With that said, the Challenger Chef makes his way into the Kitchen Stadium via a red carpeted walkway to the awaiting Kaga to accept his challenge. After Kaga greets the Challenger Chef, he announces, "I now call upon the Iron Chefs!" Upon a high pedestal there are large photos of each Iron Chef placed in archways, and from below the three Iron Chefs rise to meet their competition. Kaga asks the Challenger who he would like to choose to battle against him. Usually, it is the Iron Chef that matches the cuisine the Challenger is best at (Japanese vs. Japanese, Chinese vs. Chinese etc.), but sometimes the Challenger surprises Kaga and chooses another Iron Chef from a different cuisine entirely, which makes things more interesting. The Iron Chef descends into the Kitchen Stadium Arena and Kaga stands on a platform above them to introduce the theme ingredient. Like the Iron Chefs, the theme ingredient is displayed in a very decorative fashion and rises from below to keep with the dramatics of the show. Kaga introduces it, and the chefs have five minutes to gather their wits and figure out what they will cook in an hour. Going beyond this author's comprehension, the ingredients can be anything from rice to broccoli and with the chefs' exceptional talents, making many different dishes in an hour is not difficult. Nevertheless, this is what makes Iron Chef, so exhilarating because there is not another show that can boast this much excitement with cooking.

Then, with the "Gong of Fate" resounding and Kaga's announcement of "Allez Cuisine!" the battle is on and the show shifts gears to give the viewer a unique perspective on preparing meals in under an hour. Talk about your quick turnarounds! Fortunately, each chef has sous chefs (other chefs whom help prepare food for the main chef), so it is not just one man doing everything, which would be impossible to do in an hour. The Kitchen Stadium Arena is made up of an array of large ovens, multiple stovetops, and other appliances, including an industrial ice cream maker, which the chefs use to prepare their culinary masterpieces. A female voice announces the time that is left in the battle for the viewers, and Ohta, Fukui, and Hattori move the show along with their commentary.

Fukui is the guide to the show's play-by-play sports-like commentary; he acts as the mediator between Ohta and Hattori who add in their own commentary to make it more detailed and informative. He also announces and describes the chosen Iron Chef, which is accompanied by a myriad of black and white photographs that end with fiery kanji on a black background that spell out the Iron Chef's name. Idle comments from the panel of guests add even more interesting insight into the show's progress. The fast talking Ohta livens up the pace of the commentary as he reports on the questioned ingredients from the main floor to Fukui. With a "Fukui-san?", Ohta gets his chance to give the lowdown on what is going on in the arena that he cannot see from the viewing booth.

After the battle is done, Fukui describes the dishes prepared by the chefs and then introduces the next part of the show, the Tasting. The Tasting is when Kaga and four other judges, some of which are made of the Guest Commentators and two independent judges, sit down and eat the products of the battles. Each judge, except Kaga, comments on the taste of the food or the texture of the food with the chef observing. Each of the chefs has his turn at the tasting and then comes the moment of truth, the Judgment. The Judgment is when Kaga and the judges come back out onto the main stage of the Kitchen Stadium Arena to give their verdict. "Who will win this battle?" comments Fukui as the stage is brought to an uncomfortable pause of silence.