This is the list of the episodes for the American cooking television series and competition Iron Chef America, produced by Food Network. The series is based on the Japanese series Iron Chef and is a cooking competition in which a challenger chef "battles" one of the resident "Iron Chefs" by cooking five or more dishes in a one-hour time slot based around a secret ingredient or ingredients, and sometimes theme. In most episodes, three judges score the meal in three categories, with 10 points available to each judge for taste, 5 points for creativity, and 5 points for presentation, for a possible total of 60 points. Exceptions are noted for individual episodes.
Episodes
Battle of the Masters: 2004
Iron Chef America was first aired as a mini-series entitled Iron Chef America: Battle of the Masters. For Battle of the Masters, two of the original Iron Chefs competed along with three Food Network personalities in various match ups with one another.
This is Wolfgang Puck's only battle as an Iron Chef. This episode had four judges, and thus a maximum possible score of 80.
Season 1: 2005
Roberto Donna completed only two of the required five dishes. The cheeses in this battle consisted of five traditional Italian cheeses: mascarpone, ricotta, Parmigiano-Reggiano, gorgonzola and mozzarella.
Season 2: 2005
Tamara Murphy is the first female challenger to lose to the Iron Chef. The three previous female competitors won their respective battles. In this match Milliken and Feniger only had one sous-chef to adhere to the three-to-a-kitchen rule.
Season 3: 2006–2007
Roberto Donna is the first chef to request a re-match. First aired on Food Network Canada on May 3, 2006. Eme brought only one sous-chef to the competition; his other sous-chef was needed to operate his restaurant in his absence. Eme is married to actress Jeri Ryan, who later served as a judge on ICA. Chef Morou won a Washington D.C. preliminary competition in December, 2005 for the chance to compete on the show. Patricia Yeo is the first former ICA sous chef (under Bobby Flay) to compete against an Iron Chef. Elizabeth Falkner was a sous chef under Cat Cora for several ICA episodes. This was a special 90-minute episode that pitted two guest Food Network personalities against each other. Each personality was paired with an Iron Chef.
Walter Royal had a third sous chef for the first five minutes of the competition. This sous chef, who primarily participated by peeling potatoes, was a 12-year-old working in a mentor program with Chef Royal.
This first aired on the Throwdown! with Bobby Flay Marathon on January 1, 2007.
Season 4: 2007
First aired on Food Network Canada on February 11, 2007. Lynn Crawford is the first Canadian woman to compete in Kitchen Stadium. She is a Food Network Canada personality as part of the series Restaurant Makeover. This episode featured a guest mixologist paired with each competing chef. The mixologists were required to prepare a drink to accompany each dish that also highlighted the secret ingredient. The drinks were judged on a 10-point scale (6 for taste, two each for presentation and creativity) which was added to the chef's score for the final score, thus giving a total possible score of 90 points per team.
Consisted of bacon, various breads, chicken eggs, maple syrup, orange juice, and pork sausage. Chosen to highlight grilling as a cooking method as part of Food Network's "Grillin' & Chillin'" Week.
Season 5: 2007
Consisted of fresh ingredients purchased from the Green Market at Union Square in New York City, including a variety of winter vegetables, fruit and guinea fowl. An ICA special based around Symon's debut battle as an Iron Chef. Other than his preference for farm-fresh ingredients, no formal specialty was announced for Moore. This is the cuisine style attributed to Agraria in Washington, D.C., where Moore is executive chef. Consisted of traditional American Thanksgiving staples: turkey, sweet potatoes, cranberries, corn, and pumpkin. An ICA special which featured two teams of Food Network personalities facing off in a holiday dessert battle, with each team having one sous chef instead of the usual two. First aired on Food Network on January 20, 2008, after the first two episodes of Season 6 were broadcast.