Each episode includes a team or individual challenge; the winning chef or player may get a reward, while the losing team or players are required to perform some kitchen duty in preparation for the dinner service. During dinner service, teams are responsible for preparing food to Chef Gordon Ramsay's very demanding taste and appearance requirements as well as within a limited time frame. Ramsay may throw away a complete dish due to one element being off usually sending a barrage of insults and obsenities to the player or team and requiring the team to re-prepare this dish or the entire table if necessary. If Ramsay sees failure in the kitchen he may force one player to take over for another. If the entire kitchen is in a debacle Ramsay may shut down the dinner service prematurely, often using his catchphrase "Shut it down!" After the dinner service, Ramsay will select the winning team who may get an additional reward, and then will select the best player on the losing team to make a decision about which two fellow teammates to nominate for elimination. Alternatively, if the service is so bad (or good), Ramsay may declare no team the winner, or no specific player on the losing team as the best, requiring the team(s) to nominate someone for elimination. When the game is down to a single team but still more than three people, the winning player will select the two to be nominated. Each nominated player has a chance to plead their case to Ramsay, but he makes the final decision, at which point the eliminated player hands over their chef's jacket.
Source:
Wikipedia