Now that the adults have left the kitchen, it's time for the children to have some fun.
"MasterChef Junior" pits 24 kids between ages 8 and 13 against each other, all fighting for a $100,000 prize. This is the first time the cooking competition has opened its kitchen to kids.
The young chefs will prepare seafood, pasta and dessert dishes and present them to the judges in audition rounds. The contestants who continue on in the competition will face challenges like preparing a three-course meal at a fine dining restaurant and making beef Wellington as a tag team, according to FOX.
"The cookery is out of this world," said judge Gordon Ramsay. "This is probably the best molten lava cake we've ever had on 'MasterChef' and it was made by a 9-year-old. There are pastry chefs twice as old as these kids wishing they could cook as good as them."
According to Yahoo TV, judge Ramsay and fellow judges Graham Elliot and Joe Bastianich have toned down their notoriously tough critiques.
"Well, the interesting thing is that it's definitely not dumbed down for kids," Bastianich told U.S. News. "We figured that if we were going to do this show, we were going to use the same level of ingredients and challenges as we do in 'MasterChef' and treat the kids, as much as possible, the way we would the adults. And I think we were able to do that, which is a big success."
The dishes were not simplified for the younger chefs.
"Sometimes they were even better than what we've seen from the adults," Bastianich said. "These kids are ambitious, it's a serious competition for them. They're serious about winning, and they're very serious about their cooking."
Aside from being a chef himself, Bastianich, is an advocate for getting kids into the kitchen.
"It's just a way to get people to spend more time together and teach kids about food, nutrition and where food comes from," he said. "There are only positives things to come from it."
The best advice the celebrity chef has for kids who want to be chefs, is to cook as often as they can.
"Expose yourself to different ingredients, and if you have the opportunity spend some time as farms or in restaurants or markets," Bastianich said. "Surround yourself with people who are passionate about food."
"MasterChef Junior" premieres Friday, Sept. 27, at 8 p.m. on Fox.
