Recipe-less Cooking Challenge | Choux Pastry | Sorted Food 

Wednesday: Mike the Hero Sunday: Mike the clown

Eric Lanlard is crying somewhere in the distance

90% of the time Mike is the most chefy “Normal” Today is that remaining 10%

You should do a video where the chefs write a recipe but it has false steps and the normals need to follow the recipe and figure out which steps are false and we can see how badly they mess it up

This is the most competent we've ever seen Barry yet probably the most dysfunctional performance from Mike in a long time.

Loving how proud James was of Barry there.

Yall done Mike so dirty with the close up shot of his eclair 😭😭😂😂

I can tell Mike edited the sound for his “sexys” Poor Mike. But, if the Choux fits...

The music Mike's pastries got 🤣

whoever did the editing, especially on the reveal of what barry and mike have done, major props!! it is amazing

"So I'm trying something different." -- Barry Taylor. Music to my ears. Go, Barry!

My stomach isn’t prepared for the laughter ahead

I feel the need to defend Mike here, even from himself, because I thought he was way too hard on himself. For the sake of 'source', I'll add that I was a chef for about 20 years (Culinary school, worked in lots of restaurants/hotels and studied lots of different styles) and am now retired from the restaurant game (IT pays MUCH better and we get to work in the AC. :D ). Anyway, an important point that people need to remember is that Cooking is about RECIPES and Baking is about FORMULAS. What I mean by that is this...with a recipe, all you need is to remember the basics - main ingredients, cooking methods, complimentary/contrasting flavor profiles, etc. After that, you have room to improvise and adapt. So long as you've got your fundamentals down (and ALL THREE of the Normals have their fundamentals rock solid at this point - I would have cheerfully hired any of the three as an under-chef in any kitchen I ran), then you can mix things up, change flavor combos, change cooking styles, de-construct, re-construct, and generally make the dish your own. IMO All three of the Normals do this very well...in fact, I think Mike is the best of the three at it. He really knows flavor profiles, cooking techniques, and is, overall, the best of the three when it comes to general 'Chef-iness'. Barry is more experimental...his 'go big or go home' style means that he's either going to knock it out of the park (like today) or he's going to go down in flames, but it's always going to be an awesome ride. Jamie has solid fundamentals, really has a solid grasp on what flavors pair well, isn't afraid to go *too* far out of the box, and consistently delivers solid dishes. All that said, Baking is a whole other animal. Baking is all about chemistry. Specific amounts of specific ingredients, combined and cooked a specific way. Yes, you can certainly experiment with baking, but you dont experiment with the *basic fundamentals* of your baked item recipe...something like Choux pastry being a prime example. Mike messed up the absolute basics of his Choux pastry, and after that, no amount of 'fixing' after that fact was going to save things. He should have just scrapped it and started from scratch. There's a REASON recipes are so critical when baking. Unless it's something you literally make multiple times a day, or are a pastry chef who's job it is to memorize these things, having a recipe for baked goods doesn't diminish your skill as a chef, nor does it make you 'less smart about these things'. Hell, some of the best pastry chefs I know use recipes for EVERYTHING, even if they literally do make them hundreds of times per day, because a single mistake at the fundamental level WILL screw up your baked good. Anyway, that's my two cents, FWIW. I thought Mike was WAY too hard on himself. The guys busting on him was fun, simply because that's what good friends do to one another, but I felt really bad for Mike because he seemed genuinely depressed and it felt like he truly lost some confidence in himself/his skills. @Mike, you are an AWESOME (Normal)Chef, and I would be proud to cook beside you (or any of the other Sorted lads) any day!

I was thinking about why Barry doesn’t do Dad Joke of the Week. Now I know why.

Everyone always gives Barry a hard time, but he has the best ambition out of the Normals.

All these years of laughing at Barry and now look, he's the most capable normal out of the three. He was biding his time, listening and learning. Evil genius

They should incorporate these wins into the brownie point leader board

The winner should get to wear a chef’s jacket for a bit

Basically. I feel this video was me watching Mike have a complete mental breakdown and go from one disastrous decision to another disastrous decision, resulting in a complete and utter unmitigated disaster. How could Mike be so bad at this! After 10 Years! 😂😂😂😂

I was actually just wondering if we can still call them "normals" I got my answer

The true dad joke of the week: Philip Flop 😂

"I was always taught to be quiet when I have nothing nice to say!" - you might have been taught that James, but it obviously didn't stick :P

I'd just love to see Eric Lanlard react to this

Two years later and Mike still forgot to put the piping tip in first 🤦‍♀️

Substitute Dad Joke of the week: What is an octopus with arthritis? Answer: A Kraken.

6:39 Mike probably wishing he could disappear in that cloud of smoke.

Y'all should invent a hob that automatically turns off automatically when there isn't a pot/pan on it.

If Barry starts turning the hob off it will feel like something is missing in your videos.

The amount of panic when they doesn’t show Mike getting the second tray of white chocolate out of the oven

Barry’s “I think that was funny” was the part that made me laugh😂

Barry's plating skills are so amazing it's ridiculous

Mike's looked like those finger biscuits you serve during Halloween.

Interesting recipe challenge idea: Give normals a cookbok they haven't seen before, lead them to believe they will be reviewing it. After ~10 tell them it's actually a recipe battle, and they have ~5min to pick a recipe from the book and write some notes before taking the book away. Give the normals 3-5 post-its to discourage copying the whole recipe. Have normals switch notes with each other. Normals cook recipe with the notes provided, and chefs judge them.

Poor Mike has not had the greatest track record with choux... the sweet pastry battle, Eric Lanlard, the electric shock challenge, and now this.

Mike probably hates this video but it never fails to make me smile

How “smart” Barry has become? Quick Barry! How many minutes in 150 seconds?!

Things Barry has not learned: to turn the hob off when you do not need it anymore

13:08 just look at James. He's so proud of himself 😁

I forget the last time we saw Mike panic so hard that he lost his sense of humor.

I love Ben trying to be nice about the eclairs.... “they’re all about the same size” as a good thing omg

I love Mike ! From Mike the "Chef Lanlard" note-taking hardworking student to this. Also HOW COULD YOU FORGET THE NOZZLE AGAIN ? I really waited for the "hands covered in filling" footage.

Within the first few minutes I was already yelling at my phone... Then it got worse. What a Trainwreck. I love it.

You kinda knew where this was going when mike started with milk...

I have never loved Mike more than when I saw his face after opening the oven to a plume of smoke!

This is the British Baking Show we all wanted 😂

The cooking in this video may have been diasterious but the editing and music choices were really on point! Had me rolling with laughter and got me how James was like a proud Dad when Barry did so well and Ben was like that teacher that reaches really far for that first positive note....

I spat porridge all over my laptop when you cut the the "sexies" for "A ******* Disaster" - that music change was flipping genius!

I would love to see Ben do the Bon Appetite challenge: he doesn't get told what the dish is and he is blindfolded. He has to replicate a dish purely by smell and touch.

Probably the funniest episode you've made in ages..... Ben explaining the sour cream was class 😂😂😂

12:00 Mike learning from his experience is really special! Well done. And Barry with Tiramisu filling, Yummy!!!

The shot of Mike's eclairs in the sexies is the second most funniest after Jamie's lava cake imo 😂😂😂

Ha! Surprised Mike didn't shove his hand again into the bag to place that nozzle 9:28 😂😂

Jamie needs to do this challenge just so we can see what kind of trainwreck it would turn out to be. LOL

Lemon juice and cream - what could go wrong? 🤷🏼‍♀️

Love the friendship and honesty of the guys... And of course James' good manners 😂😂

OH BARRY I'M SO PROUD LOOK AT YOU!!! This outcome was quite unexpected honestly, but a welcome surprise for sure!

I haven't left a comment on RU-vid in years, but I just want to say this channel is genuinely fantastic! I found your RU-vid channel a few days ago and have been binge watching your videos ever since, I seriously love the funny, entertaining and unique content you guys are making, the 'pass-it-on' videos are my favourite. Keep up the great work guys! I can't ring that bell hard enough!

From this performance to Mike's pass it on performance, that is called growth my dears. Growth.

10:17 aww Barry! I really really really liked the plating. Never thought I'd say this, but he plates like a demi god 😂

The music sums up the whole process at the end and it masterfully chosen

Aww, that double look that James gives Barry at 13.50 . He so clearly wanted to give him a hug and tell him how proud he was.

Conspiracy theory: Barry bribed Mike to take a dive.

Philippe Philoppe is the true Dad Joke of the Week, and so topical lol!

I'm so freaking proud of Barry! He definitely doesn't get enough credit! Making choux pastry without s recipe is amazing. Good on you Barry

The FrenchMan wearing sandals got me cracking up💀

Well, Mike, you gave me a good laugh early in the morning. So I'll call that a win.

Eric Lanlard's face every time Mike name dropped him...🤔 you know he was literally thinking "I didn't teach them THAT!!" #PoorMike 🤣🤣🤣

24 year old me literally thought it was “shoe pastry” until just now. Thanks Sorted. That’s what you’re here for!

The segway on the "sexies" was so funny I had to watch it twice.

Haha, great how James literally looks disappointed by Mike 🤣

Ben was proper salty at the start of that but by the end he seemed genuinely proud of barrys efforts 🤣

In Mike’s defense, Eric Lanlard showed them milk and water into the pastry base. I’ve always used just the water, butter, salt. Given that Ben and James weren’t using Eric’s recipe, it’s not necessarily Mike’s fault for the consistency of his choux. It’s not like Barry weighed anything lol

Awww...poor Mike. And Ben always points out the positives. ❤ Well done Barry!

Mike yelling at his icing to stop trickling is such a mood many of us home cooks are sure to identify with during a bad day.

I couldn't get anything half as good as Mike's even with a recipe, that's for sure.

Love the random sprinkling of brown sugar on top of mike's as the finishing touch to those hideous eclairs 😂

Seeing Mike panic was horrifying but so, so hilarious! I can't wait to see him and Jamie go against each other in one of these.

Aww Ben trying to be nice and encouraging in the face of all odds.🤗 Then there’s James 🤣🤣

Literally the only channel I’ve ever hit the bell for. I’m so glad you have a decades worth of videos for me to binge!!!!

Great to see how much Mike has learned over the years

I love the lesson Mike presented. Everyone should try to cook without recipes

Huge thums up for the music choice on the close ups on mike‘s „eclairs“

I love rewatching this just to see the true FINAL EVOLUTION of a huttlestorm

Oh poor, poor Mike... 😂 Sorry for laughing! 🤣

Aww Mike! This was such an amazing episode and I’m excited for the series! Mike’s little realisation at the end was so beautiful. Nice to know he is a human being like the rest of us. I really felt for him in this one though, knowing he is such a perfectionist. Good one Barry!!

I have always been in the Barry corner for the battles. I have got to say he smashed this one, I was salivating looking at his tiramisu profiteroles. I was hugely lucky enough to bump into Ben in the queue for a nightclub on Friday night. He was as nice as you could imagine, and considering he was speaking to two drunken fans disturbing his night with friends, he was so lovely. I really hope we didn't interrupt your night too much. I hope I have the pleasure of meeting you again Ben (and anyone else on the fantastic team). I love the videos so much :) (PS please tell your friend Oscar he was so lovely as well when he was chatting to us)

“I think it’s funny...?” 😂😂😂 That line was even though the joke certainly was not!

I just love these. Whenever you cook together it’s good

Normals don't know how to bake pastries like this without a recipe. All of you guys are chefs, just on different levels.

The music change between Barry’s sexies and Mike’s sexies 😂 Love everything about Sorted - the chefs, the normals, the video editors! Keep doing what you do 🙏🏼❤️

You should bring the shockers back. At the very least have one of Barry at all times and shock him when he leaves a hob on.

Love love love this!!!

The editing contrast between Mike and Barry's end product 😂

Barry keeps on winning! Not for not, he deserves every win! The food he makes is beutiful!

Just what I've been waiting for!

when Mike put the milk in i was like, are you sure you're thinking choux and not ROUX?????

Ben definitely won dad joke of the week with Phillipe Phillope! 🤣

Barry you nailed this^^ Everytime someone complains about your cooking now, we can show them this video. So proud.

I love these challenges!

Everyone picks on Barry, but he has legitimately learned and tries really hard. I’m proud of this baby boy.