MasterChef Australia

The top 50 began with a barbecue challenge, with the freedom to cook whatever they wanted. The 10 worst performers were sent into a pavlova pressure test led by Donna Hay. The 5 contestants who produced the worst pavlovas were eliminated from the competition.

The remaining contestants were asked to prepare their signature dish. In a first for MasterChef Australia the contestants did the judging, with the men voting for their favourite dish from the women, and vice versa. The top 7 vote-getters (4 women, 3 men) were then put into a beef wellington pressure test, with the best man and woman progressing directly to the top 24.

The 10 contestants who performed worst in Tuesday's signature dish challenge were split into 5 groups of 2 and given 7 hours to drive out to local farms, collect fresh produce, and return to the MasterChef kitchen to prepare a main and a dessert. One contestant, Andrea, found the challenge difficult, and realised that MasterChef was not for her.

With 10 spots in the Top 24 on the line, the remaining contestants competed in a mise en place challenge. The challenge had 4 stages, with the worst performers in each stage removed by Gary and George. The first stage involved separating egg yolks and whites. The second asked the contestants to julienne carrots. In the third, the first contestants had to shuck 12 oysters satisfactorily.

The six contestants who won Top 24 spots cooking against Matt Moran are treated to a Masterclass with him in ARIA's kitchen. Matt shows them how to make seafood canapés.

After a mystery box challenge, 4 contestants will be through to the Top 24, and 4 will be sent home. The contestants cook a Neil Perry fish dish in a pressure test and Neil also judges the dishes.

The Top 24 arrived at the MasterChef house and then headed to the MasterChef kitchen. The contestants had 90 minutes to create a dish that was a childhood memory for them. The winner will now cook off against a celebrity chef and if they win, will be given an immunity prize, which can be used to escape an elimination.

Chef Challenge - Luke Nguyen

The off site team challenge, to take over the running of two Italian restaurants, saw the Red Team conquer despite having a simpler menu. From the Blue Team, Jonathan and Devon were selected by the judges as the two worst performers and were up for elimination.

As the Red Team enjoyed their reward: lunch and a mini MasterClass with Luke Mangan, Jonathan and Devon faced off in the Elimination Challenge; a best of three challenges with the theme: eggs. Jonathan won the first round; to correctly name different birds' eggs. The next round Jonathan and Devon raced to be the first to beat egg whites to stiff peaks.

The judges share their own food memories in this week's MasterClass. A good old English Sunday Roast was Gary's dish of the day while George cooked up lasagne with a twist.

Japanese theme. The Mystery Box challenge saw the contestants making the "perfect burger", with only five selected to taste by the judges. Marion won the challenge and picked tuna as the core ingredient for the Invention Test. With a Japanese theme, Adam was favourite to win the challenge but it was Callum who triumphed.

Carrie, Kate and Fiona faced off in the Pressure Test after cooking the three least impressive dishes in the Invention Test. They were asked to replicate a chicken dish from chef Peter Gilmore. Fiona had a slow start but she finished strongly and cooked the chicken perfectly but her dish lacked detail.

Chef Challenge - Philippa Sibley: This dessert is no piece of cake.

In an unprecedented twist, Callum as winner of the weeks Invention Test was granted the power to pick his entire team first. The off site challenge was to put on a children's birthday party for 150 people, who would vote for their favourite dish.

As the Blue Team enjoyed their reward at Sails on Lavender Bay with Nathan Darling, Jonathan and Adele faced off in a "fix the dish" challenge. They had to fix a poorly made dish (a bolognese sauce) in ten steps, each step adding their choice of a range of ingredients.

Shaun Presland shows how simple Japanese is.

Indian theme. The Mystery Box challenge saw the contestants choosing between a main and a dessert, with Skye's Crispy Duck winning her the challenge and picking goat as key ingredient in the Invention Test. Jimmy was the favourite to win but in the end it was Jonathan whose invention impressed the judges the most.

Dominic, Joanne and Matthew faced off in the Pressure Test; to make a black forest cake. Joanne was able to put off a shaky start and finish strongly, leaving the judges to pick the least impressive of the two men. Dominic's cake only had three layers instead of the five in the recipe, while Matthew left a cherry pit in his cake.

Chef Challenge - Justin North.

The two teams were tasked with preparing a Classic French 3-course meal for Matt Preston, Tetsuya Wakuda and Guillaume Brahimi. Michel Roux mentored the Red Team, Tony Bilson mentored the Blue Team.

While the Blue Team enjoyed their lunch with Giovanni Pilu, the Red Team faced off in a two-round Elimination challenge. The first challenge was to make a traditional Genovese Pesto completely by hand in ten minutes, from which, only Marion's was of an acceptable quality, with Sharnee, Courtney and Daniel as the worst of the rest.

The judges serve up duck two ways and invite guest chef Kumar Mahadevan to cook a spicy prawn curry. Justin North also helps the contestants make crackling pork.

"Around the world" theme. The Mystery Box challenge saw the contestants tackle a complex range of ingredients and a time of just 25 minutes. Peter took out the challenge and was given a significant advantage in the Invention Test, which for the first time would see the contestants competing in trios.