Conservation and food service temperatures

Complete food security and food service temperatures for businesses

Food storage temperatures are essential to monitor daily by catering establishments and restaurants. Discover below the legal and recommended temperatures for food safety, the temperatures to be checked and the types of thermometers that are best suited to each.

Food storage temperatures table

Dangerous area	8 to 63 ° C
Reviews of refrigerated dishes	8 ° C
Frozen products deliveries	-18 ° C
Refrigerator	5 ° C
Freezer	-18 ° C
Food cooked	70 ° C*
Refrigerated foods	8 ° C in 90 minutes
Raised dishes	70 ° C
Hot holder	63 ° C

Cooked food temperature

*The temperature of hot foods depends on what you serve. You can consult our table of cooking temperatures to find out the temperatures recommended for meat, confectionery and bakery products. Standard advice is to cook food until they reach 70 ° C And stay at this temperature for 2 minutes.

The other time and temperature combinations are:

60 ° C for 45 minutes
65 ° C for 10 minutes
70 ° C for 2 minutes
75 ° C for 30 seconds
80 ° C for 6 seconds

Cook food at the right temperature and during the right duration will guarantee the destruction of all harmful bacteria. Use a food probe thermometer to check that the heart of hot food has reached a safe temperature.

Dangerous area

The danger area is the optimal temperature range so that harmful bacteria develop in food. The temperature of the dangerous area for food is between 8 And 63 ° C.

To avoid any risk of foods of food origin, most hot foods should be cooked at a temperature above 63 ° C (certain foods such as bleeding beef are an exception to this rule). Cold foods should be kept at a temperature below 8 ° C.

Time is also important when it comes to the dangerous area. The longer foods remain between 8 And 63 ° C, the more risks of training of harmful bacteria. This is why, when food is cooked, cooled and reheated, it is recommended that they cross the dangerous area as quickly as possible.

Delivery temperature for refrigerated and frozen foods

When refrigerated and frozen foods arrive in your business, it may be wise to take the temperature between the products using a probe between the packaging to ensure that they stayed at the right temperature during transport.
The safe delivery temperature of refrigerated foods is 8 ° C or less. The delivery temperature of frozen products safely is -18 ° C or less.

Storage temperature for refrigerated and frozen foods

Cold foods should be kept to 8 ° C or less. This is a legal obligation in England, Wales and Northern Ireland. Ideally, the temperature of refrigerators in the United Kingdom should be maintained about 5 ° C ; Use a refrigerator thermometer to monitor this. For other cold foods such as preparation counters, use a food probe thermometer to take internal food measurements.

The secure storage temperature of frozen food is 18 ° C or less. Use the thermometers for refrigerator/freezer to check the freezers daily. It is also a good idea to take the temperatures between packaging to get a more precise idea of the temperature of your frozen foods and to make sure that your equipment is working properly.

Food cooling temperature

Related and refrigerated hot foods must be brought below 8 ° C As quickly as possible to reduce the growth of harmful bacteria. However, hot foods cannot be placed in a refrigerator or freezer as long as they have not cooled, otherwise this could increase the temperature of the refrigerator to a dangerous level and put other foods in danger. Ideally, hot foods should be cooled to Less than 8 ° C in 90 minutes.

Data recorders are an in -depth way to follow the security of your cooking and cooling processes.

Hot holding temperature

Maintaining warm is to cook hot food and keep them warm for a while before serving them. It is important that hot foods are maintained at a temperature above 63 ° C Before being served to avoid the growth of harmful bacteria. Use a food probe thermometer to test the central temperature of hot foods in order to make sure they can be served safely.

Hot foods should be consumed within two hours. If it has not been used within two hours, it can be warmed up 70 ° C (and maintained at this temperature for two minutes), then put back warm (provided that it has not already been warmed only once). Alternately, it can be cooled as quickly as possible until 8 ° C or less. Foods outside for more than two hours should be thrown away.

Temperature for warmed foods

Warm foods should be perfectly cooked. The temperature of the foods to be reheated in England is 70 ° C for two minutes or equivalent (see other duration and temperature combinations in the Cooked food temperature section).

Use a food thermometer probe to check the internal temperature of your foods warmed in several places to make sure they have reached a safe temperature everywhere.