He has to know how to cook to be a good chef…and I watched his show on Food Network and he barely even has any knife skills…he just  dumps stuff into pans and says "Bam!"  I know the other guys are great chefs because I have eaten their food and it is superb.

It was Chicago Chris who did that.  He also served up a corn puree like the one they make at Moto.  The A1 reduction sounds like another technique they do there…they sometimes serve reductions from common flavors.

That's what it's called all right.  But you are right…when it's a celebrity guest judge or Padma, it's pretty clear they are just using whatever culinary terminology Tom throws out to sound more authoritative.

I don't even know if my dog would want to gnaw on some spongy old meat….

It was a TC Master…and that was pretty shocking as well.  It makes no sense that this basic skill is lacking in so many contestants.  Makes you wonder if they put that on the application to ensure that someone screws up on camera.

He's a TV personality with a catchphrase…he is nowhere near the level of a Rick Bayless or Hubert Keller.

She's abrasive and obnoxious, but she knows her way around a kitchen.

It will be interesting to see how the editing changes now that our big villain is gone…could they be setting up Grayson to take Heather's place?

That's it…he's the former fatty current cutie, and that gets him lots of votes.  My guess is that he doesn't make it to the end which is why he pushes so hard for the fan fave so he can win some cash.

That was pretty gross.  It's another example of Malibu Chris' inconsistent performance so far this season.

That's what made it all the more like karmic payback…as much as I was pulling for the reviled Heather, the fact that she as an executive chef was out-cooked by the whimp she loved to harangue had to burn.

Paul has been consistently strong throughout the competition, while fan faves like Malibu Chris and Grayson have wild swings from top one week to the very bottom the next.  My top picks are Paul, Sarah, and Nyesha for a wild card comeback!

Emeril is a hack, so that's not surprising.

That was a nice dig on Heather, I have to admit.  What is it with these so-called top chefs who have not mastered the use of a simple piece of kitchenware like a pressure cooker?  This happens every season!

It did look pretty sloppy, and even with her "This is how we do in Wisconsin, yo" thing, it was still a mess.

Sigh, the way they edited it made it pretty clear that Heather was going home from the get-go, but I am still going to miss her.

That's what I think…you can't just say "Asian flavors" but then not have the knife skills like Hung or the palate of Angelo.

Well, one thing about being a female executive chef is that you tend to be harder on the women in your staff because that is what you experienced.  The up-and-coming young chefs probably are not going to have to deal with as much rampant sexism and general douchebaggery that most male chefs inflict on their female…

I just think she's from a generation of female chefs that had to be ball busters to get anywhere.  And, to be fair, there is only one Top Chef…it's not Top Kitchen Team, so her inability to work well with her fellow competitors is not necessarily indicative of her ability to run a successful restaurant.  Also, she…

I'm for changing up the time limits too, as we see far too many instances of underdone meat as a result.