The mystery boxes were a larger size than usual and the contestants lifted them to find sausage making machines inside. The judges told them they were going to design and make their own sausages, choosing ingredients from a bench at the front of the kitchen.

The contestants had 45 minutes to make their sausages. George warned them to be careful when cooking them because they would explode if the flame was too hot and this is exactly what happened to Justine’s two sausages. She didn’t have to time to finish cooking a new sausage so she cleaned up her burst sausages to plate up.

Gary said Justine’s Lyonnaise sausages weren’t even close to the real thing and they lacked flavour. Julie's lamb and feta sausages met with approval from George.

Sam’s sausage had burst in the oven so his duck and pork chipolata was quite small. Gary thought they were too fatty. Matt said Poh's lap cheong sausage was juicy, meaty, sweet and delicious. Matt thought Chris' duck and pork boerewors lacked the necessary juicy meatiness.

Poh won the mystery box challenge and had to pick the core ingredients for the Christmas in July-themed invention test. She also chose Andre to be her partner for the challenge, and had Justine and Julie pair up, leaving Sam and Chris to cook together.

There were three pairs of ingredients to choose from and Poh and Andre decided on salmon and chocolate instead of ham and dried fruit or turkey and rhubarb.

The judges were dubious when Poh told them she was attempting to make a fried meringue again but she assured them she now knew how to make them.

The contestants had an hour and a half to produce two Yuletide courses. Both Chris and Sam, and Justine and Julie were cooking a whole salmon. Andre was rushing to put his lasagne together with only ten minutes to go and knew the pasta sheets weren't cooked properly when he plated up the dish.

Gary said Julie and Justine's whole baked salmon with braised fennel and chestnuts was beautifully cooked. Matt observed that Julie's dessert of warm chocolate cake with crème anglaise wasn't very Christmas-like.

Gary refused to eat Chris and Sam's whole roasted salmon with potato salad because it was raw. Matt said their dessert of chocolate fondant with egg nog was a great idea and screamed Christmas.

Gary said the pasta wasn't cooked in Andre's baked salmon lasagne with rocket and fennel salad. He remarked the rest of the dish was like baby food with overcooked salmon folded through it.

Poh's deep fried meringue with chocolate, chestnut and orange was declared the dish of the day by Gary. George told Poh it was innovative and delicious.

Justine and Julie were the winning pair and were hugely relieved to escape the pressure test. To decide which of them would cook against the celebrity chef, Julie asked Gary to flip a coin. As a result, Julie will be cooking against Adrian Richardson.

Chris, Sam, Poh and Andre will all face the elimination pressure test.

Stay tuned for an extremely difficult pressure test dish.