# The Great British Baking Show (Technicals) **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Tags:** reality-or-game-show\ **Created:** [October 17, 2026, 2:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-great-british-baking-show-technicals/1033911 "2026-10-17T14:54:26Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 8\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![kaylasdad99](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kaylasdad99/32/3398_2.png) [@kaylasdad99](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kaylasdad99)\ **Post date:** [October 17, 2026, 2:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-great-british-baking-show-technicals/1033911/1 "2026-10-17T14:54:26Z")
After the judges are sent away and the challenge is presented, we cut to the judges discussing their expectations and sampling an example of the challenge. I’ve noticed that they comment on the execution of those examples, as though they had been prepared from a)fully written) recipe by a third party baker. So do the judges actually make the examples, or do they have someone else do them? ---
**Author:** ![Dewey\_Finn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dewey_finn/32/4222_2.png) [@Dewey\_Finn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dewey_Finn)\ **Post date:** [October 17, 2026, 3:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-great-british-baking-show-technicals/1033911/2 "2026-10-17T15:09:06Z")
Googling, the example bakes are prepared by professional home economists. In the case of the Great British Bake Off, that is [Hattie Baker](https://www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/entry/gbbo-who-makes-the-sample-technicals_uk_6710d20de4b0907fa50822d4). Formerly the person was [Faenia Moore](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm3268618/). (And others are listed in IMDB as home economists.) ---
**Author:** ![XOldiesJock](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/x/ec9cab/32.png) [@XOldiesJock](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/XOldiesJock)\ **Post date:** [October 17, 2026, 4:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-great-british-baking-show-technicals/1033911/3 "2026-10-17T16:02:03Z")
I’ve always wondered who baked those perfect examples they show. This was a tough week for just about everyone. It must have been a matter of very small degrees to determine who would get sent home. Paul even said the results of one part of the competition was the worst he’d ever seen! ---
**Author:** ![kaylasdad99](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kaylasdad99/32/3398_2.png) [@kaylasdad99](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kaylasdad99)\ **Post date:** [October 17, 2026, 9:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-great-british-baking-show-technicals/1033911/4 "2026-10-17T21:06:52Z")
I was blown away a couple of seasons ago when they asked for flapjacks and nobody made pancakes! ---
**Author:** ![kferr](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/71e660/32.png) [@kferr](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kferr)\ **Post date:** [October 18, 2026, 11:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-great-british-baking-show-technicals/1033911/5 "2026-10-18T11:26:24Z")
Hopefully this is a whoosh, but a UK flapjack is nothing like a pancake, more like a cereal bar. [https://www.sainsburys.co.uk/groceries/product/mcvitie-s-hobnobs-oaty-flapjacks-milk-chocolate-multipack-5x26-4g](https://www.sainsburys.co.uk/groceries/product/mcvitie-s-hobnobs-oaty-flapjacks-milk-chocolate-multipack-5x26-4g) ---
**Author:** ![not\_what\_you\_d\_expect](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/not_what_you_d_expect/32/3246_2.png) [@not\_what\_you\_d\_expect](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/not_what_you_d_expect)\ **Post date:** [October 18, 2026, 12:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-great-british-baking-show-technicals/1033911/6 "2026-10-18T12:04:55Z")
Just look at what they call a cookie! When I want a biscuit, I expect gravy! ---
**Author:** ![kaylasdad99](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kaylasdad99/32/3398_2.png) [@kaylasdad99](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kaylasdad99)\ **Post date:** [October 18, 2026, 12:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-great-british-baking-show-technicals/1033911/7 "2026-10-18T12:08:50Z")
I’m a USAian. What the UK calls a flapjack, we call an energy bar (or oat bar or sometimes a granola bar). It’s a pancake here. > [@not\_what\_you\_d\_expect](#): > > Just look at what they call a cookie! When I want a biscuit, I expect gravy! Right? What do they call a buttermilk biscuit with gravy? ---
**Author:** ![Alessan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alessan/32/465_2.png) [@Alessan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alessan)\ **Post date:** [October 18, 2026, 12:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-great-british-baking-show-technicals/1033911/8 "2026-10-18T12:54:42Z")
> [@XOldiesJock](#): > > This was a tough week for just about everyone. It must have been a matter of very small degrees to determine who would get sent home. Paul even said the results of one part of the competition was the worst he’d ever seen! That technical was a massacre, but none of the contestants were particularly good with bread. It’s a weak batch this year.