Wednesday: Mike the Hero Sunday: Mike the clown

Eric Lanlard is crying somewhere in the distance

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

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

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

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

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

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!

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

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! 😂😂😂😂

The true dad joke of the week: Philip Flop 😂

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

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

They should incorporate these wins into the brownie point leader board

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 🤦‍♀️

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

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.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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.

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

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.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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.

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....

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

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

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

This is the British Baking Show we all wanted 😂

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

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

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

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

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

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

I haven't left a comment on KZfaq in years, but I just want to say this channel is genuinely fantastic! I found your KZfaq 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!

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

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

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

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

Haha, great how James literally looks disappointed by Mike 🤣

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

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

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.

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

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

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

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

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

This is probably the hardest anyone has ever failed a battle. God, that was hard to watch. Mike even heard the feedback saying how Barry was doing things correctly and he still ignored it and didn’t start over.

The FrenchMan wearing sandals got me cracking up💀

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

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

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

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

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

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.

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.

Great analogy to the GPS directions. However, I do think some people are more directions only while others more readily absorb techniques and tips, not just with cooking, but in all things. It is fun, though, as a teacher providing the directions, to have someone who is more direction-oriented suddenly understand the underlying technique. The lightbulb that goes off is astounding. Getting them to move beyond the safety net of directions is an amazing thing, too. Barry did a great job on the challenge, but Mike made an important realization.

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)

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

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

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

Barry won hands down... I never thought I would say that. That was VERY impressive, and I can't fault Mike, I am not much better when traveling these days; GPS all the way. ... cooking on the other hand, I've acquired a bit of a knack for (but only a bit) thanks to channels like this.

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

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

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

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 🙏🏼❤️

“I think it’s funny...” Barry, it wasn’t but you are! I definitely lol’d at your reaction to the dad joke 😂 😆

It's one thing to get the choux pastry wrong. It's another thing to get every. single. step. wrong 😂 1) curdled filling 2) blanched blueberries 3) burnt chocolate 4) running icing Shake it off, Mike, we love you anyway! (but that was hilarious :P)

Love love love this!!!

Not sure I could respect Mike anymore after seeing the last two episodes... His passion and knowledge in the recycling one was really inspiring - and in this one he had one disaster after another (unusual for such a talented 'normal') and even though you cld see it genuinely affected him, he was still trying to take a lesson from it. They're all good guys but I'd have Mike as my brother any day... chin up, pal. 😍

We are now learning this at school for the 3th week in a row and it's so easy to make and to see them doing this is making me cry

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

barry with the attempts at instagram cooking again, what a phyrric victory XD you guys are too kind, lol

I liked the video without watching it, just because of the title alone. I knew it would be a riot. I love your confidence and optimism, boys, as misplaced as they might turn out to be, bless your hearts. 🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣. Edited post watch. Barry - great job. You’re promoted to somewhere between the 2 levels of expertise - a Nef or Chormal, maybe. Mike - um... bless your heart... 😘

I love these challenges!

You should do a video on chefs vs normals review the SortedFood kitchen equipment. James and Ben's explanation of the kitchens equipment vs Barry, Jamie, and Mike's explanation of kitchen equipment.