[Megan] Twelve incredible chefs are about to compete in the ultimate showdown.
By facing off against some of the most iconic snacks ever created.
First, they'll have to crack the code and reconstruct one of these beloved classics.
And then create their own new snack inspired by that beloved classic.
It's a competition where skill and science must be perfectly aligned to succeed.
Come and see how good this looks.
Only one will prevail, claiming a $50,000 grand prize.
-So good. -This feels like a million-dollar idea.
[Megan] This is Snack VS. Chef.
[upbeat music playing]
Welcome, everybody.
-[contestants] Hi! -[Hari] Hello.
I'm Hari Kondabolu.
And I'm Megan Stalter.
We're your hosts. Two snack-food-loving comedians
-who can't wait to chow down. -[laughter]
Please welcome Ali Bouzari and Helen Park, aka the judges.
[applause]
[Bouzari] Hey, guys.
I'm a chef, and I have a PhD in food biochemistry.
So I'm gonna be looking for the ability
to blend science with a bit of chef-y intuition.
I'm a chef with a research and development background.
I bring food concepts and ideas to life
from prototype to huge scale mass production.
You've been brought here to tackle the toughest challenge of your careers.
Snacks.
[Christian] Snacks are simply complex.
It takes a lot of nerd rage delicacy
to put a lot of fun and functionality into that little bite.
[Sandy] Snacks are what brings people together.
And while we're competing over snacks,
we're competing over something that's loved
as a way to bring people together, and I think that's awesome.
Today, you'll be competing in two rounds.
The first round, you'll be showing off your skills by recreating
some of the most beloved, iconic, ridiculously complicated snacks
known to humankind.
Then you'll create your own signature snack
with element of the original.
Whoever impresses our judges the most in both rounds
gets a guaranteed slot in our finals.
-And a grand prize of $50,000. -[Megan giggles]
[all cheering and applauding]
As a food editor, I do research and development.
When it comes to snacks, I know what people reach for.
So I know I can win this competition because I know snacks.
We turn now to our magical vending machine,
who will select the snack and the three contestants competing.
Let's see what the contestants will be cooking up.
[drumroll]
[contestant] Boy, let's do it.
[upbeat music playing]
-[Lauryn] Flamin' Hot. -Flamin' Hot Cheetos.
[all cheering]
[Francis] The Cheeto drops, and I'm thinking, "Please do not choose me."
It's very difficult to get that crunch.
-[crunch] -Mm.
And the powder is not just this spicy cheese powder.
It's got, like, 20 elements to it.
Oh. My tongue is on fire, but, like, in a really fun way.
[laughing]
[Bouzari] Flamin' Hot Cheetos.
You're gonna have to pack a ton of umami and sourness
so that the second I bite down, it's an explosion of aroma.
The other important thing is gonna be getting those corn puffs right.
I want to see you guys conjure up consistent textures
from inconsistent little squiggly bits without them overcooking.
My mouth is on fire, yes.
[laughing]
-Think you're up for the challenge? -[all cheering]
So, who's gonna be competing?
Vending machine, do your thing.
I'm not gonna lie. I'm like, "Please don't be me."
-My heart is racing. -I know.
[cheering]
It's Francis!
[cheering]
Me.
[laughs nervously]
Being picked for Flamin' Hot Cheetos is not the best option,
but I'm here to prove myself.
I want to show all of you that my snacks are king.
[Megan] The second chef competing is...
Ali!
[cheering]
I absolutely love Flamin' Hot Cheetos.
They're spicy, tangy, a bit sour.
And I'm ready to roll.
[Megan] And last but not least.
It's Sandy.
[cheering]
[Sandy] Flamin' Hot Cheetos.
It's like this very specific crunchy little devil
-that no one actually knows how to make. -[crunch]
Except Cheetos.
All right, chefs. This game can be yours
if you can identify the correct ingredients needed
and have the chemical smarts to cook them properly.
You will have one hour for this challenge.
You'll be doing it from right here.
[all cheering]
[Francis] The vending machine slides back and...
[imitates heavenly choir]
It's a kitchen.
All right, snackers. You have one hour starting now.
-Grab your stations! -[horn honking]
[contestants cheering]
[Sandy] The kitchen is huge.
[Ali] There are beakers, pH meters, color and flavor, KitchenAid equipment.
I'm so ready for the challenge.
Hello, hello, hello.
Mm.
Mm. Whoo.
[Megan] The Flamin' Hot Cheeto challenge is a two-parter.
First, our chefs will have to figure out how to make a Cheeto body
by bringing together a corn-based dough
that has enough water to expand in the fryer to give a pleasing crunch
that's not too dense, but not so airy that it gets poofy like a cheese ball.
None of them are the same shape.
They are complex.
The more you eat them, the more the spice kind of builds.
They are crispy.
So, this is gonna be interesting. [chuckles]
[Megan] The second part of the challenge
is to create the signature Flamin' Hot Cheeto powder.
It should be complex.
Cheesy, sour, spicy.
It'll also have to mimic the way Cheetos famously stick to your fingers.
Otherwise known as the Cheetle effect.
[Francis] It's not as easy as it looks.
No going outside the box, creating a new flavor.
You have to recreate perfectly, and you have an hour to do it.
But we're the best of the best, so we got this.
We are snack gods.
[contestants shouting and cheering]
Mm-hmm.
So, judges, what's so hard about this challenge?
[Helen] I think there's two main groups, right?
Did they get the texture and the flavor?
[Bouzari] Job one is gonna be picking your corn source.
There's so many forms of corn.
So whatever the choice, they need to be sure to balance the water content.
If their batter is too wet, they'll run into major issues when they start frying.
You need to have a plan for what the corn is gonna do for you.
Not what you can do for the corn.
If you don't have the dough, you have nowhere to go.
[chuckles]
[upbeat music playing]
All right, the first thing you have to do is get your polenta.
You normally have to cook it, but it's cooked.
I'm using polenta as my base for the Cheeto.
You wanna stick in that corn realm,
and you wanna get that fluffy fried texture afterwards.
So, I'm bringing polenta and everything together
with egg whites, garlic powder, a bit of cayenne in here.
I really want to create this tacky, sticky pipeable dough, basically.
A dough, a batter.
[laughs]
I was born in London.
My mom is Welsh and my whole family's Scottish.
So I feel I encompass the whole of Britain.
[whirring]
Since becoming a baker, I had some amazing things to happen to me.
Zagat called me the Banksy of bakers,
aka the Donut King, aka the Shortbread Saucer.
And now I'm ready to be the Snack Emperor!
I think I forgot something.
All those buggers in the bodega, they have to watch out.
Scottish Francis here. I'm gonna win this challenge.
All right, we're nearly there.
I'm excited.
I'm actually cooking my polenta
because it will enhance the corn flavor of that Cheeto.
It's such a nostalgic snack. It's hot.
I love spicy food, so I'm excited to be trying this out and developing flavors.
I'm a food scientist, so I'm excited to be doing something along these lines.
I am the owner of Umami Food Consulting.
I develop products for Chipotle, McDonald's, Dunkin' Donuts.
I'm bringing my food science background
and flavor development to this competition.
My goal is to get to the finals by not talking too much.
I'm making sure to stay close with my secrets.
Come on. Develop those flavors. Not going to cheat.
I'm making the Cheetos batter.
Just some cornmeal, water, which is polenta.
So it's gonna be really simple.
Ah, there it is.
I finally get that dough-like consistency.
I do like Flamin' Hot Cheetos,
but I think you can over-eat them because you just want to keep eating them.
It's kind of like that Szechuan thing where it's spicy,
but it still numbs your mouth so you can't really tell,
which I think is fascinating.
I've been cooking for 12 years now.
I didn't go to culinary school, so I was self-taught.
I started cooking about four or five weeks before I opened up my first restaurant.
It kind of got really successful real quick, much to my disbelief.
Funny thing is I actually have no sense of smell.
That has always caused me to have very bold flavor combinations.
I tend to make everything intense.
So, I should be good because
I'll have to go make Flamin' Hot Cheetos now.
[laughs]
Hello, Ms. Fun.
-Hey, how are you? -What are you Robot Coupe-ing?
I cooked my own polenta. I didn't use any packaged product.
Amazing, and you're pureeing it just to get the texture smooth.
Yeah, I wanna make sure it's smooth and tacky texture.
So when I fry it, it will combine.
The shape will form.
I wanna make sure you all get the essence of corn.
Um, I'm a scientist, so go with what I know.
Oh.
I accidentally put that egg in there.
-Do you need to pull it out? -Yes.
Being under pressure is a bit tough, but I'm trying to maintain my composure.
It seems you have a plan.
-I do. Thank you. -[Megan] You're doing amazing.
[Ali chuckles]
I dropped the doggone yolk in the doggone batter.
It has to be the egg white.
It'll be fluffy and crispy and have that nice crunch.
This is crazy.
[upbeat music playing]
So, one of the things people love about Cheetos is that weird residue, right?
The Cheetle.
-The Cheetle. -The Cheetle dust.
That's what differentiates it from other generic puff snacks.
As a kid, my whole goal was to see how much buildup I could get.
-Absolutely. -How much I could raise the tension.
I mean, it's basically yummy finger plaque.
-I mean it's... -Plaque.
The Cheetle. All right.
I think a bit of red beet, just for a little color.
Look at the color of those.
Oh my God, right?
First of all, choosing the larger spices that need to be ground down first.
For the heat in my Cheetle dust, I'm gonna go with cayenne pepper.
There are lots of other flavors I need to add, but that is definitely the fire.
It's playing all over your tongue. You got umami, sweet, sour.
There's everything going on.
I keep reminding myself, do not look at the other contestants.
They look like serious competitors.
Ali, cool as a cucumber. I'm kinda worried about her at this point.
Now, Sandy, though, he looks a little all over the place already.
He looks panicked and nervous, but those you have to look out for.
The wild ones.
[Ali] So I began building my flavors.
It has some cheesy notes, some spicy notes.
It's got a bit of kick to it because of the chili powders I like to use.
I'm just developing flavors as I go.
I'll add a bit of ghost pepper because I want a bit more heat to it.
But not too much. I'm just gonna add a tiny pinch,
just so they can feel the heat.
Checking her spice. Oh, lookit. You can see it.
-It looks good. -[Lauryn] Yeah.
I like it.
I like it. [giggles]
Wow. She loves it. She's dancing.
Let's do it.
Thirty minutes left!
You're halfway through your time.
Woo-hoo!
Where we at? 30 minutes?
Thirty minutes.
I'm starting to get a little antsy for them too.
I, um, have a good idea of what gives Cheetos its spiciness.
[in Spanish] Spoon.
I'm gonna put everything I can in the world in there to get it spicy.
-Hi. -Oh, hey.
Hey, hello, hey. How's it going so far?
It's good. I'm making the powder.
How do you get the color right?
-Red? You put red in there? -Yep, Red 40.
What is Red 40?
-I have no idea. It's very bad, though. -[laughing]
The point of this is recreation, so that's what I'll do.
I incorporated a little bit of capsaicin extract.
It's supposed to be super spicy, but numb your mouth at the same time.
Oh.
[Sandy] That's why you keep eating Flamin' Hot Cheetos.
-No! -Bro, don't do it!
-Don't use the hot Scoville stuff. -[contestant] That's too hot.
Oh, he tried it.
[exhaling]
[contestants] Oh, no!
It's too hot!
-[man 1] On fire. -[man 2] Is he okay?
Medic!
[gasps]
Yeah, it's spicy.
Then at the end, it cools off and it gets that numbing sensation.
I'm completely fine with that.
Ah!
I need to get to frying.
All right, to the piping bags.
[upbeat music playing]
Piping them, then I'm gonna kind of just drop them in there.
In a factory, these are being produced with heavy-duty equipment.
So you gotta get crafty to try to mimic
what thousands of pounds of pressure are gonna be doing on a processing line.
I'd be playing with different ways of extruding or squirting things into a fryer
to get the little squiggly crunchy Cheetos.
All right.
-[sizzling] -[Francis hums]
The frying begins.
Kids, don't try this at home.
Guys, 15 more minutes!
Let's go. Don't stop.
No time to stop.
[Sandy] You only have one shot to get this right.
Because having something that looks like the recreation
means you have a good shot at winning, or at least not coming in last.
Stay there. I see you.
Oh, well, my Cheetos are looking more like puffs.
[laughs]
But I'm fine with it.
[popping]
Oh, no!
-No! -No!
He's gonna drop the heat!
All my Cheetos are exploding.
-Yep. -Oh my God.
No! [chuckles]
-[contestant] Oh my God. -Evaporative cooling.
Oh, oh!
[Sandy] All of a sudden, I hear popping and I look up.
[laughs]
There's oil flying everywhere, I'm like, "That's not gonna happen to me."
-[loud pop] -Oh!
Oh my God.
[Ali] Be careful with that. You might wanna cut it down.
[all screaming]
[Ali] Oh, wait.
-That could start an oil fire. -[Sandy] I know. I got it.
-[contestant] Put a splatter guard on it. -[clamoring]
Ali got hit!
-No, I'm not worried about it. -[Ali] Let's finish strong.
-Careful. -I'm annoyed...
What is going on in this kitchen?
Messing up my damn clothes.
Why were they exploding? It was too hot?
If you have too much moisture in your dough,
it will explode more violently than you want.
-[pop] -[clamoring]
[Sandy] Really?
Guys, five minutes left!
[sighs]
[Francis] All right, take two. This time we got the lid on.
They just need to cook a little longer.
-[pop] -Whoop. Here we go. See?
I think it's part of the trick, you know? [giggles]
I'm going to let the explosions happen and just pray to the snack gods
they come out looking like Cheetos.
Ooh!
[Sandy] Just doing the second batch right now.
They puffed out more than I would've liked.
My shapes are looking nice and oblong.
They're giving cheese puffs vibes.
But look, it's gonna be tasty and delicious.
-Girl, Ali's is looking right. -Yeah.
I'm kind of concerned to see how greasy they're gonna be.
-A bit of grease is important. -Little bit of grease for the adherent.
[Bouzari] That almost serves to draw out a little bit of the aroma.
It's priming the pump, so when you bite down on it,
it's perfume.
One minute left!
One minute left, chefs.
[Ali] He's tripping.
Come on, Al. Finish strong.
-If I was coating, I'd do like... -[contestant] Me too.
-Like the Wild Wings. -Buffalo wings.
And, um, I'm dusting them.
That is what you want on your fingers.
[Sandy] Oh, wow.
Why is it not bright?
Well...
It's not exactly the same. Let's see what the judges think.
Thirty seconds.
[Francis moaning]
[all] Ten, nine, eight, seven,
six, five, four, three,
two, one.
-[cheering] -That's time!
-[horn honks] -Whoo!
-Hello, Francis. -Hello, hello.
I don't know if you saw explosions going on.
-We saw. -And heard.
I thought no one noticed at all.
It is polenta-based. I use egg white and a bugger load of cornstarch.
And then the most amazing spice powder ever.
-[Bouzari] Set the bar high. -[giggles]
[Francis] I don't think it's too hot.
It didn't take you to that level of, "Let's blow your palates off."
Mm.
It's super soggy.
[Francis] You got a soggy one.
The texture for me is not crunchy, which is, like, the main draw.
But the flavor is really pleasing.
It is a very tasty powder.
It's deeply umami, deeply spicy.
It feels like a Flamin' Hot Cheeto.
You definitely got the powder all the way around, no bald spots.
When we snap it, it stays in contact, and they are full of flavor.
Thank you very much, Francis.
Thank you so much.
So the goal was to make a Flamin' Hot Cheeto,
and I think I made her cousin.
[laughter]
What's her name?
-Flamicia. -Oh.
[Ali] But I cooked some polenta.
I love the sour notes you get when you bite into a Flamin' Hot Cheeto.
I wanted to capture that.
[Bouzari] I gotta say the color is definitely in the right ballpark.
Instantly, it's got texture of French fry.
-Like, a wet one. -Oh, God.
It isn't snappy, but when you pull it apart,
it does still adhere, and it is still very tacky in the fingers.
[Bouzari] The chili flavor is super complex.
It's very rounded as opposed to being sharp.
But I think this is a weird instance where you could've been more one note.
It might've felt a bit more snacky, just on the pepper front.
-Got it. -Yeah.
-Ali, thank you so much. [giggles] -Thank you.
Hello, welcome to my table.
[Megan] Can you tell us about this Cheeto?
[Sandy] Supposed to be really spicy.
A bit of tanginess, a bit of umami, and at the end,
it's supposed to, like, Szechuan, kind of clean out at the end.
-Kind of tingly numby. -[Sandy] Exactly.
[Bouzari] Obviously, the color is much more purple than red.
I love that you got really good coating.
You're not skimping on any of the seasoning blend you brought in.
The texture is pretty off from a crunchy Cheeto.
The coating is quite thick. It's adhered. Total coverage.
[Bouzari] Talk about the spice blend that you used.
I used chili powder. I used umami powder.
-Capsaicin? -Capsaicin. Yeah.
It jumps on you second it hits your tongue.
What happens over time as you eat each Cheeto,
it's very acidic and spicy and salty.
Where this is just, like, spicy...
for a really long time.
-Hari, how's your mouth doing? -[Hari] Um...
Hey, man. It's spicy.
You made an Indian dude's nose run and, uh, set his mouth on fire.
-So, respect. -Apologies.
That is a food and a weapon.
[laughs]
But I appreciate you. Thank you.
-Thanks, guys. -Thanks, Sandy.
Thank you all so much for your delicious recreations.
I think we've had a humbling experience today.
We need to remember not to underestimate
that something so simple can become so complicated in a short amount of time.
[Hari] Judges, what did you think of these dishes?
For this round...
our winner is Francis.
You had our favorite Flamin' Hot Cheeto.
Oh, yeah!
[all cheering]
Thank you. Oh my God. Yeah.
Francis won and he probably should've won,
but everybody kind of messed up so bad that I still think that
anyone has a shot in this.
-It was the flavor, right? -It was the flavor.
Oh, yeah!
Great work, Francis, but don't get comfortable.
One misstep in the Snack-Off Challenge
could cost you the coveted spot in the finals.
As for the two others, you have some ground to make up, all right?
So, this next challenge you gotta take extremely seriously.
Sandy, don't burn my mouth off again.
Because, ultimately, you'll be judged on the combined performance of both snacks.
[Megan] In this round, you'll have to show us your creativity
by taking an element from the Flamin' Hot Cheeto
and applying it to a brand-new, original creation.
One of the most magical elements of the Flamin' Hot Cheeto
is their finger-sticking residue.
We want you to create your own snack that deliberately leaves behind
a tasty residue that's either on your fingers or somewhere else.
[chuckles]
[Hari] You will have a two-hour limit for this challenge.
-Godspeed. -Let's go.
[upbeat music playing]
[contestants cheering]
[Francis] The Snack-Off Challenge, this is the time to show off my skills.
Flavor profile, look, taste,
all the things I've learned in 41 years into this snack.
[Megan] What is the most challenging part about this?
I think it's easy to make something that leaves residue on your fingers.
-Right. -But it's gotta be a snack.
-Can't just make you dirty. -Right.
It has to be stable and able to be shipped around the world,
in addition to having the artful one and done on your fingers.
So, hopefully somewhere in this group of talented chefs
is somebody who's gonna bring us an inspirational blueprint
for the next massive, bajillion-dollar snack idea.
[Ali] We're gonna cut some mango and some canned lychee.
As a food scientist, products take a long time to develop.
They take six to eight months sometimes.
So, creating something in two hours is quite the challenge.
So, I'm making a Cultu-Roll.
It's gonna be flavors from the islands, flavors from Morocco.
Think of a Fruit Roll-Up. I want to create a jelly-like candy
that you can unroll and roll and play with
and that sticky coating that sticks on your fingers.
It's remembering that childlike fun that you had
and bringing it to life again.
I love fruit.
My mom, uh, tricked me growing up.
She always called dessert "fruit." Anytime we'd have dessert, it was fruit.
Fruit Roll-Ups are accessible. Cultu-Roll-Ups should be too.
Winning round one, the pressure is on. [chuckles]
I used to make a croissant donut.
The little holes, which I called the extra bollocks,
it was the scrap left over.
I'd fry those up and turn them into cinnamon, croissant, Cheeto-type things.
So, I'm gonna do a spicy croissant Cheeto called...
Scorcheez.
For my sticky residue, I'm doing Cheetle 2.0.
I'll add these new spices
and bring in the smokiness of powdered chipotle.
I got some lime salt in there, a little bit more umami,
and I can apply it to croissant cheese puffs.
It's like a scorching, cheesy croissant. Scorcheez.
About eight years ago, I found my love and passion for donuts.
I became the Donut King. So, it's go to the roots.
Let's make something magical and fantastical.
This is where I'm gonna shine.
Psych.
Someone said this to me. Their favorite thing to snack on was,
like, a cracker, a pickle, and, like, some cheese.
A small slice of cheese.
I'm trying to recreate that, but all in one.
Ugh.
So, the snack I'm gonna create is What A Pickle.
What A Pickle.
Basically, I'll make a cracker, and it'll be in the shape of a pickle.
I'll put ridges in them, so it looks like a pickle.
Bake it up. Then I'm gonna coat it in a pickle-cheese coating.
It's gonna be pickle, pickle, pickle. I wanna shove pickle down your throat.
Oh, man.
[dynamic music playing]
[whirring]
While two hours isn't a ton of time,
it's enough time to pick your shots and make them.
Okay.
You need to consider these details.
The details will be the difference between good and great.
[Bouzari] But pick something and take it to the extreme.
Make something super sour, super crispy, super chewy, super moist.
Whatever it's gonna be,
the beauty of a good snack is it leaves you with one or two notes
and bludgeons you with them.
It's a punk song. A great punk song.
-Three chords in and out. -Yeah.
[Francis] I'm making a laminated dough.
Laminating is encompassing the butter and then creating these layers.
So, laminated dough takes a long time to make.
You wanna leave it overnight and let butters, salt, and flavor come together.
I'll do it in two hours. I can do it. It'll be amazing.
Scorcheez is gonna be the new snack.
-[contestant 1] Everyone's in good shape. -[contestant 2] I think so too.
[Sandy] I'm making green. It's gonna go into the dough.
We're gonna have white cheddar, yellow cheddar,
Parmesan cheese and butter.
My dish is called What A Pickle.
I thought it was more fun to have a green cracker.
This is very nostalgic in a way.
I feel all snacks should be nostalgic. That's what they're built on.
A lot of people, family having family dinners,
that's their knowledge of food.
But for me growing up, that was the bodega snack shop.
You run to the bodega and you have $1.75. You come out with seven different things.
Most crackers are pretty uniform, you know.
I feel like it's kinda fun to do, like, a new thing.
Okay.
So, I'm adding a bit more gellan gum as my thickener.
It's gonna help thicken up this puree.
Winning $50,000 will be incredible.
I'd love to expand my kids' program, Food Science For Kids,
or even take my husband on vacation.
I'm definitely a competitive person, so may the best snack-a-teer win.
[upbeat music playing]
[Megan] Let's talk about Ali's dish.
I'm excited because it smells really good, it's very pretty,
but I'm worried about time a little bit.
-I'm very worried for her. -Yeah.
[Bouzari] Fruit has so much water in it.
-So much water. -[Bouzari] Fruit is mostly water.
So, with fresh fruit, you start out, water's up here, solid stuff is down here.
Something like a fruit leather, you need to completely invert that ratio.
That means you have to pull water out little by little in a dehydrator.
I don't know if that's gonna happen in two hours.
This is so crazy.
I have the dough calming down in the oven.
And now I'm putting my cheese mix 2.0 together.
I want to perfect it from the first round. I want to take it to the next level.
Chipotle.
I'll double the white vinegar powder this time.
[coughing]
Okay.
Wow. It's spicier. It's in the air. [coughs]
[continues coughing]
Spices.
-You got spice in your face? -Spice is in the air.
You only have one hour left, guys.
Oh, God.
[Sandy] This would be so much easier in, like, a factory production.
It'd be like "Brrr." [chuckles]
-Those look cool. -What'd he make, shortbread?
Green cookies?
[Sandy] So, the ridges have a dual purpose of punching home that,
"Hey, this is a pickle."
And also it will help kind of gather more of the seasoning onto this pickle cracker.
Jeez.
It's... Made it.
Oh, I melted it.
Melted it. Okay. That was not the move.
Aw.
That cannot feel good.
So, the dehydrator actually didn't work.
It didn't set. So, this is a major problem.
I'm a little nervous about Ali. She seems a little...
-It may come down to the wire. -Gotta wait it out.
[Ali] My scientific brain is calculating where I went wrong.
I realize that, you know what? The gellan gum didn't set up.
The carrageenan didn't quite work. My proportions were way off.
Gels, man.
Gels.
[laughs]
[Ali] Just want to try one other thing.
Pure gelatin is gonna help it set up a whole lot faster and refrigerate it.
Then I'll have something that's not runny.
I'm hoping this will set up in the blast freezer in enough time
to present to the judges.
But this is my last resort.
Oh, Lord. Please let this work.
I just need these rolls to set. [laughs] I just need these rolls to set.
Thirty minutes left!
[Hari] I am very hungry!
Please hurry up!
Oh my gosh. I'm nervous for them.
I know.
[breathing heavily]
[Sandy] Here we go. You're crazy.
At this point, you have to say
my biggest competition is Francis because he won the first round.
These guys gotta cool.
But I think I'm doing well. I think I got this.
I bloody well did it. I made laminating dough I can use.
But they look great. I see all the little layers.
On the first challenge, I nearly didn't have enough
because of my fryer accident, so I wanna make extra ones this time.
I'm sweating watching Ali.
I'm just pinching it down to the wire here.
[sighs]
I think I'm most nervous about the execution of, like,
the dust that will coat on the fingers. It's the most important thing.
It's gonna be dill season,
a little bit of white cheese powder, vinegar powder, garlic powder.
My goal is to make it, like, very punchy.
[coughing]
[Sandy] Right now, you're getting overwhelmed with the dill.
I wanna get a more balanced flavor.
I don't want it to be dill bomb and nothing else.
I think that it's tasting right on.
I think.
Once I get it on a cracker, then I'll know for sure.
[Francis] Now, I'm frying my Scorcheez. And they're looking good.
I'm moving them around because they all wanna float.
I wanna keep tossing them around to get an even crisp.
Everything is going perfectly, I have to say.
[contestant] Francis still looks like he is straight chillin'.
-He is. He's almost done. -He came in with a super game plan.
Everything's going according to what he wanted.
[Francis] I'm really on a good path here.
If I win both challenges, are you kidding me?
Then I got this in the bag.
Five minutes left.
[rushing rock music plays]
[Ali] Time is winding down, and I just need these to set.
[Francis] I'm really happy about the fry. They've come out super crispy.
You really smell that chipotle. The smoked chipotle. It's so great.
One minute, everybody.
One minute!
Oh, well.
Residue.
[Ali] So, this is not what I envisioned.
Hopefully, it'll be enough to pass as a sticky-finger snack.
I'm absolutely happy with this.
If this doesn't take me to the final, I am buggered.
[contestant] Okay, guys. Finish strong.
Guys, let's go.
[Francis] Hmm.
Time's up, guys.
Put your big spoons down.
[applause]
All right, everybody. It's time to serve us your snacks.
Meet us at the Checkout Line of Judgment.
Thank you.
-Hey. -[Ali] How you doing?
So, this is the Cultu-Roll.
It encompasses three flavors from three different cultures.
Mango lychee, raspberry strawberry basil, and the orange cinnamon.
As a food scientist, I love to say I play with food.
So you play with your food today.
[Megan] Well, let's dig in.
[Bouzari] Residue.
-It happened. -[Helen] Yeah.
She resi-did-it.
[chuckling]
What did you use for your gelling agent?
[Ali] I used gellan gum.
It didn't set up quickly enough within the timeframe,
so I added a bit of gelatin.
-So, a trifecta of gelling agents. -[Ali] Yes.
[Bouzari] Gelling is tough because
some of those different ingredients can interfere with each other.
Yeah.
Block each other from doing their job.
So, it might have been that sticking with one
might have helped deliver more gel strength.
But I think it retained the fruit flavor that we could smell going on.
But I will say, mine is kind of all residue.
So, we definitely got the sticky fingers part.
Yeah.
-It's all Cheetle. -Oh, that works.
[chuckling]
-Ali, thank you so much. -Thank you.
Sandy, tell us what you made.
Today I have a What A Pickle.
It's like a pickle cheese cracker.
And then the powder, I put dill seasoning.
-[Bouzari] I just want you to know... -Yeah.
-That... -[crunch]
That makes me so happy.
[laughs]
I have wanted crunchy for hours.
-Thank you. -[laughs] Yeah.
[Bouzari] There's pickle juice in the cracker dough.
-And there's pickle powder on the outside? -Mm-hmm.
You doubled down on the flavor. I like it.
You definitely have the coverage down, right?
We know you can cover a snack with some flavorings.
Definitely.
It's a bit much powder for me.
I want more.
[Helen] You know, it smells so pickle-y.
It actually doesn't taste as sour as it smells.
[Bouzari] It's balanced, there's a lot of umami in there, a lot of savoriness.
You're gonna hate me for this, by the way. Kind of wished it was a little spicy.
Oh my God.
[laughs]
-Thank you so much, Sandy. -[Sandy] Thank you.
I appreciate it, guys.
Hello, judges and the two funny ones.
[laughing]
He means us.
-[laughing] -Thank you.
I present to you Scorcheez. It's gotta have a little Scottish twang.
Basically, I took the center of a cronut.
It's a popped out piece of croissant dough.
I fried them so they're nice and crispy,
and then coated them in a gorgeous powder.
I wanted to improve on my cheese powder.
So, I perfected it and I added a little glitz.
Love the flavor.
It is leaps and bounds better in terms of Flamin' Hot Cheetos flavor.
This is finally the cheesy, chili, umami sourness I was looking for all day.
I agree. I really like the sharp acidity now. Definitely.
And this is organized, intentional, fantastical mess.
-Yes. -I have a lot of soggy pieces.
Oh, you do?
[Bouzari] There's a 50-50 split.
The big fat ones are a little doughy and soggy.
I just wish it wasn't so staining.
You have yellow teeth. I'm sorry.
So do you.
-Oh. [laughs] -[Helen] You've yellowed us.
Thank you so much.
Thank you.
[Hari] All right, chefs. The judges have made a decision
based on your performances in both rounds.
[Sandy] I know I did a lot better in the second round,
but how well are they gonna weigh that against how poorly I did with the Cheetos?
Let's turn to the vending machine
who will be kind enough to tell us who the judges declared winner.
Winning first challenge, you're on a high.
After hearing the judges for my second challenge,
it's a little worrying, but I absolutely stand by my snack.
I have to pray that that will take me through.
Overall, the flavors were there.
I was really proud of how my Cultu-Roll was presented.
[suspenseful music playing]
Sandy.
-I'm gonna cry. [laughs] -[applause]
Congrats, Sandy. I'll be honest.
We all doubted you a bit after the assassination attempt
with the Cheetos on me.
But you turned it around with those pickle chips.
Great execution. Really nice job. Thank you.
Nice job.
You just earned your place in the finals,
and you're in the running for the ultimate prize, $50,000.
[Megan] Good job, guys.
[Sandy] I'm the first person to advance. Everybody else is so stressed out,
and I can just chill and eat snacks all day.
[Hari] All right, snackers. Great work today.
But if you thought the Flamin' Hot Cheeto was a tough crisp to crunch,
just wait till you see what's coming up next.
Vending machine, let's go.
[drumroll]
It's Pringles!
[all cheering]
My stomach literally flips over when I see the Pringles come down
because they're so hard to make.
Only three will get a chance to impress us with your Pringle-making skills.
I don't know what to expect. Is it going to be me? I'm terrified.
Let's see who it's gonna be.
[suspenseful music builds]
[closing theme music playing]