Viewers of this year’s Great British Bake Off have fumed over this year’s ‘tight’ time constraints for contestants, complaining it has affected the quality of the bakes.
After Syabira Yusoff, Sandro Farmhouse and Abdul Rehman Sharif were given tight timings to complete their signature, technical and showstopper challenges, viewers took to Twitter to air their disappointment, claiming the bakers were ‘doomed to fail’ with near-impossible tasks.
Many argued the standard of baking on this year’s series of the Great British Bake Off suffered as a result of the difficult challenges – with some viewers even making official complaints about the format.
Viewers of the Great British Bake Off have taken to Twitter to complain about this year’s challenges, which they argued were ‘weird’ and had to be completed in unrealistic times. Pictured: Abdul Rehman Sharif assembling his showstopper challenge which was an ode to bees
Viewers argued if the bakers had been given more time, they could have produced better quality bakes. Pictured: Winner Syabira Yussof building her showstopper orangutan
Finalist Sandro (pictured) was told by Paul Hollywood his sweet bread needed ‘more time proving’ – one of the criticisms which led viewers to complain
After the series concluded viewers aired their disappointment with the unusual challenges and difficult time constraints on Twitter
As the three finalists took to the Bake Off tent for the final time they were challenged to make a picnic basket containing finger sandwiches (made from their own bread), cakes and pies with pastry made from scratch.
With just a few hours to prepare a total of 18 bakes and one oven in which to cook their masterpieces, the bakers struggled to finish everything in the time allowed – and Sandro even attempted to add tarts and biscuits to his basket.
Following on from the signature challenge, the bakers were given less than two hours to build a summer pudding in the technical challenge, which included set jelly.
While Abdul managed to create a decent attempt at the classic British dessert, Syabira and Sandro struggled with their summer puddings as their jelly was not fully set in the time allowed. However, this was also affected by the use of vegetarian gelatin which must be boiled before use.
Viewers of this year’s series took to Twitter to complain about the baking challenges, arguing they were ‘ridiculous’ and meant the bakers were ‘doomed to fail’
The bakers’ final showstopper challenge was to create a sculpture containing several tiers which had to represent planet Earth in some way.
After contestants were given just four and a half hours to complete the complicated bake, judges appeared disappointed with the look of the final showstoppers.
Paul Hollywood criticised the icing on Sandro’s sweetbread buns, the appearance of Syabira’s shortbread orangutan and the flat choux buns on Abdul’s ode to bees.
In particular, he told Sandro that his bread was chewy, adding that it needed ‘more time proving’.
In response to the judges’ criticisms, fans complained that the bakers had been set up to fail and should have been given more time to complete their bakes, meaning they would have been able to produce bakes of a better standard.
One person wrote: ‘To the producers, next year give the candidates more TIME please.’
Another agreed, arguing this year’s bakers had been ‘rigged for failure’ with time constraints.
‘Would be nice if GBBO went back to allowing contestants enough time to bake,’ they wrote.
The complaints about the final opened up a wider debate about the overall standard of this year’s series, with viewers arguing the challenges themselves were too extravagant and the judges were ‘unsupportive’.
One disappointed viewer said: ‘This was a poor GBBO in terms of production. Ridiculous challenges, very little info about the contestants and we didn’t get to find out about what all the bakers have been up to post-Bake Off’.
The end credits of the finale gave a few updates about where the contestants are now, although for some fans, it wasn’t enough.
Some viewers directly took up the judges on their criticisms of the bakers’ finished products, arguing they could have produced something much better with more time.
One viewer pointed out: ‘In the final, the judges told the winning technical baker their summer pudding ‘could have done with another half hour’. GIVE THEM MORE TIME.’
Another disgruntled fan even posted a link to the show’s contact page, claiming they had made an official complaint about the series in the hope next year would be a little more realistic.
After 32-year-old Syabira Yussof claimed the Bake Off trophy, many fans expressed their joy that the four-time Star Baker winner had been crowned champion.
However, for a group of disgruntled fans, there was an agreement that this year’s series ‘just wasn’t very good’.