Podcast Summary

Podcast: The Bert Show
Episode: Vault: Rachael Ray Judges Our Food
Date: December 24, 2025

Episode Overview

In this lively episode, The Bert Show welcomes culinary celebrity Rachael Ray for a fun and unconventional cooking competition. The main event: Rachael taste-tests a variety of dishes prepared by the show’s cast—all cooked exclusively in a microwave. Along the way, the conversation covers Rachael’s career, her favorite foods, recipe writing, and plenty of warm and hilarious banter with the show’s team. Listeners get a behind-the-scenes look at Rachael Ray’s personality, her humor, and her approach to food, all while The Bert Show crew delivers their trademark realness.

Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. Catching Up with Rachael Ray (01:35 – 05:12)

• Intros & Jokes: The team welcomes Rachael and playfully tease her with clips from her own shows.
• Self-Reflection:
  • Rachael jokes about her TV presence:
    • "I sound so annoying. So know-it-all. And I know how to get you dinner in 30." (01:48)
  • On hearing her own voice:
    • "We don't watch the show in my house because it makes my dog cry." (01:59)
• Career Recap:
  • Rachael describes her Food Network tenure:
    • "A little over three years." (02:18)
    • She currently heads up three shows: Inside Dish, $40 a Day, and 30 Minute Meals. (02:19–02:24)
  • "$40 a Day": “...I get 40 bucks and have to find breakfast, lunch, and dinner..." (02:25)
• Fan Moments:
  • Co-hosts reveal their fandom, sharing personal stories about Rachael's cookbooks. (02:53)

2. Rachael Ray’s Schedule & Creative Process (03:12 – 05:12)

• Workload:
  • "I tape 120 episodes a year of 30 Minute Meals...I don't sleep a lot. I sleep about four hours a night." (03:23)
  • She describes balancing cooking, writing, filming, and touring.
• Recipe Creation:
  • On handling writer's block:
    • "Not really, because, you know, they're all just different variations on a theme." (04:31)
  • She explains the stations' requests guide her recipe themes, and her lifelong cooking experience eases the process.

3. Personal Life & Fun Anecdotes (05:14 – 06:10)

• Fiancé & Wedding Plans:
  • Rachael discusses her fiancé and their plan for a September wedding in Italy, sharing:
    • "His first word was 'more,' and my first word was 'vino.' So we figured get married in a vineyard." (05:32)
  • "My grandfather used to take care of me during the day and I didn't like milk. So...he'd put water and a little bit of his wine in my bottle...so I thought 'vino' meant bottle." (05:39)
  • The team laughs about her accidental childhood association with wine, revealing Rachael’s storytelling charm.

4. Microwave Cooking Competition (07:01 – 13:51)

Competition Setup (07:01 – 07:47)

• Rachael is blindsided by the rule: all the dishes she’ll judge were made using only a microwave.
  • "You're kidding." (07:48)
  • "It's delicious." (07:50)

Dish-by-Dish Tasting & Commentary (07:22 – 11:13)

• Couscous & Vegetables (First dish):
  • "It's like a little mound. It's like a little dumpling made out of couscous and vegetables. It's very yummy." (07:26)
• Black Bean Chili (Second dish):
  • "That's really good...I'm eating more. That's good." (08:05, 08:15)
• Bacon Cheese Popcorn (Third dish):
  • "It's bacon and cheese on, I guess, microwave popcorn." (08:55)
  • "Not as creative as the other ones, I feel, but it's tasty." (09:11)
• Peanut Butter Candy Balls (Fourth dish):
  • "Those are some tasty balls." (09:43)
  • "Those are some big tasty balls." (10:00)
  • Team revels in the playful banter about the candy balls.
• Tuna (Salmon) Casserole Pasta (Fifth dish):
  • "It's like tuna casserole, but it's angel hair pasta. That's good. Different." (11:00)
• Chocolate Fudge Squares (Sixth dish/dessert):
  • "I like the consistency of that. Creamy. High marks for that. Tons of nuts. Yeah, it's very well made." (11:13–11:27)

Ranking the Dishes (11:27 – 13:51)

• Rachael ranks dishes from most to least favorite:
  1. Couscous & Vegetables: "Just because it was really creative and for presentation..." (11:41)
  2. Peanut Butter Balls: "Very creative. If they made that in the microwave, it's very impressive..." (12:02)
  3. Black Bean Chili: "This awesome microwave made chili dish was fabulous." (12:37)
  4. Fudge: "The fudge is so creamy, delicious fudge..." (12:54)
  5. Salmon Pasta Casserole: "It's actually salmon. ...It tasted like tuna. It was good, though." (13:14)
  6. Bacon Cheese Popcorn: "Not, not ultra creative there. But cute. But it is tasty, though." (13:41–13:48)
• Celebratory reactions and playful acknowledgments follow, with the girls sweeping the honors.

5. Light-hearted Show Banter & Wrap-up (13:57 – 15:16)

• Co-host Tracy is celebrated for her Rachael Ray impression.
  • Rachael and Tracy perform the classic “30 Minute Meals” opening together, giggling about the lines:
    • "Sometimes it's program and sometimes it's show, honey. We mix it up, we keep it fresh." – Rachael Ray (14:43)
• Rachael expresses her enjoyment of the experience:
  • "Thanks, guys. I had a great time." (15:16)

Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• Rachael Ray on her TV persona:
  "I sound so annoying. So know-it-all. And I know how to get you dinner in 30." (01:48)
• On not watching her own show:
  "We don't watch the show in my house because it makes my dog cry." (01:59)
• Rachael on writing recipes:
  "They're all just different variations on a theme… once you've been in the biz a long time, there's only so many ways to prepare a piece of chicken cutlet." (04:31)
• Her fiancé and wedding story:
  "His first word was 'more,' and my first word was 'vino.' So we figured get married in a vineyard." (05:32)
• On the creativity of the microwave challenge:
  "If they made that in the microwave, it's very impressive, too." (10:14)
• Playful candy ball banter:
  "Those are some tasty balls." (09:43)
• Tracy’s Rachael Ray impression:
  "Sometimes it's program and sometimes it's show, honey. We mix it up, we keep it fresh." – Rachael Ray (14:43)

Timestamps for Important Segments

• Rachael Ray Joins & Career Discussion: 01:35 – 05:12
• Personal Life & Wedding Stories: 05:14 – 06:10
• Competition Introduction: 07:01 – 07:47
• Rachael Tastes the Dishes: 07:22 – 11:13
• Dish Ranking & Reactions: 11:27 – 13:51
• Rachael & Tracy’s Duet; Show Wrap: 13:57 – 15:16

Final Thoughts

This episode of The Bert Show delivers its promise of humor, authenticity, and realness. Rachael Ray’s blend of quick wit and culinary expertise shines as she gamely participates in the microwave-cooking challenge, all while offering career insights and personal anecdotes. The Bert Show cast’s playful energy keeps the tone upbeat and inviting, making for a memorable and entertaining listen for food fans and casual listeners alike.