Hayden Quinn spills on one of the biggest MasterChef misconceptions to Yahoo Lifestyle.

Former MasterChef star Hayden Quinn has answered a major fan question that comes up every year. Photo: Ten

Former MasterChef star Hayden Quinn has answered a major fan question that comes up every year. Photo: Ten

Former MasterChef star Hayden Quinn has answered a major fan question that tends to come up every single year. And that is: what temperature is the food when the judges are eating it?

One Reddit user questioned this on Friday morning, asking, “How is the dish temperature maintained while tasting? During tasting, especially in the early parts of the competition when there are more dishes to taste, how do they make sure the last dish being tasted isn’t impacted by becoming too cold or the ice cream melting?

“On TV, it appears that the dish stays on the bench for the entire time. If that’s the case, isn’t it very unfair to the last person?”

Speaking to Yahoo Lifestyle, Hayden confirmed that the food is cold when the judges get to taste it.

“People never realise that the food’s cold when the judges eat it, that’s for sure,” he says. “That’s a sad fact of getting through like 24 different people when they’re cooking the same or similar meals, and, you know, having to judge every single one of them, that’s the big one.

“It’s also not live TV, some people still think it’s live TV.”

MasterChef's Poh

Poh, after realising she’s going to have to eat a lot of cold food. Photo: Ten
However, the judges will taste the food as the contestants are cooking, so they get a feeling for how it should taste when plated hot.

Fellow former contestant Justin Narayan previously told Yahoo Lifestyle, “You see it on TV, sometimes they come around and they’re tasting things. So the judges are always writing notes, they’ve got some knowledge and an idea of what it tastes like hot. But it’s part of TV, they’re used to eating cold food.”

The food is also refrigerated to ensure it’s not left out at an unsafe temperature, which could lead to food poisoning.

A TV insider also told Yahoo Lifestyle last year that it would be “actually impossible” for judges Andy Allen, Poh Ling Yeow, Jean-Christophe Novelli and Sofia Levin “to try all the food piping hot and therefore the judges taste each contestant’s food while they’re cooking”.

“That is when Jean-Christophe, Poh, Andy and Sofia are required to document their outcomes,” they said of the judges’ mid-cook tastings.

According to the insider, the judges are asked “not to discuss their final thoughts with each other until the participants are in front of them so that it feels more natural when they share their opinions on each dish.”

MasterChef food

Foods like ice cream will be carefully stored to ensure they don’t melt. Photo: Ten
Our insider also revealed that the actual plated versions of the dishes are judged “much later than audiences would expect” and that the food is, indeed, quite cold by the time it’s critiqued (keeping in mind the judges’ decisions have been made well before that part of filming.)

“Each contestant will usually get 20 minutes to make sure all the judges have been able to express their opinions,” the insider said, adding, “It’s a long process, especially at the start where there are 20+ participants.”

The insider also tells Yahoo Lifestyle that producers take a fair amount of time filming the contestants’ dishes, with the food often being touched up to make the reveals more exciting.

“It can depend on the narratives that will play out for the participants,” the insider explains. “Nothing is added or changed that will affect the outcomes. There is no added benefit to styling the food or making it look better for cutaways.”