The second series of the Australian cookery game show MasterChef Australia premiered on 19 April 2010 on Network Ten, concluding on 25 July 2010 when Adam Liaw was named the winner.
Instead, in Series 2, a successful contestant will now receive an 'Immunity Pin', which they could use at any time during the competition to save themselves from elimination except in finals week.
This was done to allow Mehigan to act as a facilitator in the kitchen during the challenge (this was ex-host Sarah Wilson's role in Series 1).
[3] During the time in which he was injured, Matt Moran acted as a fill-in judge starting from Celebrity Chef Challenge 6 and continuing until Mehigan returned during Week 8.
Celebrity Cooks who have appeared include Jamie Oliver, Heston Blumenthal, Martin Blunos and Brett Graham.
The full group of 24 were revealed on Sunday, 25 April: Future appearances Many of the guest chefs returned for the announcement of the winner.
Sakai was invited to "do the honors" of beginning the challenge, and he borrowed Takeshi Kaga's famous exhortation of "Allez cuisine!"
Sakai mainly spoke through an interpreter, though Adam (visibly and admittedly starstruck, having been born in Japan and having watched Iron Chef) was able to converse using his "rusty" Japanese.
The Blue Team was praised for Adam's brilliant Scotch Egg invention but underwhelmed with the rest of their menu.
The Red Team's dishes were, on the whole, more impressive (Courtney's Chilli Mud Crab had Iron Chef Sakai literally wanting more) but were criticised for not being as inventive.
Jimmy's Tarka and Garlic Butter Dhals were criticised for being under-flavoured, and his Onion Rings were deemed not up to competition standard.
His dessert, a Lemon and Ginger Brulee Tart was a standout dish for each judge; Shannon praising both presentation and taste.
Adam's complex dishes: Oeufs Mollè with Soubise, Gorgonzola Gratin and Tuile, and Candied Tomatoes in Muscat Sauce with Ginger and Salt Granita, proved to be too complicated, and while the judges admired his ambition, he overdid it ending up with unbalanced flavours.
More importantly, Courtney failed to demonstrate the level of skills expected at this stage of the competition when compared with Claire according to the judges.
Claire was the first to present her dishes and the concept of her book which she named 'From the Hearth,' full of gutsy, honest and timeless food.
While the judges loved the Roast Beef from Claire's main course, they were disappointed with the Red Wine Sauce, calling it "vegemite-y."
However, the judges didn't like his dessert, Chinese Churros with Salted Duck Egg Custard, citing that it did not appeal to the Western palate.
Adam chose the entree: a Tartlet of two Trout, Roast Tomato and Watercress, leaving Callum with the dessert: Chocolate Fondant with Blood Orange Jelly, Tuile and Honey Anglais.
Claire struggled from the word go, realising quickly the dish she had chosen had a huge amount of prep work; indeed preparing the Lamb Cutlets took up most of her time.
The judges were overall impressed with the dish, but noted that little things detracted from it as a whole: mismatched chops, crusty polenta, a lack of stickiness to the shallots.
The judges were impressed with the level of skill shown by Callum in the kitchen to produce all the elements on the plate, however they found that not all the fondants had the "goo factor."
Round 1 was a Basic Skills Test where contestants had to name ingredients and complete cooking challenges represented by six cloches.
Under the first cloche were three different spices that had to be named: turmeric, fennel seeds and Sichuan pepper, which Adam and Callum identified correctly.
Although at the beginning of the Pressure Test, Callum was multiple steps ahead of Adam, he found problems with his batch of meringue which meant he had to redo them.
Adam also found difficulties with the dish, in particular whilst trying to mould the maltose disc on top of the meringue using a kitchen torch, he cracked a few.