The power of an ingredient should never be underestimated, and the home cooks feel it when working with speck in the Chef's Fridge round and then while creating a restaurant-worthy Mac and Cheese. In the end, it all comes down to an intense deliberation as the chef judges debate flavour vs. technique.

When crowd-pleasing tacos fall apart, a home cook's future is on the line and it's a spicy second round when Chef Michele Forgione's fridge is opened up to reveal….'Nduja. In the final Restaurant-Worthy round, Chef Susur Lee challenges the last two home cooks to prepare one protein in two different ways and a big failure threatens to derail one home cook's previous successes.

A bitter ingredient in Chef Dale Mackay's fridge leaves the home cooks in a quandary and they are then charged with making a restaurant-worthy dessert inspired by Chef Guy Rawlings' peanut frozen custard. The chef judges know that three of the home cooks will face elimination, while only one can claim sweet victory and a $10,000 prize.