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Two firsts, and a calendar all its own.
Season 62 skips the tournament bracket, but two genuine structural firsts and a calendar shared with no other season make it one of the cleanest, most distinctive entries this canon has ranked in years.
One swapped round, one judging host.
Season 62 spends its nine months on two structural firsts instead of sharing a release window with anything else in the batch. A No Kid Hungry charity hour swaps the format's usual appetizer-entrée-dessert order for breakfast, lunch, and dessert, and a Ted's Takeover episode puts Ted Allen on the other side of the table as a fourth judge — only the second time in the show's history a host has scored the food instead of just eating it.
The #21 slot.
Slot #21 of 62 in the Chopped Editor's Canon. Season 62 sits between this batch's two cleanest-calendar seasons, and the placement comes down to a fine distinction. It shares Season 27's zero-overlap release window, but adds real format credit — two structural firsts Season 27 never attempts — which is enough to edge it just above. That same credit doesn't reach Season 16's spot at the top of this stretch: this canon rates Season 16's unbroken baseline reliability as the harder thing to sustain across a full run than a single season's novel wrinkle, however genuine. Season 62 lands where variation on a proven format beats plain execution, but plain execution sustained this long still beats variation.
4 moments, no spoilers.
- No Kid Hungry · swapped round order
A charity episode replaces the usual appetizer-entrée-dessert structure with breakfast, lunch, and dessert rounds. Watch it as a rare change to the format's own course order.
- Ted's Takeover · host at the table
Ted Allen joins the judging panel as a fourth judge for one hour, only the second time a host has judged in the show's history. Watch how the panel dynamic shifts with him across the table instead.
- No Kid Hungry hour · the pantry problem
The reordered rounds draw from a different pantry than a standard round would — savory morning staples don't overlap with a sweet basket the way an entrée's ingredients would. Watch the chefs adjust their instincts to a sequence the format has never asked of them before.
- Ted's Takeover · judging from the other side
The host spends the hour on the panel instead of running it, changing what gets asked and how a critique lands coming from someone who has hosted every prior season. Watch for how the other judges react to his read on a plate.