Entering the kitchen, the twelve chefs wearing black aprons were greeted by a buttery bust of Jean-Christophe, and were told that they must celebrate butter in 75 minutes.
"Briefs like that I almost find harder because your brain is pulling you in so many different directions," Tim told 10 Play. "Obviously, when we're in the MasterChef kitchen, that's all we're thinking about - food.
"You've got all these dishes running through our head, trying to work out what's the best one and what's going to get you through. That can be really difficult because, when it's such a broad brief, it can be overwhelming. You start to second-guess yourself, the judges come up and question your dish idea, and you have to either back yourself or change on the fly," he continued.
For Tim, he decided he wanted to cook a confit duck Maryland, a dish that requires a low-and-slow approach. Something that a 75-minute challenge time doesn't quite allow.
"Once I got that idea in my head, I got a bit of tunnel vision," Tim explained. "It can be really hard, especially once you start the cook, to pivot to something else. But that can also be your downfall and, especially in this challenge, the judges were starting to rightfully question if there was enough time to get it done properly."
Walking through the kitchen, the judges were shocked at Tim's decision to try and make a rapid confit, and pushed him to perhaps reconsider.
"Those bench visits are often helpful, but sometimes they do leave you with more questions than answers, especially when that big clock is ticking above you," Tim said.
"I loved when the judges would come by because they're not there to sabotage you, they care and want us to succeed, and I can see that. Andy and Poh, especially, they've been there before, they're empathetic and know exactly how we're feeling in that moment," he continued.
As the time ticked down, Tim cut into one of his pieces of duck to find it still very undercooked.
"My heart definitely sank," he admitted. "I think I bit off more than I could chew trying to get a beautiful fall-off-the-bone confit duck in 75 minutes, but that's the MasterChef world we live in, it's a pressure-cooker of an environment, and you never know when your time is up. Unfortunately, my time was up," Tim laughed.
Finishing off his duck leg in the pan, Tim knew that the finished dish wasn't perfect, and said he felt pretty deflated as he brought it to the judges to taste. "I wanted to do well, I wanted to feed the judges tasty food, and I knew I wasn't happy with the plate - I think that showed on the plate but also in my face and my demeanour," he added.
"I still walked out with my head held high. I was proud of what I was able to achieve in the competition," Tim continued.
First appearing in the MasterChef kitchen in Season 11, Tim went on to chase his dream of first opening a mobile toastie business before expanding to a more permanent bricks-and-mortar home. He also co-hosts Good Chef Bad Chef, and has now become a dad to two boys, Toby and Jude.
"People always say this, but MasterChef changed my life, and it's changed a lot of our lives. I honestly don't know where I'd be... I get to live my food dream every day of the week," Tim said.
"Back in Season 11, I was kidless, but now I've got the two lads, so it has put a different spin on it. To be able to do it, to be an example for them; that it's okay to step outside your comfort zone, to give things a crack and to put yourself out there... showing my boys that you can be resilient even though I was in a few Pressure Tests and eliminations, being able to survive a few of those showed me that I was never going to give up."
During his time in Back To Win, Tim faced two brutal Pressure Tests, including the now-infamous tempered chocolate Balloon Puppy.
"I run a toastie business, I'm not tempering chocolate every day, so it was a skillset well out of my comfort zone," he said adding, "now that I'm back in the real world I'm looking forward to getting back to the toasties and no more tempered chocolate puppies for a little while," Tim laughed.
"My boys won't be getting a birthday cake or anything like that," he joked.
Looking back at his time in the competition, Tim was proud of what he was able to achieve, especially getting to cook the judges one of his toasties.
"Going out at 16th was obviously a bit sooner than I would have liked... I never really got that moment; I never won a challenge or got into the top three. That would have been nice, but the standard was just so high," he added.
Thinking back to the challenge where the judges brought in their leftovers and Tim made a scampi Thai green curry with Andy's herb stems, he remembered Sofia calling it her favourite curry she's had in the MasterChef kitchen. "If there's anything I can hang my hat on, it's that comment and that dish so we got a little win in there, but it would have been nice to show what else I can do," Tim said.
"Coming back definitely reignited my passion for food," he continued, "I've got Tim's Toasties, I love getting creative with that, but I think being back in the MasterChef kitchen gets you thinking outside of the box again and gets you super focused back on food.
"I cannot wait to apply some of those skills and what I learned, it reignited my passion for food, and I can't wait to showcase that in my toasties moving forward!"
MasterChef Australia: Back to Win continues Sundays at 7pm and Monday - Wednesday at 7.30pm on 10 and 10 Play
