TWO Central Queensland cooks are hoping to make the cut on the upcoming series of MasterChef.

Clermont park ranger Miles Pritchett and Rockhampton-born bartender Harry Foster will both try to impress the show's judges in Sunday's season eight premiere.

They're among nearly 50 hopefuls who will be pulling out all of the stops to earn a spot in the cooking show's Top 24.

While he loves the rustic beauty of the bush, Miles says he'd love to open a restaurant with his daughter, who lives in Japan, and his son, a second-year apprentice chef.

Their shared food dream inspired the 46-year-old to apply for the show.

"I was asking my son what his dream was when we were in the kitchen cooking together one day and he said 'I want to work with you'," Miles said.

"What 18-year-old kid wants to work with their parent? It was a very touchy-feely moment. Then a couple of weeks later I was talking to my daughter and she said 'I'm thinking about moving home, how about we open a café?'

"They came with me to the audition and it was the first time the three of us had been together for a little while, so it was a nice family reunion."

One of the youngest cooks to audition this year, 21-year-old Harry hopes to repeat his success as a cocktail slinger in the kitchen.

While working at Townsville's Shaw & Co, his signature Fairy Floss Windmills drink was named Queensland's Best Cocktail for 2014.

"It's this beautiful red drink topped with a big mound of fairy floss and strawberries," he said.  

"I would love to do something like that on MasterChef.

"I think knowing the flavour bases and profiles in drinks helps with cooking.

"It's important to know how drinks and food should taste."

Harry lived in Rockhampton until the age of 10 and then moved around the state, setting his sights on hospitality and tourism after graduating from high school.

While working on Fitzroy Island he fell in love with cooking freshly-caught seafood.

"We did a lot of our own cooking on the island and caught our own seafood, so that's where it (my love of cooking) really started for me," he said.

"Seafood is my thing now."

MASTERCHEFAUSTRALIA 2016

MasterChef Australia premieres on Sunday at 7.30pm on Channel 10.