WHEN the MasterChef judges say they can't stop eating your food, then it's been a good day in the kitchen.

Ben Borsht made the most of his second-chance cook on the reality show tonight.

The Brisbane-based builder, whose dad lives at Grandchester, earned one of six remaining spots in the Top 24 after plating up a finger-licking dish of prawn-stuffed jalapenos with lime chili mayo, fried prawn heads and smoked salt.

Borsht had 75 minutes to plate up the dish, which had to showcase chilis.

"This is the sort of dish we could see right now on a great bar menu," judge Matt Preston said.

"I loved the way you used chili in a lot of different ways - smart cooking."

The 31-year-old proved he could think on his feet when mentor Shannon Bennett came over mid-cook to point out he should bake his jalapenos instead of frying them, deciding on the fly to add the prawn heads as a crunchy element.

"I really love a good challenge and the pressure really makes you work for it," he told the QT.

"With my jobs I've always had older mentors and they've always put me under pressure to do better, so I think that gets the best out of me."

Borsht landed in the second-chance cook after Preston saw something in the salmon pie, inspired by his mother's recipe, which he served up in his judges audition last night.

"It was probably the best pie I'd ever cooked, so I was glad I did it on that day. I may not have executed it perfectly but Matt saw what I was doing," he said.

"I really love working with any seafood; that's really my strength."

Borsht and the rest of the Top 24 will face their first challenge in the MasterChef kitchen tomorrow night.

MasterChef airs Sundays to Thursdays at 7.30pm on Ten.