These are the BEST podcasts about Great British Bake Off

It’s odd to think now that prior to 2010, nobody snickered at soggy bottoms and the Hollywood handshake was a level of human achievement which remained as yet out of reach.

But The Great British Bake Off is part of the furniture now, and despite shuffling presenters and channels has retained its cosy charms, and its weekly knockout format makes it a perfect show to whip up a quality watchalong podcast for. Some are presented to the judges – that’s you, podcast fan – and quickly found to have collapsed in the oven, or gone all funny in the middle, or unaccountably have mixed some pretty inadvisable flavours together.

Not these ones though. These are the podcasting equivalents of the star bakers: the best Great British Bake Off podcasts.

Baking Bad

Comedians Ross Drummond, Harry Monaghan and North American correspondent Claire Downs chew over the events of each episode, in an enjoyably home-brewed podcast which has a lot of fun with the transatlantic appeal of Bake Off – the show is, Americans are reminded, screened on every IMAX screen on the country each week. It’s got a magnificent take on the Bake Off theme tune for its opening sting too. Listen now >>

Worth the Calories

Matthew and Cathryn Vose run the rule over the contestants and their efforts, as you’d expect, but the cherry on the extra dollop of cream on top of this cake is their enthusiastic dissection of exactly how doable any of the individual entries are for the home baker. It’s that linking of the show and the slightly frazzled would-be cream horn maker which gives Worth the Calories its charm. Plus, there are bonus recipes in the show notes each time. Listen now >>

The Bake Down

There are only a select few people around who know what it’s like to enter the tent and feel its suffocating atmosphere play merry hell with their creme pat. The Bake Down brings in expert witnesses in Bake Off alumni Jane Beedle (series 7), Howard Middleton (series 4) and Dan Beasley-Harling (series 9) to join host Sarah Taylor to talk review the action each week, and recall what it was really like baking under the steely gaze of Paul, Mary and Prue. Listen now >>

Sticky Bun Boys

This is a watchalong pod which has wandered between Bake Off and The Traitors, but is back on Bake Off for the new series. David Atherton and Michael Chakraverty are particularly keen on the innuendo – they tend to title their episodes after new entries in the canon, like “dry beaver” – and as well as going over the twists and turns of each episode, they speak to former contestants for an inside scoop. Plus: they love a bonus dating disaster story. Listen now >>