Judges acting nervous/shouting "Get it on the plate!!!" as time elapses

Because if theyre making what looks like delicious plates you want to make sure you get some for not only taste but to judge fairly.

Yes but this shouting "get it on the plate" is something new, started, I think, by that odious blonde chef. If i were a chef on there I'd shot back "shut up!"

Most of those moments are fabricated through editing.

Those contestants finish their dishes with minutes between them. Ever notice how you never see Ted Allen actually counting down in the same shot as plating? It's because there were likely a few minutes where at least some of the chefs were standing around, waiting for the clock.

Hell, I saw them try to pull a "last-second plating" on a contestant's spring rolls. SPRING ROLLS, for the love of God. With pre-cooked meat.

She literally chopped the sh_t up, stuff it into a rice wrapping, and throw some ponzu/other umami sauce into a ramican. That's. It. And they had the balls to present it as if she was down to the wire.

Anyone who knows how to wrap a spring roll can do that at home in ten minutes tops.

What I don't quite understand, is when the chef finishes three of the four plates, they serve that fourth plate to the judges, rather than put it under the cover. It seems to be done just so the judge can say "I can't tell... I didn't get any such and such."

That's what we need - ridiculous odds, and just a speck of hope that someday, we'll beat it

Either as a reminder or drama purposes.