Hell's Kitchen

In the season twelve premiere, Chef Ramsay splits the twenty competing chefs into two teams. For the first challenge, each team prepares a signature dish.

The teams compete in a tricycle relay race in which the chefs work in pairs to complete basic culinary tasks. The winners go on a dinner date with Chef Ramsay in San Francisco.

After digging up 100 pounds of potatoes, the teams aim to delight Chef Ramsay with potato-based dishes.

The remaining contestants must match side dishes with four different types of protein. The winners spend a day at Laguna Beach while the losers prep honey taffy from scratch.

Forgoing a challenge this episode, Chef Ramsay asks both teams to choose a captain for the dinner service, testing the aspiring chefs' communication, cooperation and leadership skills.

The teams cook gourmet pizza that will be judged by Chef Ramsay and Wolfgang Puck. The winners spend the day at a rooftop swimming pool and enjoy a session with a yoga instructor.

The teams cook sampler dishes for guests at an event honoring the 160th anniversary of the Phi Mu sorority. Each team must serve a chicken, seafood and beef entrée.

Given only thirty minutes, both teams must create a meal with surprise ingredients presented to them every few minutes. The winners are treated to a lunch at the beach.

Chef Ramsay brings the teams to his eatery and has them prepare the restaurant's signature dishes. Members of the losing team face Ramsay's wrath and are susceptible to elimination.

The chefs must match eight cuts of pork with their corresponding parts on the body of a pig. The winners get to choose which cut of pork they will use in the next challenge.

Chef Ramsay orders each chef, one by one, to enter a grocery store in complete darkness. They must use the sense of touch to collect five ingredients.

Two rappers wake the contestants and sing their instructions: the teams must create their own menus. The group with the most popular menu is safe from elimination.

The contestants take part in the annual blind taste test. The winners get a private ice skating lesson from Olympian Rachael Flatt. The losers make ice cream for the dinner service.

The remaining chefs must cook three dishes for special guest judges, but there’s a catch: they have just $35 and fifteen minutes to shop for ingredients.

The remaining chefs prepare a dinner service for special guests from Oxfam America, including Academy Award nominee Minnie Driver ("Good Will Hunting”).

The chefs travel to the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum and cook gourmet versions of tailgate favorites for USC football fans. The dish voted best by a group of fifty fans wins.

Using discarded everyday objects, a rock band treats the contestants to a musical number. The chefs are then given thirty minutes to make restaurant-ready dishes from leftovers.

The remaining chefs participate in the "taste it, now make it" challenge. The winner dines out with guests; the losers move furniture and prep the kitchen for dinner service.

The final two chefs attend an LA night club to compete in their final challenge: prepare two appetizers and three entrées in one hour. Five iconic chefs will judge the dishes.