Steph Woon

The MasterChef kitchen welcomes 12 emerging home cooks and 12 of MasterChef's most loved past contestants. Together they will share their love of food and compete to become Australia's next MasterChef.

Teams need to create the prefect date night meal including an entrancee, main and dessert for 25 couples plus the judges. The two teams with the least impressive menu will head to a shock elimination.

26 alphabetical mystery boxes contain single ingredients that correspond with the letter on the box. Chefs must cook using their designated ingredient, with the bottom four headed for a pressure test.

It's elimination day and the creator of the best Round 1 fare will keep their team safe. Those fighting to avoid the drop must then prepare a tasty dish to be left overnight and cooked the next day.

The bottom two teams from yesterday's challenge face elimination and must split their 90 minute cooking time over two rounds, with the creator of the least impressive second round dish going home.

In a grungy Fitzroy warehouse, contestants lift the lids on their mystery boxes, leading to coffee beans spilling out across their bench as judges reveal they must create a dish that features coffee.