When they do the taste testing on cooking shows how do they ensure it’s still warm and that sauces and stuff aren’t congealed?
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It depends on the show. I know for Chopped, the judges are allowed to taste while the contestants are cooking, and immediately after as well. The dishes are kept warm until the on camera tasting which can be 30 minutes later or more. On Iron Chef, the contestants finish only one of each dish they make during the one hour contest, for the camera. Then they have additional time off camera to finish four more of each plate to have it ready just in time for judges tasting.
The way I’ve seen it explained, they don’t. At least on the Australian version of Masterchef. They walk between work stations, and taste it while in progress, but a lot of the time they’ve made up their minds beforehand, and the tasting is just for show.
EDIT: /u/thechosenbum93 posted below citing the same place I read it, so I’m adding a link here. [https://www.aliceinframes.com/8-things-you-didnt-know-about-masterchef/](https://www.aliceinframes.com/8-things-you-didnt-know-about-masterchef/)
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During the final tasting that we see on TV, the food is apparently cold. At least on the Australia version of Masterchef.
Source: An article by Alice from S4 of Masterchef Australia – https://www.aliceinframes.com/8-things-you-didnt-know-about-masterchef/
I can confirm the same for the U.K. version of MasterChef. In fact for the first screen test you’re asked to cook the night before, bring it in cold then plate up while explaining the dish, how you cooked it etc directly to camera.
Short answer: they don’t. Many times the contestant didn’t even cook the dish the judges are eating. The cook-off and the tasting are done at separate times.
They hold it.
That’s usually IR heating(above food heating coils), which keeps food around a nice and hot 120 to 140 or so degrees F. They vary. This can result in drying out, though. This helps keep the food hot and the plate not.
Sometimes it’s simply a plate warmer. These don’t work as nicely as the above food coils, food still dries out but it’s also cold on top. They tend to make for really hot plates and cold (on top) food, while food nearer the plate can be excessively hot.
It could also simply be kept in a warm oven. 150 to 200 F is great (and above the 140F warning temp for bacteria.) Keeping the temp below boiling is essential, unless you want really dried out food.
Failing these, microwave (nuke) it or toss it under a broiler for a few minutes. I personally prefer a nice slow reheat, as above. But broiling is quicker, but it’s also uneven. You may get burnt food on top and cold food in the middle. 10 or 15 minutes at a sub boiling temp usually results in nicely, evenly heated food.
Pizza in the best example. You originally cook the pizza and it’s very moist. Reheating in the oven makes it deliciously crispsy(drier). It’s even better, IMO! Don’t exceed ~350F(~180C) while cooking. I know the instructions say 425F. That’s too hot. You’ll get glass like crust and raw dough inside. Breads are normally baked around 325 to 350. I use 325F for 25 minutes. It does take 10 minutes longer, but the crust is so much better! Then finish it off with a 2 or 3 minute broil to brown the cheese.
If you want to hold things in your oven, 150 to 200 F is best. Again, they will dry out, for better or worse.
Most TV is fake. The impression of what the show is presenting happened – did not happen. It is true for virtually all shows. They make incidents or situations that did not occur to make it look like something did.
As others have stated, they don’t.
However (at the very least on the shows I worked on) you have to keep in mind that the whole thing is staged.
The dishes are often cooked more than once and the tasting practically never happens right after the cooking.
Most of it competition is done off camera, what you actually see (for both cooking and tasting) is for the audience’s sake.
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