The humble potato is the secret ingredient, and the six remaining chefs have 45 minutes to make innovative dishes using all types of potatoes.

The eight remaining chefs must prove their resourcefulness when they're tasked with making unique snacks using a variety of pickles. Then, they head out on a fishing field trip, where they'll have to catch the ingredients they'll later prepare.

Innovation

In this challenge, the chefs must create food for a Hamptons event that reflects the rich seafood bounty of the area. Double-elimination looms while the chefs must entwine their skills and focus on finding their "passion" to take a traditional beach cookout to Iron Chef-worthy heights. Who has the passion, the burning desire, to become the Next Iron Chef?

The remaining two chefs walk into Kitchen Stadium to complete their final test: PRESSURE. With the Chairman looking on and host Alton Brown commentating from the sidelines, the final challenge is themed around the winter holidays. Enduring the unpredictability and PRESSURE of Kitchen Stadium will determine who will become the Next Iron Chef.

In the season premiere of The Next Iron Chef: Super Chefs, 10 Chefs are brought to the middle of nowhere and their primal instincts are put to the test. Split into five teams, the chefs are given the most basic tools to create build their own cooking stations before creating their Iron Chef worthy dishes.

The chefs are asked to fuse unusual ingredients into something new.

Alton Brown and the Chairman greet the contestants who wish to be the Next Iron Chef. After they explore their surroundings (the Culinary Institute of America), they are given their first two tests.

Host Alton Brown gives the nine remaining chefs their next two challenges: Simplicity and Interpretation. In the first challenge, the chefs are asked to use a variety of one-pot cooking devices from around the world to make a family-style dish. The chefs judge one another and reveal who cooked both the most successful and the least successful creations using the ethnic cooking vessels. Next, the chefs are asked to reinvent classic "international" dishes to see who can create an Iron Chef-worthy interpretation of some of the best-known dishes in the world. The next chef is eliminated.

Host Alton Brown explains that Innovation is one of the most important traits of an Iron Chef and both challenges in this episode must embody that trait. First, the chefs disperse to four of the best Asian eateries in Los Angeles where they quickly taste and then attempt to recreate the house specialty from each restaurant. The chefs are armed only with their discerning palates to figure out how the dish is made. Next, the chefs are tasked with innovating and creating a new dish that is a hybrid of Asian flavors and American culinary sensibilities. The next chef is eliminated.

An Iron Chef must adapt to a secret ingredient that is revealed just moments before cooking. For their next test, host Alton Brown asks the remaining seven chefs endure a tough test of Adaptability. The chefs have 90 minutes to prepare a savory and sweet duo of Mexican-inspired dishes and a creative beverage that successfully utilizes a secret ingredient flown in from Mexico on American Airlines. At the iconic Grand Central Market, the chefs shop for additional indigenous ingredients to effectively capture the heart and soul of Mexican cooking. They are judged on how well they adapt the secret ingredient to their culinary creations. One chef is eliminated.

The six remaining competitors meet acclaimed Indian chef, Suvir Saran, and begin their next test: Pressure. First, the chefs have 30 minutes to capture the essence and balance of Indian fare in just one bite. Then, the chefs attend a Bollywood-style gala to gain a true understanding of the traditional foods and culture of India. With this knowledge, they then have two hours to prepare a five-course Indian feast judged for the authenticity, flavor, drama, and theatrical presentation of the food. Two chefs are eliminated, and the remaining chefs learn they will head to the airport and travel on American Airlines to one of the great culinary hotspots in the world – Tokyo, Japan.

The remaining two chefs walk into the hallowed halls of Kitchen Stadium to complete their final test: Imagination. With the Chairman looking on and host Alton Brown (Iron Chef America) commentating from the side, the two finalists compete in a head-to-head battle. Using everything they have learned, they must take the secret ingredient and create a five course meal that reflects the melting pot that is the American culinary experience. One of the chefs will then be selected as the winner and become the new Iron Chef!

After a season packed with grueling challenges, only two chefs remain to battle it out for the ultimate title of Iron Chef. The challengers head to New York for a Thanksgiving-themed showdown in legendary Kitchen Stadium where they face a true Iron Chef challenge: Prepare five creative and delicious dishes in 60 minutes. In the end, only one chef will reign supreme to earn the title of The Next Iron Chef.