Category: Health & Safety
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Keeping Hot Food Hot
It is usually safe to eat high risk foods immediately after cooking, providing the cooking temperature was sufficiently high to kill the bacteria. If, however, even a short period of time elapses between cooking and eating then bacteria has a chance to multiply again. You can avoid this by storing the food in a heated…
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Temperature control – Cooking with soups, stocks and eggs
Soups and stocks It is much safer to prepare soups and stocks in small quantities and throw away any left over at the end of the day. [Hmmm, if it’s stored properly in the fridge or freezer there’s no real need for the home cook to throw it away.] It is bad practice to top…
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Temperature control – Cooking meat and poultry
Most bacteria will not survive at temperatures above 70°C (160°F). This is why food must be cooked or reheated thoroughly. The temperature must be reached throughout the food and maintained for several minutes. Bacteria on meat are usually on the surface and easily killed by cooking. However, in a rolled joint or in minced meat…
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Temperature Control in the Kitchen
We’ve already covered temperature control in the Danger Zone article, but here’s a little recap. Temperature control is important because bacteria grow rapidly in foods, particularly high risk foods which are left standing in the temperature danger zone. The temperature danger zone is between 5°C and 63°C (40°F-145°F). Most bacteria do not grow, or grow…
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Kitchen Work Flow
Organising the kitchen into separate areas for separate tasks lies at the heart of hygienic kitchen design. The exact layout depends on the size of the kitchen as well as what type of meals are to be prepared there. The objective is to facilitate a smooth work flow: DELIVERY >> STORAGE>> PREPARATION>> SERVICE It’s all…
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Toilets and washing facilities
There are some rules to follow for toilet and washing facilities: toilets must not lead directly onto food rooms toilets must be well ventilated and there must be facilities for washing and drying hands hand washing is less likely to be overlooked if the hand wash basins are situated by the exit a “Now Wash…