The third series of MasterChef Australia premiered on Sunday, 1 May 2011 at 7:30 pm on Network Ten. Judges George Calombaris, Gary Mehigan and Matt Preston returned from the previous series and were joined by Matt Moran. The third series was won by Kate Bracks who defeated Michael Weldon in the grand finale on 7 August 2011. The second part of the series' final (episode 85, "The Winner Announced"), attracted an audience of 2.74 million viewers, making it the third most viewed episode of any Australian television series of 2011, only beaten by the final episodes of The Block (3.09 million) and Australia's Got Talent (2.98 million).
The third series of MasterChef Australia brought some changes to the format of the show. Joining the judging panel as a regular guest was chef Matt Moran. A twist used in past series of the show to bring back eliminated contestants for a second chance was dropped for series 3.
While the weekly routine was mostly unchanged, there were some small differences in series 3.
Sunday night's challenge were not restricted to a Mystery Box Challenge and an Invention Test, with Team and Offsite Challenges also used.
The Tuesday night challenge was modified: now known as an immunity challenge rather than a celebrity chef challenge, the standing of the opponent varied, with anyone from a home cook to an apprentice or a well-known chef appearing. The rules varied slightly from week to week, but typically the contestant(s) were given a recipe and a time advantage but neither competitor had knowledge of what they were about to cook until just before the challenge started.
Eliminations on Thursdays were no longer decided by taste tests; final challenges were based on cooking.
The opening week of MasterChef Australia saw 50 contestants competing for the 24 positions in the main competition. Twenty-six were eliminated:
The full Top 24 were revealed on Sunday, 8 May. At the first Top 24 challenge, it was revealed that Paul had quit the competition due to work commitments and Alex, who had been eliminated in the Top 50 portion, was entered as his replacement.
Adriano Zumbo - Series Premiere: Top 50: Part 1, Pressure Test 10
Maggie Beer - Top 50: Part 2, MasterClass 1, Pressure Test 9
Justin North - Immunity Challenge 1, MasterClass 2, MasterClass 9
Alessandro Pavoni - Immunity Challenge 1, MasterClass 2, Immunity Challenge 9
Alex Keene - Immunity Challenge 1, Immunity Challenge 9
Andrew Connole - Offsite Challenge 1
Jean-Luc Rocha - Elimination Challenge 1
Abla Ahmet - Elimination Challenge 1
Shaun Presland - Elimination Challenge 1, MasterClass 14
Andrew McConnell - Immunity Challenge 2
Colin Fassnidge - Immunity Challenge 2, MasterClass 3, Worst Nightmare Challenge
Jonathan Barthelmess - Elimination Challenge 2
Leanne Beck - MasterClass 3
Mark Jensen - Immunity Challenge 3
Adam D'Sylva - Immunity Challenge 3
Reuben Radonich - Elimination Challenge 3
Romeo Baudouin - MasterClass 4
Donna Hay - MasterClass 4
Jake Drachenberg - W.A. Invention Test
Hadleigh Troy - Immunity Challenge 4
Tony Howell - Immunity Challenge 4
Stefano Manfredi - Elimination Challenge 4
Frank Shek - MasterClass 5
Dan Hong - Pressure Test 3
Martin Boetz - Immunity Challenge 5
Thorsten Schmidt - Immunity Challenge 5
Nigella Lawson - Offsite Challenge 4
Tetsuya Wakuda - Elimination Challenge 5
Elena Arzak - Elimination Challenge 5
Miguel Maestre - MasterClass 6
Rick Stein - MasterClass 6
Chef Wan - MasterClass 6
Neil Perry - QANTAS Fine Dining Challenge, QANTAS First Lounge Challenge
Thomas Keller - QANTAS Fine Dining Challenge
Andoni Aduriz - QANTAS Fine Dining Challenge
Heston Blumenthal - Pressure Test 4
Darren Purchese - Immunity Challenge 6
Matt Stone - Offsite Challenge 5
James Privett - MasterClass 7
David Chang - Sunday Challenge 6, Ultimate Dinner Party Challenge
Mary Calombaris - Pressure Test 5, MasterClass 8
Jeremy Strode - Immunity Challenge 7
Vincent Gadan - Immunity Challenge 7, MasterClass 8
Shane Osborn - Elimination Challenge 7
Christine Manfield - MasterClass 8, Immunity Challenge 8
Jim Moran - Sunday Challenge 7
Matthew Kemp - Pressure Test 6
Merle Parrish - Immunity Challenge 8
Dietmar Sawyere - Elimination Challenge 8
Fleur Sullivan - MasterClass 9
Al Brown - MasterClass 9
Simon Gault - MasterClass 9
Martin Bosley - MasterClass 9
Shane Delia - Sunday Challenge 8
Armando Percuoco - Immunity Challenge 9
Marco Pierre White - Offsite Challenge 8
Anthony Bourdain - Elimination Challenge 9, Sunday Challenge 9
Andre Ursini - Masterclass 10
Jimmy Seervai - Masterclass 10
Luke Nguyen - Masterclass 10
Alvin Quah - Masterclass 10
Eric Ripert - Sunday Challenge 9
Armando Monterroso - United Nations Challenge
Lidia Bastianich - Immunity Challenge 10
Cesare Casella - Immunity Challenge 10
Jon Bignelli - Ultimate Dinner Party Challenge
Paul Liebrandt - Ultimate Dinner Party Challenge
Kenneth Woods - Elimination Challenge 10
Tren'ness Woods-Black - Elimination Challenge 10
Sylvia Woods - Elimination Challenge 10
Daniel Boulud - MasterClass 11
Sandy Levine - MasterClass 11
Steve Evetts - MasterClass 11
Kylie Kwong - Sunday Challenge 10
14th Dalai Lama - Sunday Challenge 10
Tim Costello - Sunday Challenge 10
Shanaka Fernando - Sunday Challenge 10
Bill Crews - Sunday Challenge 10
Ronnie Khan - Sunday Challenge 10
Katrina Kanetani - Pressure Test 8
Philippa Sibley - Immunity Challenge 11
Eamon Sullivan - Immunity Challenge 11
Alan Joyce - QANTAS First Lounge Challenge
Ben Milgate - MasterClass 12
Elvis Abrahanowicz - MasterClass 12
Mark Olive - MasterClass 12
Shannon Bennett - Immunity Challenge 12, MasterClass 14
Teage Ezard - Immunity Challenge 12
Donovan Cook - Worst Nightmare Challenge
Ashly Hicks - Worst Nightmare Challenge
Anthea Leonard - MasterClass 13
Curtis Stone - Sunday Challenge 12
Mark Best - Three Hat Challenge
Peter Doyle - Three Hat Challenge
Peter Gilmore - Three Hat Challenge
Martin Benn - MasterClass 14
René Redzepi - Grand Finale
