Who Will Win 'MasterChef' 2023? Jennifer Turns Up Heat In Trial By Fire Episode

The competition on "MasterChef" Season 13 heated up, quite literally, on Wednesday night's "Trial by Fire: Field Challenge" episode.

An explosive start saw show judges Gordon Ramsay, Aaron Sanchez and Joe Bastianich greet the cooks at a fire training center, where the contestants were given a fiery demonstration, before being tasked with forming two teams and making a dish for 101 firefighters and other emergency personnel.

Jennifer Named Red Team Captain

Last week's Immunity Pin winner Jennifer had to pick which regions would team up with whom, and she decided to pair her South team with the Midwest. They became the Red Team, while the West and Northeast were the Blue Team. 

Jennifer was then nominated as the Red Team captain, and they cooked up a steak and potatoes dish of New York Strip with chimichurri sauce, glazed carrots, mashed potatoes and compound butter.

Brynn was the Blue Team leader. That team aimed to create ancho-rubbed pork chop with avocado crema, citrus slaw, black eyed pea salad and cornbread muffins.

The West and Northeast cooks were left feeling blue by the end of the challenge after they failed to serve all of their diners for the first time in the show's history — a catastrophic error in the "MasterChef" kitchen. 

The Red Team ran out easy winners, meaning they were all safe from elimination. 

But on the Blue Team, Brynn, Ryan and James were placed in the bottom three before Ramsay announced that Ryan's chances of winning the season had gone up in smoke, and he was eliminated.

Betting Odds

This season's "United Tastes of America" twist saw contestants from four U.S. regions — Northeast, West, Midwest and South — go up against one another in the first four episodes, with a Top 20 then formed, and Amanda, Richie and now Ryan have since been eliminated. That leaves 17 remaining contestants. 

The Season 13 winner will land a $250,000 prize and the title of "America's MasterChef.”

 With these hypothetical odds provided by industry sports betting experts, we've taken a deep dive into which remaining contestants have what it takes to triumph. 

Jennifer's Hot Streak Continues 

Jennifer's price to win this year's "MasterChef" has been cut after she once again had a blazing hot week, leading her Red Team to victory on Wednesday night. 

The South cook is the +200 favorite to win this year's competition, from +250, after her stewardship impressed the three panelists. 

Following her win, Jennifer said, "Victory feels so good right now. I came here to show that I can lead, and under pressure I never lost it on my team."

After two fantastic weeks on “MasterChef,” there is now a gap emerging between Jennifer and her fellow cooks in the futures betting. 

Her nearest rival is +300 chance Kennedy, who displayed some "off the charts" presentation, according to Ramsay, in last week's Episode 6.

Kyle (+300) and Reagan (+350) didn't have to worry about being eliminated this week, because they were part of the Blue Team, but fellow +350 chance Nina, who is part of the Northeast team, avoided being taken out. 

Elsewhere, three cooks, Wayne, Purvi and Kolby are +400, while South star Sav is +500. 

‘Missed The Mark’

The Blue Team's pork chops may not have been cooked to perfection on Wednesday's episode, but James also thought he was a treated unfairly.

He was in charge of the grill alongside the eliminated Ryan, and Ramsay told them they had "really missed the mark.”

But James didn't think he should've been in the bottom three, saying on the episode, "I don't deserve to be on the bottom right now, because I stayed consistent.”

James insisted he got a "nice sear" on his pork chops, and he thought Brynn should've gone home because the captain "should go down with their ship."

Following his bottom three placing, James is now at +550, from +350, in futures betting to win the season.

Blue Team leader Brynn also has suffered a price increase, to +750 from +550, after leading her team to defeat, and she can count herself fortunate to still be in the competition. 

She is now even in the market with Charles and just ahead of +800 shots Lizzie and Madame Donut. 

Grant's Lucky Escape 

Had the Red Team lost out in the challenge, Grant could have been in the firing line. 

While they eventually won the task fairly easily, one of their issues in the episode was that they ran out of mashed potatoes. 

But even before that, Ramsay complained in the 30-minute taste test that the mash was lumpy. 

Grant was working on the mashed potato station, and he would've surely landed in the bottom three if he hadn't been granted immunity thanks to his team's victory. He is now +1100, alongside Sarah and Kendal. 

But it was Ryan who went home, with Ramsay saying the grill got the better of him.

Ryan later admitted his mistakes.

”It sucks to go home,” he said. “I knew the risk and I didn’t deliver. But it’s a blessing to have made it this far in the competition. The future is definitely bright for me." 

Next time out will see the "Birds of a Feather Mystery Box" episode, which will feature one mystery box per region, and Jennifer will be able to choose one region who will start 10 minutes later.