‘MasterChef Junior’ premiere review: This show will make you feel old and untalented

When we were around twelve years old, we are pretty sure that there are just a few things that we were really capable of cooking: Fish sticks, hot dogs, and cookies. Cookies have always been a thing.

But these kid cooks on “MasterChef Junior” are culinary beasts. They can make fresh pasta, macaroons, tortillas, and a dozen other things that you may not be able to make as a grown adult. The oldest person in this competition is 13, and the youngest is 8. It’s a talented batch of kids, they really found some great ones. The kids are entertaining, and more importantly than that, they are honest. You’re not going to get any lying or playing nice with kids.

Overall, we found the show surprisingly entertaining. The challenges tonight (in which 24 chefs were whittled down into a smaller group for the rest of the competition) were challenged to the point that regular contestants may have struggled, and while we assume that some of these kids may come from families with a heavy cooking background, it really doesn’t matter. Were the judges much nicer and not nearly as vicious? Of course they were, and that’s a good thing given that nobody wants to watch kids sent home in tears for overcooked pasta. The important thing is that the personality was still there; seeing Gordon Ramsay troll an preteen about finding herself a boyfriend on the competition was hysterical, as was another kid telling Joe Bastianich to his face that he didn’t want him to partner with him on a future restaurant. (We wouldn’t have said that to Joe!)

It’s still too early to really sit here and say that we know any of the kids and are rooting for any of them, but 13-year old Alexander seems to be the favorite in terms of skill. He may be a little too confident, but he backed it up tonight. We’ll see if that lasts.

Did you like the “MasterChef Junior” premiere, and are you going to keep watching? Be sure to share your thoughts below!

Photo: Fox