# Time to Rip On the Cooking Programs! **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [September 15, 2011, 7:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/time-to-rip-on-the-cooking-programs/596428 "2011-09-15T19:27:17Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 12\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![Barking\_Dog](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/ccd318/32.png) [@Barking\_Dog](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Barking_Dog)\ **Post date:** [September 17, 2011, 9:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/time-to-rip-on-the-cooking-programs/596428/41 "2011-09-17T21:22:46Z")
> [@D\_Odds](#): > > Still, I enjoyed watching the show, sound off, when she was younger. Would have been even better if she cooked in the outfit she modeled for _FHM_. I did the same dude. Actually, sometimes I’d leave the sound on because I kind of like that rough, smoky kind-of voice. It’s just the ultra-perky personality, and the constant use of terms like “E-V-O-O” that I could never stand. ---
**Author:** ![Beware\_of\_Doug](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/278dde/32.png) [@Beware\_of\_Doug](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Beware_of_Doug)\ **Post date:** [September 17, 2011, 11:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/time-to-rip-on-the-cooking-programs/596428/42 "2011-09-17T23:43:24Z")
> [@Dewey\_Finn](#): > > Yes, the UK version of Kitchen Nightmares is a whole lot better than the American version. It’s less formulaic and Ramsay’s narration is not as bombastic as the American guy who narrates the American version of the show. Plus he seems to focus on the personality and attitude of the chef, owner and the manager and less on just yelling at people. Americans consider yelling at people to be Taking Charge and Getting Things Done. To the extent that if you take charge and get things done quietly, you are Not Good Television. ---
**Author:** ![IvoryTowerDenizen](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ivorytowerdenizen/32/17937_2.png) [@IvoryTowerDenizen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/IvoryTowerDenizen)\ **Post date:** [September 18, 2011, 12:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/time-to-rip-on-the-cooking-programs/596428/43 "2011-09-18T00:34:23Z")
> [@tdn](#): > > Is Rachael Ray’s 30 Minute Meals still on the air? > > That was the show in which sheprepared an entire meal in just 30 minutes. The ingredients might include 1 cup of _diced_ onion, 2 cloves of _minced_ garlic, 1 whole chicken _cut up and deboned_, 3 apples _peeled and chopped_, and 1 quart milk _freshly milked from a cow named Bessie_. > > I can make gazpacho in 30 _seconds_ if someone does all of that chopping for me. Not to defend all of RR stuff- but I watched it a lot as my daughter really liked it and she really did do all the prep herself. The part that made it go faster than a regular person could do it is that she never had to read a recipe or hunt for an ingredient in her cupboard. That’s what slows me down. ---
**Author:** ![Ferret\_Herder](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/e47774/32.png) [@Ferret\_Herder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ferret_Herder)\ **Post date:** [September 18, 2011, 1:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/time-to-rip-on-the-cooking-programs/596428/44 "2011-09-18T01:54:37Z")
> [@IvoryTowerDenizen](#): > > Not to defend all of RR stuff- but I watched it a lot as my daughter really liked it and she really did do all the prep herself. The part that made it go faster than a regular person could do it is that she never had to read a recipe or hunt for an ingredient in her cupboard. That’s what slows me down. That may be the case on the show these days, but I bought her first two cookbooks and recall a lot of requests for pre-cut and/or packaged foods. It might have been fast, but buying all of that pre-prepped food at the grocery store sure wasn’t economical. ---
**Author:** ![IvoryTowerDenizen](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ivorytowerdenizen/32/17937_2.png) [@IvoryTowerDenizen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/IvoryTowerDenizen)\ **Post date:** [September 18, 2011, 2:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/time-to-rip-on-the-cooking-programs/596428/45 "2011-09-18T02:20:02Z")
> [@Ferret\_Herder](#): > > That may be the case on the show these days, but I bought her first two cookbooks and recall a lot of requests for pre-cut and/or packaged foods. It might have been fast, but buying all of that pre-prepped food at the grocery store sure wasn’t economical. That may be, I don’t have her cookbooks. But I’ve watched the show from early on, and that’s not my memory. ---
**Author:** ![Sitnam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/6a8cbe/32.png) [@Sitnam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sitnam)\ **Post date:** [September 18, 2011, 4:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/time-to-rip-on-the-cooking-programs/596428/46 "2011-09-18T04:20:19Z")
> [@DCnDC](#): > > My main issue with **Chopped** is that several of their rotating judges, particularly Scott Conant, Alexandra Guarnaschelli, Chris Santos and at least another one, possible Geoffrey Zakarian, often have almost impossibly high standards and sometimes very weird ideas about the food they are served, especially considering that the contestants are given a very limited time and ingredients which are intentionally selected and grouped specifically to be discordant. Common complaints are: > > “This pasta isn’t perfect, therefore the entire dish is garbage!” > > “I HATE red onions!” 😕 (that one’s really weird). > > “There’s a tiny piece of eggshell in here!” (or some other petty, minor infraction) > > “I can’t taste any dog shit in here. There was dog shit in the basket, I want to TASTE it!” > > Okay, maybe not that last one, but seriously they need to get the fuck over themselves. The worst complaint is when they nitpick the name the contestant gives to the dish, 'I have had Zweeble before many times, and this is not Zweeble." Who cares. Eat it. Is it good? Though every fucking episode there is one chef who says, “Wow squid, I hate/never had/am allergic too squid. That was the one thing I didn’t want to get.” ---
**Author:** ![Sitnam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/6a8cbe/32.png) [@Sitnam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sitnam)\ **Post date:** [September 18, 2011, 4:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/time-to-rip-on-the-cooking-programs/596428/47 "2011-09-18T04:28:13Z")
> [@YogSosoth](#): > > Scott is always the worst (I think he’s that white guy who looks like a mafia hitman). Seriously, with all the time pressures they are under, if you get a tiny bit of stray hair or something, its not a big fucking deal. Yes, get on them for things like not being able to fully cook the item, but for missing a piece of eggshell or something give them a break. Its not the end of the world. Forget the chefs who rain sweat, it never ceases to amaze me after getting cut how many continue while bleeding on the food. I wouldn’t eat a bite of that dish. ---
**Author:** ![IvoryTowerDenizen](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ivorytowerdenizen/32/17937_2.png) [@IvoryTowerDenizen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/IvoryTowerDenizen)\ **Post date:** [September 18, 2011, 12:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/time-to-rip-on-the-cooking-programs/596428/48 "2011-09-18T12:56:23Z")
> [@Sitnam](#): > > Forget the chefs who rain sweat, it never ceases to amaze me after getting cut how many continue while bleeding on the food. > > I wouldn’t eat a bite of that dish. Yes! Ew ew ew! ---
**Author:** ![zombiebacon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/76d3ee/32.png) [@zombiebacon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/zombiebacon)\ **Post date:** [September 20, 2011, 2:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/time-to-rip-on-the-cooking-programs/596428/49 "2011-09-20T02:09:53Z")
I remember reading on a tv spoiler type website that Hell’s Kitchen is one of the shows where they keep a few incompetent contestants around until just before the end to keep the show interesting. Because apparently a screaming, red faced Gordon Ramsey is the only reason people will watch the show? This is one case where I would believe it because every season an absolute idiot makes it to at least the final four… ---
**Author:** ![VOW](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/vow/32/3043_2.png) [@VOW](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/VOW)\ **Post date:** [September 20, 2011, 8:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/time-to-rip-on-the-cooking-programs/596428/50 "2011-09-20T08:02:28Z")
Stoner Tommy got eliminated, and FINALLY, FINALLY, THANK YOU JESUS, Elise got the cut. She started crying, so Ramsay let her keep her chef coat. On the second half of tonight’s show, where the two finalists compete with team members that were eliminated, I did NOT feel like listening to the cat fighting, so I just left the TV on in the background and played computer games. Once again, the opportunity to shove Elise’s head in a pot of boiling water was allowed to pass… ~VOW ---
**Author:** ![Fear\_Itself](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fear_itself/32/19637_2.png) [@Fear\_Itself](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fear_Itself)\ **Post date:** [September 20, 2011, 11:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/time-to-rip-on-the-cooking-programs/596428/51 "2011-09-20T11:25:00Z")
Every cooking competition must feature one chef with a full sleeve tattoo. It’s in the rules, you can look it up. ---
**Author:** ![StarvingButStrong](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/starvingbutstrong/32/335_2.png) [@StarvingButStrong](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/StarvingButStrong)\ **Post date:** [September 20, 2011, 3:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/time-to-rip-on-the-cooking-programs/596428/52 "2011-09-20T15:15:23Z")
Amazingly enough, Elise was likely the reason Paul won: she was good on apps, then rescued fish, then helped somewhere else… More important than just getting the food out, she gave him the openings to MAKE those executive type decisions AND since she didn’t fight (much, that we saw) it looked like Paul was able to control/use her properly. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/time-to-rip-on-the-cooking-programs/596428.md?page=2)