Judges continue to lash contestants for ‘food wastage’, so what happens to the leftovers?

MasterChef judges and viewers have seemingly been left confused by one aspect of the competition – but behind the scenes tells a different story.

MasterChef fans will notice a running theme on the show this week.

Twice in the competition in this week alone, contestants have been pulled up for food wastage, with judges Jock Zonfrillo and Andy Allen making it clear it’s one of their pet hates in the kitchen.

During Monday’s Deliveroo challenge, the Orange team copped flack for failing to use their entire duck in their initial menu plan, pulling off the legs and tossing aside the rest.

“Just the marylands? That seems like madness,” Andy said, with Jock nodding in agreeance.

Similarly, in a clip provided ahead of tonight’s Mystery Box challenge, Jock is seen scolding Elise for wanting to use a cut of lamb purely for a “sauce”.

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MasterChef contestant Elise admits tonight that she’s ‘struggling’ with what to do with her lamb.

“I’m cooking king george whiting, cauliflower, celery, lamb sauce,” she says.

“Lamb sauce?” Jock asks. “Can’t this beautiful lamb fillet, lamb backstrap make it on there?”

“I think it makes sense to use the lamb in the context of a sauce … I’m struggling with how to use the flesh with the king george whiting flesh,” Elise responds.

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Jock seems less than impressed with the ‘lamb sauce’ idea.

When pressed on the decision, she says: “It really pains me to waste that beautiful cut of meat” to which Jock replies, “Don’t do it then.”

Whether she changes her plan in tonight’s episode remains to be seen, but it does raise the question of what happens to the food not used in challenges.

It’s an issue fans of the show have pointed out in the past.

On last year’s Back to Win season, when contestant Tessa Boersma set down her steak dish during one episode, viewers were quick to point out that a sizeable chunk of her tomahawk seemed to be missing in action despite the Kiwi chef cooking the entire cut.

Did Tessa shove the other 3/4s of the steak in her handbag for her dog?#MasterchefAU

— Nez (@fraggle73) June 16, 2020

So Tessa got two giant pieces of meat but presents only a tiny slice...what happens with the rest? I get that all this produce looks beautiful but what happens to all of it after they’re done shooting? #MasterChefAUpic.twitter.com/kswBEovyqc

— ak (@alinak13696961) June 16, 2020

Wait...that ribeye steak Tessa was cooking was huge #MasterChefAUpic.twitter.com/SYbT9fvXJN

— Michelle 🐿💨 (@MichelleMackey1) June 16, 2020

While many expressed concern over the wasted meat, fellow contestant Laura Sharrad later clarified to news.com.au the MasterChef team is committed to ensuring every morsel of food from the kitchen is either eaten or used elsewhere.

“Nothing is ever wasted,” Laura explained.

“Most of it is donated to food charity SecondBite.

“Some of the unwanted produce ends up in the garden’s compost. It’s so amazing to see all the split bin systems also in place to make sure everything is getting disposed of properly,” she said.

MasterChef Australia airs tonight from 7.30 on Channel 10