MasterChef Junior is “Jalapeno Business” with the young chefs going from poppers to crab

The eighth episode of MasterChef Junior Season 8 was all about jalapenos and crab, as our young chefs started off with a jalapeno popper team challenge before transitioning to an individual crab challenge. And with the field of contests dwindling down, it is clear that everyone had to be on their game!

Unfortunately, while some teams worked really well together, there was definitely some drama in the kitchen as the red team could never figure out how to work together. But even with the drama of some chefs being unable to work together, MasterChef Junior was all about creating delicious dishes all around in “Jalapeno Business.”

With nine chefs left, it is getting harder for any of these young chefs to hide and skate by. And while we might think it would be easy to whip up jalapeno poppers (the stuffing to the breading and then the frying), it was less than a breeze for one team, while the yellow team found themselves winning the team challenge with 19 perfect poppers, sending them to the balcony. This meant that just six chefs were up for elimination.

MasterChef Junior gave the chefs the challenge of cooking crab as their elimination challenge

And it was definitely interesting to watch these chefs handling live crabs. While Cruz did not seem to have an issue handling the crabs (even going so far as to help some of the girls get their crabs off the cutting boards), other chefs were just not having it. In fact, when Gordon Ramsay walked around to talk to the chefs, Ciara straight up told the chef that she would not be tasting her dish. While he was worried about her possibly being allergic, it seems the chef was just not interested in giving this ingredient a try, blaming it on the texture.

And while A’dan struggled with his dish, even getting called out by Aaron for “phoning it in,” Molly was another chef who struggled in the kitchen. In fact, it was once again an issue where chefs just could not live up their potential.

Ultimately, it was Ciara who fell short after she refused to taste her own food and ended up serving a dish that all of the judges seemed unhappy with.

We love watching these young chefs creating so many amazing dishes, but this was definitely a case of failed team work and an inability to bring a fresh approach and lots of flavor to the crabs (at least for three of our chefs).

What did you think of the latest episode of MasterChef Junior? Are you surprised by what went down in this episode? Do you think the right chef went home?