MasterChef (U.S. season 1)

Season 1 of the American competitive reality TV series MasterChef ran from July 27 to September 15, 2010 on Fox.

Whitney Miller was the winner of this inaugural season.

Top 14

Elimination table

     (WINNER) This cook won the competition.

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

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

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

     (CC) In addition to immunity from elimination, the cook was given the opportunity to compete against Cat Cora in this challenge. If the cook was judged to have made a better dish than Cora, they'd advance straight to the final 4.

     (HIGH) The cook was one of the top entries in an individual challenge, but didn't win.

     (IN) The cook wasn't selected as a top or bottom entry in an individual challenge.

     (IMM) The cook didn't have to compete in that round of the competition and was safe from elimination.

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

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

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

     (ELIM) The cook was eliminated from MasterChef.

Episodes

Episode 1

• Auditions Round 1

Episode 2

• Auditions Round 2

Episode 3

• Skills Test: The first part of this episode involved the final 30 cutting onions both coarsely and finely diced, with any contestant being unable to cut onions to the judges' exacting standards being immediately eliminated. Dominic, Ryan, Joe, Scott, Jennifer, and Hollie were eliminated during this stage, leaving 24 remaining contestants.
• Cooking Test: The remaining contestants were each given a single egg, and were given 30 minutes to make a dish with the egg as the centerpiece. Max, Whitney B., Charmaine, Darryl, Adele, Josh, Robin, Tamar, Roberto, and Asmina were eliminated in this test, leaving Avis, David, Faruq, Jake, Jenna, Slim, Lee, Mike, Sharone, Sheena, Sheetal, Tony, Tracy and Whitney to advance.

Episode 4

• Mystery Box Challenge 1: The contestants were given their first Mystery Box. Sheena's, Jake's and Whitney's were the top three, and Whitney cooked the best dish.
• Challenge Winner: Whitney Miller
• Elimination Test 1: Whitney was allowed to select the key ingredient used by both herself and her competitors in the Elimination Test, which revolved around cooking Chinese cuisine. Whitney selected Mandarin oranges. Mike's dish was deemed the best and he was made team captain in the next round. Whitney, Slim, Tony, Jenna, Tracy, Sheetal, David, Lee and Sharone also did well enough to move on in the competition.
• Winner: Mike Kim
• Bottom three: Sheena Zadeh, Faruq Jenkins and Avis White
• Avis is sent home. The judges then announce that there will be a double elimination. Sheena is then sent home.
• Eliminated: Sheena Zadeh and Avis White

Episode 5

• Team Challenge 1: The first team challenge saw the chefs being asked to cook for a hundred marines, with the judges deciding on the winning team based on the quality of food and serving skills. Mike became the captain of the Blue Team, and chose Jake, Lee, Tracy, Tony and Sheetal to join him, leaving Sharone, David, Whitney, Slim, Faruq and Jenna to form the Red Team. Sharone effectively took the role of team captain. The Blue team were named the winners, and the Red team was sent into the first Pressure Test.
• Team Challenge Winners/Immune: Jake Gandolfo, Lee Knaz, Mike Kim, Sheetal Bhagat, Tony Carbone and Tracy Nailor
• Pressure Test 1: Graham cooked a pot of Texas chili for the Red Team members, who were called up one at a time and asked to taste it, then name an ingredient. Whoever named the fewest ingredients before taking an incorrect guess would be eliminated. Whitney went first and correctly guessed 12 ingredients; Faruq was next and guessed 9, which guaranteed Whitney safety. Jenna took the third turn and correctly guessed 7 ingredients, making Faruq safe from elimination. Slim, David, and Sharone were able to guess 8 ingredients, resulting in Jenna being eliminated.
• Eliminated: Jenna Hamiter

Episode 6

• Mystery Box Challenge 2: This challenge required the contestants to bake cupcakes. Whitney, Jake, and Sharone were the top three. Sharone's cupcake gave him the win.
• Challenge Winner/Immune: Sharone Hakman
• Special Challenge/Elimination Test 2: Sharone was introduced to chef Cat Cora and shown three of her signature dishes, one of which he and all the other contestants would have to replicate. He chose a truffled halibut. Sharone was told he was safe, and was also told that if he could cook the dish to a better standard than Cat herself, he would be exempt from taking part in the next few rounds of the competition, and would get a direct entry into the final four. The judges did not consider Sharone's dish better than Cat's own version. The remaining ten contestants were tasked with cooking the same dish. Jake was named the winner of this challenge, and the team captain for the following episode.
• Winner: Jake Gandolfo
• Bottom three: Faruq Jenkins, Mike Kim and Slim Huynh
• Faruq was sent home.
• Eliminated: Faruq Jenkins

Episode 7

• Team Challenge 2: In this challenge, the teams had to cook hamburgers for one hundred truckers. The truckers themselves would vote for the winner, with the first team to get 51 votes wins. As the Blue Team captain, Jake chose Tracy, Whitney, Lee and Tony, leaving Sharone, Mike, David, Slim, and Sheetal as the Red team, with Sharone again becoming the de facto captain. The Red Team won the challenge when reaching 51 votes first.
• Team Challenge Winners/Immune: David Miller, Mike Kim, Sharone Hakman, Sheetal Bhagat and Slim Huynh
• Pressure Test 2: This time around, the Blue team members were tasked with identifying ingredients, some everyday, and some exotic. Whoever identified the fewest items before getting one wrong would be sent home. Jake went first and got eleven items. Tony was next and only managed nine. Lee, Whitney and Tracy were all able to identify ten ingredients, leading to Tony's elimination.
• Eliminated: Tony Carbone

Episode 8

• Mystery Box Challenge 3: All contestants were required to use a live Dungeness crab. Sharone, Lee and Sheetal were the top three. The judges named Lee as the best overall dish.
• Challenge Winner: Lee Knaz
• Elimination Test 3: Lee would choose one of three ingredients to work with and Lee selected passion fruit. Lee's was judged to be the winner, making him the team captain for the next episode.
• Winner: Lee Knaz
• Bottom four: Sheetal Bhagat, Slim Huynh, Tracy Nailor and Whitney Miller
• Sheetal and Tracy were sent back to their stations, leaving Slim and Whitney to face elimination. Slim was eliminated.
• Eliminated: Slim Huynh

Episode 9

• Team Challenge 3: This week's team challenge was to cook for 230 guests at a wedding reception. Lee led the Blue Team and chose Mike, Jake and Tracy to join him, meaning that Sharone, Whitney, David and Sheetal formed the Red Team. The team members agreed that Sharone should take charge of the Red Team once again. There was a set menu to cook from, and the judges would decide the winners based on feedback from the guests and their observations of how the teams worked in the kitchen. When the contestants returned to the kitchen the following day, the Red Team were announced as the winners.
• Team Challenge Winners/Immune: David Miller, Sharone Hakman, Sheetal Bhagat and Whitney Miller
• Pressure Test 3: The four Blue Team members were given 90 minutes to cook a pasta dish but were told that two contestants would be sent home.
• Bottom three: Jake Gandolfo, Lee Knaz and Tracy Nailor
• Mike's dish was judged the best. Tracy's dish was deemed to be the worst resulting in her elimination. Jake became the second person to be eliminated.
• Eliminated: Jake Gandolfo and Tracy Nailor

Episode 10

• Mystery Box 4: This episode's Mystery Box highlighted venison. Sharone, Sheetal and Whitney were selected as the top three. Sheetal's dish was judged to be the best.
• Challenge Winner: Sheetal Bhagat
• Elimination Test 4: Sheetal was told that the theme for this test would be dessert. She chose vanilla for everyone to work with. Whitney's dessert won her the test.
• Winner: Whitney Miller
• Bottom three: Lee Knaz, Mike Kim and Sheetal Bhagat
• Lee's dish was judged to be just barely better than the other two, saving him from elimination. Mike was eliminated.
• Eliminated: Mike Kim

Episode 11

• Individual Challenge: The final five were told to prepare a sculpin-based dish for three professional food critics: Jeffrey Steingarten of Vogue magazine, Tanya Steel of Epicurious.com, and Barbara Fairchild of Bon Appetit magazine. Whitney had an hour and a quarter in which to cook her food, while the other four contestants had just an hour. The two contestants deemed to have cooked the worst dishes, which would be rated in scores out of twelve, would face off in a pressure test. David's dish was judged to be the best, scoring 11.5 out of 12 and winning him the challenge. Sharone's dish scored 4 out of 12 and Whitney scored 5 out of 12, becoming the bottom two.
• Challenge Winner: David Miller
• Bottom two: Sharone Hakman and Whitney Miller
• Pressure Test 4: Sharone and Whitney were each asked to cook a chocolate soufflé. They were told that they could cook as many as they liked in the hour allotted, but could only serve one. Sharone was eliminated.
• Eliminated: Sharone Hakman

Episode 12

• Semi-Final 1: The episode began with the first of two one-on-one cook-offs. The challenges were decided by a draw: Ramsay picked David who was allowed to choose his competition, selecting Sheetal. In the semi-finals, the judges would each name a dish for the contestants to cook. David won sending Sheetal home.
• Eliminated: Sheetal Bhagat
• Semi-Final 2: For the second semi-final, Lee and Whitney were again asked to make three dishes chosen by the judges. Whitney advanced through to the final, eliminating Lee.
• Eliminated: Lee Knaz

Episode 13

• Final: In the final cook-off, the two finalists were given two hours to cook whatever they desired for an appetizer, an entrée and a dessert. Whitney chose an appetizer of sweet shrimp on crispy corn bread with black eyed pea purée, country fried chicken for the entrée, and a white chocolate bread pudding for dessert. David decided to cook scallops for the appetizer, beef wellington for entrée, and nectarine crepes for dessert.
• Final Two: David Miller and Whitney Miller
• Winner chosen: Whitney was chosen as the first winner of the revival version of MasterChef.
• MasterChef Winner: Whitney Miller

References