Cooking, reheating and hot holding
Thorough cooking is the step that actually kills bacteria — the one point in the kitchen where you destroy the hazard rather than just slow it down. That is why the temperatures here are checked with a probe, not judged by eye.
Cooking
The working standard is 75°C in the thickest part (or an equivalent like 70°C held for two minutes). It matters most for the risky items: poultry, minced and rolled meats (burgers, sausages, kebabs), pork, and anything stuffed or reformed — the bacteria are through the middle, not just on the surface. Whole cuts like steak can be seared outside and pink inside; a burger cannot.
- Probe the thickest part, away from bone; wipe the probe before and after (see cross-contamination).
- Juices from poultry should run clear; no pink in mince.
- Follow your kitchen's cooking checks — the record is the proof it happened.
Reheating
Reheat until steaming hot all the way through (75°C) — and only once. Food that has been reheated and not used is finished; each trip through the warm zone grows more bacteria than the last. Stir microwaved food and let it stand so there are no cold spots.
Hot holding
Food held hot for service must stay at 63°C or above — bain-maries and hot cabinets hold temperature, they do not heat food up, so everything goes in fully hot. If hot holding fails, food can be below 63°C for a maximum of 2 hours, once — then it is served, chilled quickly, or binned.
Check your understanding
A customer asks for their burger rare. Steak is served rare — what's the difference?
Mincing spreads surface bacteria through the middle of the meat. A steak's inside is essentially sterile; a burger's is not — burgers get cooked through to 75°C.
Last night's curry is being reheated for lunch and only half sells. Reheat the rest tonight?
No — food is reheated once only. The unsold reheated portion is binned.
The bain-marie reads 55°C mid-service. What now?
Flag it and start the clock: below 63°C is allowed once, for up to 2 hours. Reheat the food to 75°C and fix the unit, use it fast, or bin it — and record what you did.
Doing this as part of your job?
If your workplace uses Localyn, ask your manager for your personal training link — completing modules through it records the training in the store's food safety evidence automatically. Managers: issue links from the Training page in your dashboard.
See it working before you sign up
Walk through a sample store with realistic demo data — no login required — or start a 1-month free trial and set up your first site with Localyn.