In Monday night’s MasterChef Australia steak challenge, Curtis Stone returned for a black apron elimination that was basically: cook a flat iron steak to his liking, or perish.
The contestants had 60 minutes to hero the cut of meat for the judges, with Annabel, Casper and Petro sitting safely out after topping Josh Niland’s flathead challenge the night before.
The steak challenge produced some strong dishes. Vinnie went ambitious with flat iron two ways: a tartare with crispy potato and crostini, plus hibachi-grilled flat iron with salsa verde, fennel and orange salad. Pat impressed the judges with a barbecue flat iron steak, cheesy polenta, tomato and bread salad and green herb sauce.
But dessert whiz, Bella Di Conza, struggled in the savoury lane. Her Thai beef noodles didn’t quite land: judge Poh Ling Yeow felt the noodle choice should have been chewier, and the sesame flavours leaned more Chinese/Korean than Thai.
But worst of all, Curtis noted the steak was “quite rare” and he didn’t enjoy the sauce’s flavour.
In the end, Bella was sent home, which came shortly after earning her way back into the competition through a redemption cook.
But not all MasterChef fans believe that Bella should have been given a chance at redemption, calling attention to her ‘steak fail’ as an example of the 20-year-old not being ready for MasterChef Australia.
MasterChef viewers slam the contestants’ steak challenge performance
MasterChef viewers have vented on the show’s subreddit that they were not impressed that some of the contestants, including eliminee Bella, as they didn’t seem to be familiar with cooking steak.
“How does someone get to this stage who isn’t comfortable cooking fish or steak!” wrote one.
“Being in MasterChef and not being able to whip up a simple steak and mash properly is such a disgrace,” added another.
Others questioned how someone was allowed on the show without being a pro at cooking steak. “Honestly, if you can’t cook a steak, you’ve no business in this stage of the competition,” read another comment.
Another fan joked that contestants should be locked “in a room with a grill and four tonnes of raw meat and they can’t come out until they either cook a steak properly or starve to death.” Bit harsh, no?
A ‘chef’ weighs in on the MasterChef controversy
A MasterChef fan who claims to be a professional ‘chef’ shared their two cents on the steak controversy on Reddit.
“As a chef, I’m always scratching my head at how it seems to be such a huge challenge to cook a steak or protein to a specific doneness in this competition,” they complained.
“They have meat thermometers in the kitchen; I’ve seen them being used. You don’t have to play guesswork. Just stick it in the thickest part of the meat. They even have sous vide machines to cook to a precise temperature.”
The ‘chef’ went as far as to say that even Pat’s steak wasn’t up to scratch. “I did chuckle when Pat was being praised for his steak and Andy’s piece was nice and pink but JC [Jean-Christophe] seemed to get a rather grey piece of meat,” they wrote.
MasterChef winner ‘on the fence’ about fan complaints
The all-stars winner of MasterChef Australia: Back To Win from 2025 and three-time competitor, Laura Sharrad, told WHO her thoughts on the steak criticism from fans.
Laura admitted that she was “on the fence” about whether contestants should know basic cooking skills like perfecting a steak.
“Masterchef back in the day, used to be, you needed as much knowledge as possible about basics of cooking: making pasta, pastry, butchering fish, meat, cooking all kinds of proteins,” she said. “Now I think it’s shifting… people are more focused on their strengths.”
Ultimately, Bella never claimed her strength was cooking meat. “I don’t see any issue with Bella as she’s owning that it’s not her forte,” Laura shared. “She’s probably practised multiple times and admitted it’s not her strong suit which is so brave.”
Juan De La Cruz, a 2024 contestant, also shared his thoughts on the importance of cooking steak in the MasterChef kitchen. “I think cooking a great steak is definitely an important skill. As someone who cooks a lot of meat over fire, I can tell you that a perfect steak is actually one of the hardest things to get right because there’s nowhere to hide,” he said.
“That said, I don’t think MasterChef is about proving that everyone can cook the exact same thing. The beauty of the competition is that people come in with different strengths, backgrounds and styles of cooking.”
MasterChef star says criticism of Bella is harsh
In light of the backlash, Juan wanted to come to Bella’s defence. “I think some of the criticism aimed at Bella is a bit harsh. She’s a young cook with a lot of talent and potential, and like every contestant who’s ever been on the show, there are skills she’s still developing. That’s normal. In fact, that’s the whole point of MasterChef,” he said.
“If you ask me whether every chef should know how to cook a steak, absolutely. If you ask me whether not being perfect at steak should define a contestant, absolutely not.”
Laura also pointed out that while Bella might not have nailed her steak, not every cook in that kitchen could execute some of her spectacular pastry creations. “Some chefs don’t have the skills to do it all — some chefs can’t bake or tackle a pastry section,” Laura said.
“At the end of the day, you can’t do it all.”
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