similar with health issues. People like the way restaurant food tastes but have no idea the amount of fat and sugar that's been added to their dish. Maybe that's part of the attraction of eating out. You can be blissfully ignorant that you're eating stuff made in way you'd never cook at home.

At that same famous fine dining restaurant I mentioned, my relative told me that their secret ingredient was duck fat. They used gobs of it. No wonder every sauce tasted so rich.

So true, and the "secret ingredient" when not duck fat is often salt.  Chefs notoriously over-salt.  I recently had gallbladder surgery and haven't been able to eat out unless it's sushi because I'm still on a low fat diet and can't trust what's in the food in restaurants even when I specifically ask for low fat food.  Which sucks for me as a foodie, but it's made me super-conscious about how much fat is in everything.  I have been relying on my cooking skills to make low fat versions of my favorite foods.  When I say "low", I mean no more than 3-5 grams of fat per meal and small meals.  My doctor says it's only temporary and that in time I should be able to go back to at least a semi-normal if not normal diet.  I only hope, because this is misery.  On the up side, I've lost a significant amount of weight and am back into my "skinny pants".

[bluepiano]

Yeah, salt is definitely another biggie that restaurants overuse to add "flavor."

If you can cook low-fat and low-salt and have the food not be bland, then you've got some serious cooking chops. I was recently at a Chinese restaurant and decided to be virtuous by ordering from the "Healthy" menu, where everything is steamed, with sauce on the side. It was really bland, and I felt like I'd wasted my money, since I could've made the same dish at home.

For most people, if if you don't eat out regularly, then the occasional restaurant indulgence is not going to cause serious damage. My daily diet is reasonably healthy. So at my next trip to a Chinese restaurant I'm going for the deep-fried General Tso's Chicken. (and try not to feel too much guilt)

[Yeah No]

11 minutes ago, bluepiano said:

Yeah, salt is definitely another biggie that restaurants overuse to add "flavor."

If you can cook low-fat and low-salt and have the food not be bland, then you've got some serious cooking chops. I was recently at a Chinese restaurant and decided to be virtuous by ordering from the "Healthy" menu, where everything is steamed, with sauce on the side. It was really bland, and I felt like I'd wasted my money, since I could've made the same dish at home.

I hear you about the steamed stuff with the sauce on the side.  I made that mistake once, LOL.  Fortunately they're easy to talk to at my Chinese takeout and a few days ago they made me shrimp with lobster sauce with very little fat in it and it tasted quite good over white rice.  They even used all egg whites in the sauce for me, so no yolks, which have fat.  It was like the best thing I ever ate after feeling so food deprived!

[NowVoyager]

I keep re-watching the Stunning Soup challenge. Yum! I want to taste them all! Best 10 minutes of any Hell's Kitchen episode. Low drama, impressive judges & criticism, delicious food... Wait. What show am I watching?! (When does Top Chef start? December I think? Ugh. Seems a long time from now... Oh well.)

[Colorado David]

OMG thank god it's back tonite, been jonesing for some GR yelling

[Pepper the Cat]

Just realized that’s the women are blue and the me are red.