'I Don't Want Too Much Time': Five Words The Top Five Probably Regret

On Tuesday night, the rulebook was thrown out the window, and our top five made one big error in judgement.

Perhaps the judges were being kind, or maybe it was a case of reverse psychology, but on Tuesday night the top five were battling for a massive advantage.

The judges revealed they could cook whatever they want, no restrictions in ingredients, an open pantry and the garden was in play.

Oh, one other thing -- the five of them were able to decide how much time they had to make their dishes. Yep, one of the biggest factors in the kitchen was totally taken off their shoulders.

And they picked... 75 minutes.

The faces of three judges who know this... isn't going to end well. Photo: Network 10.

"I don't want too much time, to be honest," Larry told the judges, before explaining further: "It's not necessarily true if you have more time in that kitchen that your dish will be better.

"In fact, I think sometimes when you have less time to work with, your dishes end up being a lot better."

The judges were slightly stunned, offering them a neat 90 minutes on the clock, but the gang had made their decisions, and off they went.

Tessa decided to do a roast chicken, Larry had her eye on a parsnip ice cream, caramelised pear and a dark chocolate cremeux, Nicole went for a sous vie chicken breast with mushroom sauce and pickled mushrooms, Tim paired prawns and sweet corn while Simon decided to attack a savoury porridge.

All of that in 75 minutes. And you can bet... things did not go to plan.

Not sure what's more painful, stinging nettles or running out of time. Photo: Network 10.

Partway through the challenge, Tim realised the gang may have made a mistake. "I'm having a little bit of time regret," he admitted.

"What were we thinking?!"

Over at Nicole's bench, her attempt at making a 'MasterChef' chicken schnitty seemed to be on track, but she was also up against the clock, desperately trying to get all her elements together.

Can you see a reoccurring theme here?

With just 20 minutes to go, even Larry -- who was so confident heading into the challenge -- said she felt like time was "slipping away".

As everyone was getting their dishes together in the final minutes that they themselves had given themselves, Tessa pulled her roast chook out of the oven to find it not completely cooked all the way through.

Hindsight really is everything, with the top five each mourning the fact that they turned down the judges' advice to take 90 minutes.

While the gang were kicking themselves, it was Larry who came out on top, with her inventive flavour combos once again blowing the judges away, meaning she snagged the advantage in tomorrow night's challenge.

Despite a last-minute change to the dish, Larry still won the judges over. Photo: Network 10.

What a time.

MasterChef Australia airs Sunday to Thursday nights at 7.30pm. Only On 10 And WIN Network. Missed an episode? Catch up on 10 Play or 10 All Access!

Featured image: Network 10.