Best was Tom calling him on it. "Come on, you choose her because ..."

I also loved how glad Tom seemed to be to see some of the old cheftestants. That was nice.

I'm sad about Jeff, though. I've really come to like him, and I think he just tries *too* hard. He's so serious about it, and overthinks himself right into the bottom almost every time.

Fabio was funny, as usual. And Carla winning the Superbowl tickets was priceless. Fun episode.

Jeff doesn't know how to edit. He does too much, and all of it is okay, instead of doing a few things well.

Except that very often, one of those four things he sets for himself actually is exceptional - like the sorbets, and some other things I can recall, but they get dragged down the other so-so things. Even more frustrating, in some ways, but if he wasn't showing those flashes of brilliance, caked in mud as they are, I don't think he'd still be around (or that we'd care if he was.)

Except that very often, one of those four things he sets for himself actually is exceptional

oh, good point.

Although I think that Fabio was bullshitting with the "waiting" issue (a medium rare meat does not turn overcooked in a few minutes if it was cooked properly), you could see some evidence of it with Jeff's sorbet melting.

Also, hot ceviche is bullshit. That was a shrimp salad with lime juice. The point of it being ceviche is that the shrimp is cooked in the acid, not on a damned stove. They both screwed the pooch on that one, but Josie's tasted better.

Fabio was bullshitting with the "waiting" issue

Any cook knows that there is carry-over cooking happening with meat and factors that into the cooking time of the dish. That was pure bs he was spouting and he deservedly got whacked around for it.

One of Jeff's problems is that he was in the middle ALOT and didn't get that criticism UNTIL he was in the bottom.

Any cook knows that there is carry-over cooking happening with meat and factors that into the cooking time of the dish. That was pure bs he was spouting and he deservedly got whacked around for it.

exactly. There was no more waiting to taste his dish than there would have been for the waiter to carry the food to the table.

One of Jeff's problems is that he was in the middle ALOT and didn't get that criticism UNTIL he was in the bottom.

I've heard from other former cheftestants that this is a real problem with being in the middle of the pack - you get almost no feedback until you really screw up.

The thing about carryover cooking is it's pretty much limited to big roasts (like a whole tenderloin) and bone-in presentations. A slice of fillet sitting on a plate isn't going to go from rare to medium no matter how much carryover time you give it.

Even if we didn't know that it was bs from general knowledge of cooking - when he was plating it up -- didn't he essentially say that one of his concerns was that he overcooked the meat?

- when he was plating it up -- didn't he essentially say that one of his concerns was that he overcooked the meat?

yes he did. He should have known better than to try to bullshit the judges about it! And what was his thing about about not using acids with cheeses? Huh??? I love you Fabio but huh????