Brent wins MasterChef Australia 2014
Brent pips Laura at the final hurdle to become the new MasterChef champ.
- Published by David Knox
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Brent Owens, 24, has won MasterChef Australia for 2014.
He defeated Laura Cassai, 19, and wins $250,000, a book publishing deal and a new car.
Brent, a bobcat driver from Victoria, scored 83 points over the 80 accrued by Laura, a Health Science student from South Australia.
“I can’t believe it!” he said.
“Thanks for pushing me every single day,” he told the judges. “Every time I went into that kitchen it was the three of you that made me get better.”
He also thanked his other teammates for their knowledge “and just being there for support” as well thanking Laura who is “always smiling, always happy.”
“I’ve got so many plans. Ultimately I want my own café and a line of food products. I’m very keen to give back to the community; I’ve already started working with disadvantaged youth and will be using food to make a difference in their lives, as it has in mine,” he said later.
The first round involved an empty Mystery Box with both contestants selecting 3 ingredients each for an entree dish. Disaster always strikes in any cook-off, but the last thing Laura needed was burning her hand in the grand final. Despite the setback, there seemed to be little mention of it again.
Challenge One:
Laura: Grilled Scampi 9 / 8 / 8 = 25
Brent: Textures of Pearl Barley 9 / 9 / 9 = 27
For round two, 3 family members became guest of honours at a chef’s table. The challenge cleverly brought emotion to the night. Brent managed to burn multiple dishes.
Challenge Two:
Laura: Lobster and Scallops 8 / 8 / 8 = 24 (49 points)
Brent: Lancashire Hotpot 7 / 7 / 7 = 21 (48 points)
The final test saw chef Peter Gilmore return with another devious dish “twice as hard as the snow egg, at least.” It was a 39 step Chocolate Ethereal. But Laura misread her recipe wasting 45 minutes of her dish and had trouble tempering her chocolate, while her final presentation lacked the finesse of Gilmore’s original.
Challenge Three:
Laura: 8 / 8 / 8 / 7 = 31 (80 points)
Brent: 8 / 9 / 9 / 9 = 35 (83 points)
The final announcement included former champions and chefs outside the MasterChef kitchen.
As runner up Laura won $20,000 prize, with Emelia taking $10,000.
TEN’s 2014 season restored the brand with strong ratings in its final weeks and plenty of praise for returning to its core values of talented young cooks and exquisite dishes. Together with Offspring and the Commonwealth Games, TEN has seen its best ratings in 2 years.
The show is already casting for its 2015 season.
This post updates.
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- Tagged with Commonwealth Games, MasterChef Australia, Offspring
12 Responses
I would love in next years series if the judges would say , “yeah your food was good, but frankly your not as good as last years contestants” , given at how often this year they said that these contestants were the best ever. 🙂
Emilia was robbed, she should have been in the finale. Laura was clearly the favourite from early on. The help the judges gave her was ridiculous, it was the finale after all. Was so glad Brent won. Thank God for Peter Gilmore who judged fairly.
it was a great finale although very nerve racking having your family right there in front of you when you are trying to cook.
But the last few weeks Brent has been great in challenges and has remained calm and read and did everything thorough.
Laura did get a lot of help from the judges but I guess they didnt want her stuffing up the dish and they probably didnt want to taste a dish that wasnt right. I couldnt believe she didnt cut that nougat cup but it looked so nice I would have picked up that bar and eaten it.
Dont forget also Laura is only 18. There is no way I could cook like that at her age.
Congrats to Brent and the judges and the people that picked those contestants because it was a great season. I will miss watching it at 7:30. Guess I can catch up on other shows now.
By the way I loved the trophy he got.
Ryan – the recipe clearly stated that the nougat was to be chopped up before serving.
Laura saw Peter Gilmour’s dish at the beginning and the nougat was clearly chopped up.
Laura also tasted Peter Gilmour’s dish and she should have noticed the nougat was chopped up.
Laura has been given an enormous amount of help from the judges this series and it was blatantly obvious in the finale.
She misread the recipe and despite helpful ‘hints’ from the judges she clearly did not understand the recipe.
It wasn’t until the judges literally told her she had misread the recipe that she realised she had stuffed up.
How much more help should Laura have received from the judges?
And as for what the other contestants were calling out to Brent – well Emilia shouting ‘C’mon Brent’ comes nowhere close to the judges asking Laura at least 3 times whether she had read the recipe…
It was obvious from about the first round that Brent would win. Though I had it on in the background I lost interest quite quickly after that. Despite being a good season of Masterchef found the final not great at all. It dragged out. When Brent had his issues in round two and missed a major element off his dish and only scored 3 points behind Laura despite her having great comments then it was over. Switched it off before the ending. The final was a disappointing way to finsh this season on masterchef.
Good result. My renewed confidence in the format and the judges would probably have been shattered if Laura had won (given the ridiculous double standards that got her this far through the competition!).
Can’t wait for next year.
@ryan – as if Laura hadn’t already had enough help from the judges!
@ Ryan no she wouldn’t have won if she had chopped her nougat. It was about the flavours of the dish and hers was lacking as the judges said
Both Laura and Brent on Studio 10 tomorrow too guys if you wanna tune in 🙂
Great finale but I’m annoyed with the fact no one said to Laura to chop it up, now I can understand if they were told not to but all through the challenges people especially Emelia were yelling out things to Brent especially. Now such a simple “Laura chop your nougat” She would have won.
Absolutely loved the finale, both were worthy potential champions and both were gracious in victory and defeat. This year’s series was so much better than last year because it was all about the food and less about reality “drama” – keep up this standard across the board, Channel 10, and people might start returning to your channel.
Both Laura and Brent are winners along with Emilia and Jamie. Very high standards. It seemed a real close contest and was just about who edged it on the day. Great win for Brent, a true humble gent, but ou can hardly call Laura a loser
Watch and learn ch10, you got this show absolutely right, well done, don’t stuff it around in the future
One of the best series of Masterchef in a long time. The finale was superb. The emotion was matched only by the effort of both finalists. This is one thing channel ten absolutely nailed in 2014. The three hosts are so good throughout the show and the casting was spot on.