The eleventh episode of Season 12 of Hell's Kitchen aired on Fox on May 22, 2014. In that episode, pork was the main ingredient, one team learned the struggles of being a chef during punishment, and the first team switch had the largest turnover in the show's history.
Intro[]
While going back to the dorms, Scott was shocked at the stunt Gabriel pulled at elimination, believing that the latter would have to perform perfectly from now on, and felt Gabriel should have been eliminated for that move alone. Jason and Anton agreed with Scott as the men came to a unanimous decision, and Jason felt Gabriel did not give a fuck about the team anymore, even feeling he would be better off with the women after that night. Meanwhile, Gabriel reflected over his decision that night, and both Richard and Rochelle understood his decision as they had to fight for their spots now. Gabriel said he decided as nobody else would fight for him but knew he was on the hot seat with the men after that night and began to regret his move.
Team challenge[]
The next day, both teams came downstairs as Gabriel told Ramsay he was ready to go, even though some of his teammates were still pissed about last night. Then, Ramsay explained that a great chef needed to know their proteins inside and out and revealed that they would be working with pork as two pig statues came down from the ceiling, introducing them as Wilbur and Curly. The Creative Pork Challenge would have two parts, and for part one, both teams had to match the pork cuts on the pigs with the cards provided. When they think they had the correct answers, they would ring a triangle for Ramsay’s judging. A confident Gabriel felt the women had no idea about pork cuts than the men. The first team to complete part one with eight correct answers would get an advantage for part two, but Ramsay withheld from saying what it was.
As part one began, Richard and Melanie went up first from their teams, and each chef went up to place their cards on their pigs. Rochelle easily knew where the pork belly was, and Jason called it a close race. However, when both teams rang their triangles, Ramsay announced that they each got two incorrect answers, and Gabriel instantly knew the men’s mistake. While Scott and Melanie went up for their teams to correct their mistakes, the former finished first for the men, much to the latter’s frustration. For the men’s advantage, Ramsay allowed them to choose whatever pork cut they would like to cook with, along with deciding which one of the women they wanted to compete against in part two. Anton picked pork shoulder and wanted to bring down Melanie and kick her off her high horse. Richard picked pork tenderloin and decided to go up against Rochelle, Scott picked pork cheek and decided to go up against Kashia, although the latter felt he was underestimating her abilities, which he would regret. Gabriel picked the spareribs and decided to go up against Joy. As Jason picked pork belly, he was left with Sandra as his opponent. However, he declared she was going down.
The chefs had 45 minutes to cook their pork dishes, and as Gabriel was from the south, he cooked a lot of ribs before declaring he would demolish Joy. In the red kitchen, Joy was upset as she never cooked ribs before but refused to let Gabriel beat her. Thirty minutes left, Scott decided to take a big risk by making a pork-filled ravioli, but Ramsay reminded him that there were only 20 minutes left on the clock, and Gabriel did not think it was a good idea. In the red kitchen, Kashia struggled on a flavor for her pork cheek. Melanie told her to add salt to balance out the watery taste before commenting that there was not much she could do with that. Eventually, both teams got their dishes cooked and plated on time.
Melanie and Anton went up with their pork shoulder dishes on the first round as the former was ready to take the latter down. Melanie presented her braised shoulder in orange juice and stock with cranberry chutney, but despite never using that cut before, Ramsay liked the tenderness of the pork. For Anton, his pork shoulder with a port wine sauce was deemed a dog’s dinner based on the presentation. While Melanie snarked that it was missing a dog bowl, Sandra called Anton a kiss ass when he explained how he tried to replicate Ramsay’s wine sauce. While it was deemed delicious, the presentation was a mess, and Melanie scored that round, giving the women a 1-0 lead. However, Anton did not care about the presentation as he made dishes that tasted good. Richard’s stuffed pork loin was praised for having nice flavor on the pork tenderloin round but criticized for having too much stuffing. In contrast, Rochelle’s spice glazed pork loin was praised for a beautiful balance. So, Rochelle scored that round, the women led 2-0, and she asked Ramsay if he could use his that delivered quote for her ringtone. Gabriel’s pork spareribs with brandy and apricot gastric were praised for a fall off the bone cook and the richness that followed on the spareribs round. For Joy, her barbecue spareribs in a ketchup-based barbecue sauce were deemed great by the presentation and had a delicious sauce, but after a tough decision, Gabriel scored that round as Joy’s ribs needed more cooking on them making it 2-1 for the women. After, Gabriel told Joy that she better nail it in Hell’s Kitchen the next time she does barbecue. On the pork belly round, Sandra’s Asian-styled pork belly was criticized for being undercooked. In contrast, Jason’s spicy Spanish-inspired pork belly was deemed his best dish by that point, and he scored that round, making it a two-point tie. Jason knew he would win as he was the evil pork master before letting out an evil laugh in the confessionals. On the final round, Scott and Kashia went up with their pork cheek dishes. Still, when Kashia presented her pork cheeks with buttercream and zucchini squash stew, Ramsay asked where the pork cheeks were. Kashia said they were in the stew, and Ramsay said she nailed the cheek very well. After, Scott presented his cheek ravioli under joule meat and hoped it was worth it before Ramsay deemed it delicious as he admitted to his doubts earlier. So, Scott won that round, the men won the challenge 3-2, and Jason said the men were all thinking about Scott differently after the latter nailed it.
Scoring[]
| Red Team | Blue Team | ||||
| Chef | Score | Total | Chef | Score | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Melanie | 1 | 1 | Anton | 0 | 0 |
| Rochelle | 1 | 2 | Richard | 0 | 0 |
| Joy | 0 | 2 | Gabriel | 1 | 1 |
| Sandra | 0 | 2 | Jason | 1 | 2 |
| Kaisha | 0 | 2 | Scott | 1 | 3 |
| Results | 3-2 | ||||
Reward[]
The men were rewarded with an indoor skydiving experience. As they left to change, Richard felt great to win as it meant going outside the restaurant and seeing people before adding that they needed it. During the reward, the men saw Jean-Philippe in the vertical wind tunnel as Gabriel called him stiff as a board with only his cheeks moving. As the men took their turns in the tunnel, Jason called it the most fun thing he ever did, Gabriel said that Superman had nothing on him, and Jason felt that the men needed that.
Punishment[]
The women were punished by prepping peanuts for peanut butter and prep both kitchens for that night’s service. Melanie did not want to touch the peanuts during the punishment, and as Sous Chef Andi told them how one bag equalled a single jar, Sandra sarcastically said good times. Rochelle called it killer on her fingers as the women shelled the peanuts as Sous Chef Andi took time to answer some of the women’s questions. She revealed that she was 33 years old, how hard being a woman in the culinary industry was, and how she gave up a chance for a family to work her ass off in her twenties so she could chill in her thirties. Rochelle brought up how she would get married soon, but unlike Sous Chef Andi, she did not want to put off having a family. When Sous Chef James came in, he revealed that he had kids of his own. Still, when Rochelle asked him how hard it was to balance family life and a cooking career, Sous Chef James admitted how tough it was to make sacrifices. However, Kashia did not know if Rochelle wanted to be either a chef or a homemaker, and Joy felt that Ramsay would not want the latter if she wanted a family. Eventually, the women made the peanut butter and began prepping both kitchens.
Before service[]
Later that day, the men came back from their reward, and when Gabriel wondered how this could get better, they discovered Vitamix blenders in the dorms for them. Gabriel called Vitamix the best blenders in the world. Later that night, both teams were ready for that night’s service, and Ramsay asked Jean-Philippe to open Hell’s Kitchen.
Dinner service[]
As service began, Jean-Philippe gave Ramsay the first ticket as the latter notice that his hair was not messed up from the wind tunnel, asking if he got them stitched in. As the men began working on their first order, Scott began working on the risottos, but Jason butted in and placed him on salads as he feared it would be bad. Despite that, the first order was accepted, and Jason’s rule over risottos led to appetizers leaving the blue kitchen. In the red kitchen, Rochelle walked up her risottos, but Sandra’s lobster tail fell apart on her when she picked it up, much to Ramsay’s dismay. Joy was annoyed as they went through lobster tails multiple times, and Ramsay ordered a complete refire to Rochelle’s annoyance. Then, Sandra refused to let Joy butt in on her station, leading to an argument as the latter let her do it by herself. Scott finished the salads in the blue kitchen and checked on Anton for the scallops, but the latter refused to let him help as he would throw him off. However, Anton served only nine scallops for two portions. While Scott told him that he was in over his head, Anton called the latter a hemorrhoid before pushing him away. Ramsay told the women to speed up in the red kitchen, but Kashia noticed that her pan was not hot enough. Ramsay discovered that Kashia’s gas was off, with Rochelle asking how she missed that as Ramsay called it pathetic.
Seventy-five minutes into dinner service, Ramsay decided to fire entrées alongside the appetizers. While Scott tried to help Anton again, the latter refused it, saying he would ask only if he wanted it. Then, Anton served an overcooked halibut, and when Ramsay showed it, Anton claimed that Scott was confusing him. However, neither Jason nor Richard believed that as the latter asked Anton how Scott messed him up, a fed-up Ramsay took the men into the pantry room to sort out their problems. After a quick discussion, it was decided that Scott would stay with Jason on the other side, although the latter called Anton a loser if he could not get fish out. In the red kitchen, Sandra was about to walk her salmon, but neither Melanie nor Joy had anything ready as the former did not communicate with them. Melanie called Sandra a poor teammate, but the latter decided to walk up her salmon despite Melanie asking for more time on the Wellingtons. When the two argued, Ramsay asked where the coordination went. Joy accused Sandra of doing it her way instead of being a team player before putting up the latter if they lost. Richard sent up perfect Wellingtons in the blue kitchen, but Gabriel sent up ice-cold mushrooms, much to the former’s frustration. After Gabriel admitted that it was his fault, Ramsay ordered an entire refire of the table, frustrating Richard as that meant he had to do it all over again. As the tables were getting impatient, Sandra sent up her refire, but it came out overcooked on the bottom as Ramsay compared the look to puke and got dismayed when Sandra asked if she could refire it. Melanie asked what Sandra was doing, but the latter was upset as she wanted her night to be flawless.
Ramsay warned Anton not to send up an overcooked salmon two hours into dinner service, but the latter claimed he could bang it out when no one from his team was up his ass. However, Anton walked up an overcooked salmon. Still, even after Ramsay showed it to him, Anton refused to have someone help him. That led Scott to call Anton a douchebag with zero finesse, but when the latter complained that people were talking at him, Ramsay ordered him not to sear it off too early. Anton was disappointed in his performance, but then Ramsay noticed one salmon covered by a pan and took over fish. Anton called it embarrassing and pathetic before slipping down and blaming Scott for spilling oil, which the latter claimed to have seen it all now. Ramsay’s salmon went to the table, and both teams were able to complete the service without any more mistakes.
Post-mortem[]
When both teams were lined up, Ramsay said he wanted to see coordination that night, but what he got was not enough. Both teams were named joint losers, and they were asked to nominate two each.
During deliberation, Gabriel said that communication and yelling were two different things, and the reason for the men’s miscommunication had too many chiefs. Gabriel nominated Anton and Scott, but the latter nominated Anton and Gabriel. While Gabriel claimed that he grabbed the wrong pan, Scott deemed the former the weakest chef of the ten remaining, and if they could not rely on him, then they had to move on. While Gabriel understood Scott’s intentions, he felt the latter was confusing Anton. Still, Scott argued that he was trying to help the latter out when he was struggling. Anton claimed he would only ask for help if he needed it, but when Scott told him to own up to his mistakes, he denied playing the blame game. While Anton was confirmed to be the men’s first nominee, they struggled on who was going up with him.
On the red side, Kashia nominated Sandra as their first to have communication problems, and everybody agreed with her as Joy wondered if they could nominate the latter two times. Sandra admitted how rough her night was before nominating Kashia as the second. However, when Rochelle left the room for a bit, Joy brought up the former’s name based on the conversation they had with Sous Chef Andi during the punishment. However, Sandra argued that Rochelle had no mistakes that night as Kashia and Joy fabricated a reason why Rochelle should be nominated.
Team switch[]
Jason announced Anton as the men’s first nominee, with Scott as their second. Joy announced Sandra as the women’s first nominee, with Rochelle as their second, using the fake reason she made back at the dorms. During their pleas, Rochelle said she was very focal and was growing in the competition. When Ramsay expressed concern as to why she was up for elimination, Rochelle admitted to revealing the sacrifices in their personal lives before adding that she would not be there if she were not hungry for it. Then, Ramsay felt the women deemed Sandra’s coordination skills nonexistent, but the latter knew that she pushed hard and improved. When Ramsay asked Sandra if she had any fight left, she said she did and wanted to prove it. For Scott, Ramsay questioned him why the men nominated him for lack of coordination, but the former had no idea as he was trying to work with everybody every day and was putting out food to Ramsay’s standards. Lastly, Ramsay told Anton that he never seen somebody fall from grace the way he did, but the latter once again blamed his teammates for his problems. After listening to their pleas, an upset Ramsay said he had to correct the problems from both teams before asking the nominees to take off their jackets. As Ramsay believed that both teams gave up on the nominees, he decided to change it by placing Anton and Scott on the red team and placing Rochelle and Sandra on the blue team.
After moving into their new teams, Ramsay reminded the chefs that they have a chance to win before ordering them to stand out and shine. While being dismissed, Sandra said the cattiness in the red kitchen was childish and stupid before sarcastically wishing Anton and Scott luck. At the same time, Anton called it a nightmare to be sensitive towards his new teammates. Then, Kashia warned the blue team that the Sandra show was about to begin.
Trivia[]
- This episode marks the largest team switch Ramsay has done as he moved four people in total, two from each team. This record would hold until Season 18.