..to think that in the Bake Off semi final...

[SealSong]

There should be a better standard of baking. So much bad pastry!

I'm unimpressed.

[Livelovebehappy]

Agree with Angelil. Salasi was hanging on by his fingertips for the last couple of weeks. Fed up of reading how disliked Candice is, for pouting too much apparently. I judge the baking and not the fact of whether I'd like to be their friend.

[haveacupoftea]

I really like that they aren't brilliant bakers. I've been a bit bored in previous series because there were hardly any disasters. Having said that, the show stoppers usually made up for it. I don't think i've seen a really good show stopper this year at all.

Candice does my head in. Andrew is ok, but Jane to win!

[Soubriquet]

I recorded it for Dh to watch as he was working last night

He got home, switched it on and asked me what the baking was this week.

Soon as I said "patisserie" he knew Selasi was out. He was never very good with fiddly pastry

[AlpacaPicnic]

A friend who watches it (and we text each other bitching about the bakes during the show!) reckons that the front oven is not working properly because lots of the underbaked things come from whoever is at the front of the room.
I've not particularly noticed but I've kept the whole series recorded so I might go back and pay more attention to see if he's right...

[MrsHathaway]

Fed up of reading how disliked Candice is, for pouting too much apparently. I judge the baking and not the fact of whether I'd like to be their friend.

But see that's exactly why I don't like her - she's all about the lipstick and the innuendo and the "daaaahn to earth" sob stories and not about the baking.

Agree with pps that there simply hasn't been enough bread and cake. Fiddly buns but not enough big cake. Hopefully the final will get back on track.

[InTheseFlipFlops]

when you watch the first series they were proper home bakers, the standard went up and up to almost semi professionals. I always felt that was wrong, you wanted to see home bakers who do make mistakes who don't always know the technique for this weeks technical. Im sure there was one year where they wanted you to have cooking blog to be considered - thats not your average home baker.

I was happy they seemed to have gone back to more home bakers this series, they don't seem to have followed the bakers this series like normal. Normally they would show them baking at home.
I don't want them to start at a really high standard, i want it to feel like they are just normal people who like baking

[TrickyD]

Yes, MrsHathaway, and I hate her whiney voice. I bet she wins.

[MrsHathaway]

If she bakes best then fine. Otherwise Ch4 are welcome to it, quite frankly.

To me she represents what GBBO will be when it gets on a commercial channel. Talented, undoubtedly, but self-promoting and working the camera.

[Ulysses]

I agree about the standard being worse than previous years and don't like this engineered drama with the timings.

I do like Candice and her dry innuendo and her accent. She reminds me of a dear friend of mine. I think she's the most consistent baker as well so would like to see her win.

For me GBBO is all about Mel and Sue though and I can't stand Paul Hollywood so won't be switching over to C4. Mel did the Strictly Live tour last year and she was brilliant so I hope the BBC will be giving her and Sue another show to front.

[StStrattersOfMN]

I want Andrew to win, he's just adorable.

[StStrattersOfMN]

And yes, GBBO IS Mary Berry, Mel, and Sue. Paul won't be missed one bit in this house.

[CoffeeWithMyOxygen]

I agree with you all about the timings, it's been really annoying me and DH this series - I want to see who can produce the best result in a sensible amount of time, not who can salvage a bake the best because it's physically impossible to actually finish it. And I do agree that it's been deliberate this series as they've shown before that they can bend the format if really needed, like last series when they staggered the technical bake so the souffles wouldn't all collapse simultaneously. You know it's bad when even Paul Hollywood concedes that they need to ignore the melting cream, he usually delights in the nitpicking!

I think that if they were given sensible timings some of the bakers would be as good as previous ones (I am a big Candice fan, for what it's worth, though I can't stand Andrew) but frustratingly I don't think we'll ever really know as they've been quietly sabotaged a lot this year by the production company. It's confirmed for me that I won't be watching it once it moves over as I expect Channel 4 will just make it worse for 'entertainment' value.

Incidentally, does anyone else think the technical bake instructions are sometimes a little silly? It drives DBro up the wall as he aruges they're not really being tested on technical skill half the time, but rather on who can guess what the final item is supposed to look like. I do think he has a point but I was also very amused by Mary Berry being so upset at the membrane being left on an orange!

[3luckystars]

It's really shit this year.

These 3 are hardly the best amateur bakers in the country. It would have been my last year watching anyway as its so boring..

Mary's hair is lovely though.

[choccyp1g]

I'd love to see Paul or Mary doing the same challenges, to prove that it can 't be done in the time.

[choccyp1g]

I'd also like to see someone sneak in a Mr.Kipling cake and wonder whether the judges would spot the difference.

[LikeDylanInTheMovies]

I really don't get the appeal and boy have I tried. Can someone please explain it to me? I've tried several times to get into it.

I acknowledge TV Cookery shows are hard - you can't smell or taste the cakes - which is a huge part of cooking, but I can see that some cookery shows have an appeal and I quite like the travelogue ones that explore the food culture of a region or country.

But the Bake off's popularity genuinely mystifies me. Mel and Sue gurn their lay through their Late Lunch (circa 1997) routine and some amateur cooks make some quite frankly pretty ropey cakes in a tent. Just like the cakes themselves it all looks a bit half-arsed, even the game-show element of who goes and who is star baker seems devoid of tension.

I honestly don't get it. Stuff like Top Gear doesn't appeal to me, but I can see that it is relatively well put together and appeals to a certain demographic, but Bake Off just seems a bit well, crap.

[ChaosAD]

Glad I'm not the only one who's fed up with Candice's cat's bum mouth....

[rogueantimatter]

I was impressed by the pies. They looked gorgeous and there were so many things that could have gone wrong.

[rogueantimatter]

The horrendous amounts of time allowed give the tent a gladiatorial or royal court feel where the contestants have to prove their worth by submitting to the humiliation and endurance trials set by PH. He's like a king or god to whom offerings must be made.

I think Jane comes across as very unpretentious.

[BalloonSlayer]

The time aspect irritates me as well (am reasonably new to watching bake off so can't compare to other series though).

Even if you were cooking for the Queen, if your pastry wasn't quite ready on time you'd leave it in the oven till it was and make the diners wait.

I can see why they don't want to give infinite time to contestants - because they do stuff over and over again, but they can at least let people finish a minute or two late and penalise them for taking too long, but it's better than making them feel shite by saying "this pastry is raw" plus It's A Waste Of Good Food.

[limeandsoda93]

I'm sure this has probably had its own thread but wtaf was 'botanicals' week? Wasted an hour of my life on that as well as batter week.

[cdtaylornats]

I want one of these TVs where you can taste things.

[OlennasWimple]

Balloon - that's the approach they take in MasterChef - if your food isn't ready, you have to go cap in hand and grovel to the food critics before serving it when it's finished

[CatSittingMonkey]

Candice and her persistent pouting gives me the rage. I can't look at her face.

[Laiste]

I want Jane to win. Or Andrew.

Sick of Candice's playing to the telly with constant ''look at me playing with me jugs, balls or nuts'' style quips.

Once or twice was funny, but doing it at every opportunity is having an inappropriate uncle around.