That was smart, or maybe he got it by looking at shows and how it looked/had an idea of what ice cream models where there. Because it is usual that the freaking ice cream machine in Chopped does not work as intended and whatever comes out of it is a mystery.
Also, in Chopped, even if they do equip the pantry and fridge, it seems they have a limit on the amount of stuff they put because there are times where two contestants want the same ingredients, and turns out one of them used up all what was available.
Frequently, not getting the grill pan hot enough is a problem, though, so I would have thought that the contestants need to get their own stuff heated up.