If Bryson McGlynn got the goosebumps while filming Monday’s episode of “MasterChef Junior,” who could blame him?
The Alabama cook faced a chilling situation on the show this week, preparing gourmet ice cream from scratch and trying to please Gordon Ramsay, a notoriously strict chef. True, Bryson has been a standout during Season 9 of the FOX reality series. But a kitchen mishap threatened to ruin his dessert, evoke Ramsays wrath and even send the boy packing.
Did Bryson find himself frozen with fear? Or did the hourlong program have a sweet conclusion? If you didn’t watch Monday’s episode — or simply want a refresher on the “MasterChef” action — here’s what happened.
Repping Alabama: Bryson, 12, is an Auburn resident who goes by the nickname of “Cheese Curd.” He’s a sixth-grader at Fox Run School in Opelika and the son of Mike and Shannon McGlynn. Bryson’s also a young grillmaster and barbecue specialist who competes in grilling competitions with his father. (Mike, a Wisconsin native, earned the nickname “Cheese” when he moved to Alabama, and that prompted his son’s moniker.) Bryson hopes to be a chef one day and have his own food truck.
What’s at stake: The winner of “MasterChef Junior” receives a trophy, bragging rights and $100,000 prize. Six contestants remained on the show this week, after eliminations on previous episodes.
How it works: Four chefs act as judges on “MasterChef Junior” throughout the season, making decisions on who stays and who goes. Along with head honcho Ramsay, the judging panel includes Aaron Sanchez, Daphne Oz and Tilly Ramsay, Gordon Ramsay’s daughter. Weekly cooking challenges and eliminations trim the list of contestants until a single cook remains.
This week’s theme: The episode was called “Pancakes & Ice Cream.” The junior cooks faced two challenges, both involving sweets. “Who here loves sugar?” Oz asked. Of course, all six kids eagerly raised their hands.
Challenge One: Each cook was paired with another contestant for a pancake race, tasked with making as many stacks of pancakes as possible in 15 minutes. But just plunking batter onto a heated griddle wasn’t enough. The teams had to assemble carefully constructed dishes, each holding a stack of three pancakes topped with fruit, drizzled with fruit syrup and finished with powdered sugar. The judges emphasized that only pancakes reaching “MasterChef” standards would be counted for each team’s total.
Pancake race: Bryson was paired with Asher Niles on the Yellow Team, cooking pancakes topped with bananas and other sweet stuff. Although Bryson seemed unsure at first, Asher was confident going into the challenge. (“I make so many pancakes at my house,” Asher said. “I am the pancake master.”) The two worked well together, and although they didn’t win the challenge, Bryson and Asher took second place, preparing nine plates of pancakes that the judges deemed “perfect.”
Flipping out: Michael Seegobin and Jordyn Joyner, members of the Red Team, won the pancake race with 10 stacks of high-quality pancakes. This allowed them to move directly into the season’s top five, and sit out the second challenge of the episode. Michael and Jordyn moved onto a nearby balcony, where they were treated to ice cream sundaes.
Just for fun: Winners of the pancake race could pick two judges, then splatter them with gooey toppings fired from a specially made “Pancake Blaster 5000.” The kids decided to target Sanchez and Gordon Ramsay, both of whom got drenched in syrup but emerged smiling. (”That was very naughty, indeed,” Ramsay said.)
Challenge Two: The four cooks who didn’t win the pancake race were asked to make ice cream — using liquid nitrogen and a blast chiller — and combine it with other components in a creative dessert. The contestants had 75 minutes to decide on a dish, grab ingredients from the “MasterChef” pantry, prepare the ice cream and cook the rest of the dessert. The young cooks worked separately for this challenge, and the contestant who prepared the least successful dessert would be sent home.
What Bryson cooked: Roasted pecan ice cream with peach compote and candied pecans over skillet cornbread. (“In the South, you’ve gotta have cornbread,” Bryson said.) He scorched a batch of pecans, however, and this made his entire cooking session stressful.
What Bryson said: “Oh, my goodness. My pecans are burnt, and this cannot happen. I need to put those in the ice cream, and I do not have time to make them again. If I don’t get this right, I could go home. … This is not good. I’m freaking out right now. My pecans are burnt, and you do not want burnt taste in your ice cream. So I tried to find the good ones and put ‘em in my ice cream, and I’m hoping that the pecans do not bring the dish down.”
Finish line: Bryson took a deep breath, worked efficiently and completed his dessert on time. He remained worried, however, that the pecan ice cream would have a bitter flavor — and the judges seemed concerned, as well.
Gordon Ramsay’s reaction: “Bryson, who taught you how to cook? I’ve gotta be honest with you, right, I’ve seen you cook so well on the grill. But I’m disappointed with this.” Several of the young cooks gasped in dismay. But then the chef continued. “I’m disappointed that Dad can’t taste it, ‘cause it is frickin’ delicious,” Ramsay said. “I’m telling you, peaches are in abundance, it’s like a cobbler gone mad. Ice cream is delicious. But the cornbread, with all that cinnamon from the peaches and the ice cream and the pecans … Seriously, really good job.”
What Sanchez said: “Bryson, this is a celebration of the South. And I love how much caramelization you got on those peaches. You transformed them into something completely different. Unbelievable.”
What Oz said: “Um, I got a little burnt pecan in mine, a little charred. But we’re calling it smoked, and I kind of like it like that. Well done.”
How Bryson fared: Ramsay faked him out for a minute — “You got me a little nervous there,” Bryson said — but in the end, the boy’s dessert was one of the top two in the ice cream challenge. Bryson was joined by Asher Niles, who made a marshmallow ice cream dessert that Oz described as “elevated s’mores.” Both cooks were declared safe and made it into the top five.
Eliminated: Alfred Eggermont, 11, of Binford, North Dakota. The judges said his cornflake-crusted pecan ice cream was delicious, but a spicy honey sauce and other components of his dessert missed the mark. The boy started to cry when told he was going home, and some of the judges teared up, as well. “I adore you,” Oz said. “I think you’re amazing … I’m really gonna miss you, bud, and I’m really proud of you.”
Still in the competition: Along with Bryson, the remaining contestants are Michael Seegobin, 11, of New Smyrna, Florida; Jordyn Joyner, 8, of Greensboro, North Carolina; Asher Niles, 8, of Yakima, Washington; and Remy Powell, 10, of Hollywood, Florida.
Next up: In an episode called “Thyme Travel,” the junior cooks must revisit a dish they previously cooked on the show. “The five remaining young chefs travel back in time to week one to earn a spot in the semi-finals,” says a synopsis on IMDb. “The chefs are tasked with recreating the first dish they made in the ‘MasterChef’ kitchen into an elegant and electrifying version.”
