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The excitement around Kitchen Stadium is heating up, as Food Network has released details about season three of The Next Iron Chef. Secret-ingredient overlord Alton Brown will host the competition, and he'll have his hands full with 10 Iron Chef hopefuls, including the likes of Blue Ginger's Ming Tsai, Hearth's Marco Canora, and Marc Forgione, a mohawk-sporting chef who goes by the nickname "Forge."

Donatella Arpaia is set to return as judge, where she'll be joined by Iron Chef Michael Symon and food writer Simon Majumdar. This season starts out in Los Angeles; chefs will then make their way to Las Vegas and finally New York, where the last battle will take place in the famed Kitchen Stadium. The winner will start immediately as an Iron Chef-- their first battle on Iron Chef America takes place on November 28, just one week after The Next Iron Chef's finale.

As in the past, many of the challenges are designed to test how "worthy" these Iron Chefs are. This season, contestants will have to cook on a desert island and catch the secret ingredient in the wild; design recipes out of condiments such as ketchup, ranch dressing and mayonnaise; create an Iron Chef worthy meal out of corned-beef hash; and create a snack out of pickles.

You guys are right: The problem with The Next Food Network Star is that it challenges the contestants with tasks that I can't imagine them having to face if they actually win. I watched last night with a friend who had never seen before, and he was pretty much laughing out loud. That said, I still kind of really like it. Agree? Disagree? Read on.