Plot Synopsis

Chefs compete in extreme culinary elimination challenges and try to impress a panel of judges with their creations, as they hope to win a cash prize. EXTREME CHEF takes the competitors to obscure locations for ultimate challenges, such as: using a car engine as a makeshift stove; swimming across a lake for ingredients; adapting to indigenous desert foods and tools of the American Indians; preparing a perfect block party in a torrential downpour; gathering ingredients from a bucket of rattlesnakes; extracting ingredients from a block of ice; using a Swiss Army knife as a lone cooking utensil; using freeze-dried foods and building fires from scratch; and making a 30-minute meal using unmarked canned goods. In Season 1, each 60-minute episode was self-contained with three chefs competing in three challenges, with one chef winning $10,000 at the end of each program. For Season 2, seven chefs started the season and one chef was eliminated at the end of each 60-minute episode, with the winning chef awarded $50,000. Notable judges for the first season included: Simon Madjumdar (food journalist & NEXT IRON CHEF judge), Josh Ozersky (food journalist), Marco Canora (restaurateur & NEXT IRON CHEF finalist) and Candice Kumai (food writer). Season 2 featured a rotating panel of judges, including: Simon Majumdar, Ben Sargent (host of HOOK, LINE & DINNER), and Troy Johnson (host of CRAVE). Food Network aired a 30-minute sneak peek episode on Sunday, June 26, 2011 at 10:30pm ET before showing the official series premiere four days later.