1. Chapter 7 The Flow of Food: Preparation

2. General Preparation Practices
When prepping food:
Make sure workstations, cutting boards, and utensils are clean and sanitized
Prep food in small batches
Return prepped food to the cooler or cook it as quickly as possible
Instructor Notes
Remove from the cooler only as much food as you can prep in a short period of time. Also prep food in small batches. This keeps ingredients from sitting out for long periods of time.
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3. Thawing Four Methods for Thawing Food
Thaw food in a cooler, at a product temperature of 41°F (5°C) or lower
Submerge food under running water at 70°F (21°C) or lower
Thaw food in a microwave, only if cooked immediately after thawing
Thaw as part of the cooking process
Instructor Notes
Freezing does not kill pathogens. When frozen food is thawed and exposed to the temperature danger zone, any pathogens in the food will begin to grow. To reduce this growth, food should never be thawed at room temperature. The four acceptable methods for thawing food are presented in the slide.
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4. Prepping Specific Food
When prepping produce:
Make sure produce does not touch surfaces exposed to raw meat and poultry
Refrigerate and hold sliced melons, cut tomatoes, and cut leafy greens at 41°F (5°C) or lower
Do not serve raw seed sprouts if you primarily serve high-risk populations
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5. Prepping Specific Food
When prepping produce: continued
Wash it thoroughly under running water before:
Cutting
Cooking
Combining it with other ingredients
Produce can be washed in water containing ozone to sanitize it
Check with your local regulatory authority
Instructor Notes
Wash fruit and vegetables thoroughly under running water, The water should be a little warmer than the produce. Pay special attention to leafy greens such as lettuce and spinach. Remove the outer leaves, and pull the lettuce or spinach completely apart and rinse thoroughly.
Produce can be washed in water containing ozone to sanitize it. Check with your local regulatory authority to see if this is allowed in your jurisdiction.
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6. Prepping Specific Food
When prepping eggs and egg mixtures:
Handle pooled eggs (if allowed) with care:
Cook promptly after mixing, or store at 41°F (5°C) or lower
Wash and sanitize containers between batches
Consider using pasteurized shell eggs or egg products when prepping dishes that need little or no cooking
Instructor Notes
Pooled eggs are eggs that are cracked open and combined in a container.
Check with your local regulatory authority to see if pooling eggs is allowed.
Egg dishes requiring little or no cooking include: Caesar salad dressing, Hollandaise sauce, tiramisu, and mousse.
Use pasteurized eggs or egg products when serving raw or undercooked dishes to high-risk populations.
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7. Preparation Practices That Require a Variance
You need a variance if prepping food in these ways:
Smoking food to preserve it but not to enhance flavor
Using food additives or components to preserve or alter food so it no longer needs time and temperature control for safety
Curing food
Custom-processing animals
Instructor Notes
A variance is a document issued by the regulatory authority that allows a requirement to be waived or changed.
When applying for a variance, your regulatory authority may require you to submit a HACCP plan. The plan must account for any food safety risks related to the way you plan to prep the food item.
Vinegar or other components are sometimes added to preserve or alter food so it no longer needs time and temperature control for safety.
An example of custom-processing animals may include dressing deer in the operation for personal use.
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8. Preparation Practices That Require a Variance
You need a variance if prepping food in these ways: continued
Packaging food using a reduced-oxygen packaging (ROP) method
Sprouting seeds or beans
Offering live, molluscan shellfish from a display tank
Instructor Notes
Clostridium botulinum and Listeria monocytogenes are risks to food packaged using a reduced-oxygen packaging method. This includes MAP, vacuum-packed and sous vide food.
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9. Cooking Food When cooking TCS food, the internal portion must:
Reach the required minimum internal temperature
Hold that temperature for a specific amount of time
Instructor Notes
The only way to reduce pathogens in food to safe levels is to cook it to its required minimum internal temperature. This temperature is different for each food.
If customers request that food items be cooked to temperatures lower than their minimum internal temperatures, you need to inform the customers of the potential risk of foodborne illness. Also be aware of special menu restrictions if you serve high-risk populations.
While cooking reduces pathogens in food, it does not destroy spores or toxins they may have produced. You still must handle food correctly before you cook it.
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10. Cooking Requirements for Specific Food
Minimum internal cooking temperature:
155°F (68°C) for 15 seconds
Ground meat—beef, pork, and other meat
Mechanically tenderized meat
Injected meat—including brined ham and flavor-injected roasts
Ground seafood—including chopped or minced seafood
Eggs that will be hot-held for service
Instructor Notes
The FDA recommends that mechanically tenderized meat be cooked to a minimum internal temperature of 155˚F (68˚C) for 15 seconds.
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11. Partial Cooking
If partially cooking meat, seafood, poultry, or eggs or dishes containing these items:
Never cook the food longer than 60 minutes during initial cooking
Cool the food immediately after initial cooking
Freeze or refrigerate the food after cooling it
Heat the food to at least 165˚F (74˚C) before selling or serving it
Cool the food if it will not be served immediately or held for service
Instructor Notes
Your local regulatory authority may require you to have written procedures that explain how the food cooked by this process will be prepped and stored. these procedures must be approved by the regulatory authority and describe the following:
How the requirements will be monitored and documented
Which corrective actions will be taken if requirements are not met
How these food items will be marked after initial cooking to indicate that they need further cooking
How these food items will be separated from ready-to-eat food during storage, once initial cooking is complete
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12. Consumer Advisories
If your menu includes TCS items that are raw or undercooked, you must:
Note it on the menu next to the items
Advise customers who order this food of the increased risk of foodborne illness
Post a notice in the menu
Provide this information using brochures, table tents, or signs
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13. Children’s Menus
Children should not be offered these items raw or undercooked:
Meat
Poultry
Seafood
Eggs
Instructor Notes
The FDA advises against offering raw or undercooked meat, poultry, seafood, or eggs to children. This is especially true for undercooked ground beef, which may be contaminated with shiga toxin-producing E. coli O157:H7.
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14. Cooling Food Cooling Requirements Instructor Notes
First, cool food from 135˚F to 70˚F (57˚C to 21˚C) within two hours.
Then cool it to 41˚F (5˚C) or lower in the next four hours.
If food has not reached 70˚F (21˚C) within two hours, it must be thrown out or reheated and then cooled again.
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15. Cooling Food
If you cool food from 135˚F to 70˚F (57˚C to 21˚C) in less than 2 hours:
Use the remaining time to cool it to 41˚F (5˚C) or lower
The total cooling time cannot be longer than 6 hours
Example:
If you cool food from 135˚F to 70˚F (57˚C to 21˚C) in 1 hour
Then you have 5 hours to get the food to 41˚F (5˚C) or lower
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16. Methods for Cooling Food
Before cooling food, start by reducing its size:
Cut larger items into smaller pieces
Divide large containers of food into smaller containers or shallow pans
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17. Methods for Cooling Food
Safe methods for cooling food:
Place it in an ice-water bath
Stir it with an ice paddle
Place it in a blast chiller
Place it in a tumble chiller
Instructor Notes
Never place large quantities of hot food in a cooler to cool. Coolers are designed to keep cold food cold. Most are not designed to cool hot food quickly. Also, placing hot food in a cooler or freezer to cool it may not move the food through the temperature danger zone quickly enough.
After dividing food into smaller containers, place them in a clean prep sink or a large pot filled with ice water. Stir the food frequently to cool it faster and more evenly.
Plastic paddles are available that can be filled with ice or with water and then frozen. Food stirred with these paddles will cool quickly. Food cools even faster when placed in an ice-water bath and stirred with an ice paddle.
Blast chillers blast cold air across food at high speeds to remove heat. They are typically used to cool large amounts of food.
Tumble chillers tumble bags of hot food in cold water. Tumble chillers work well on thick food such as mashed potatoes.
Food can also be cooled by adding ice or cold water as an ingredient. This works for soups, stews, and other recipes that have water as an ingredient. When cooling this way, the recipe is made with less water than required. Cold water or ice is then added after cooking to cool the food and provide the remaining water.
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18. Reheating Food Food Reheated for Immediate Service
Can be reheated to any temperature if it was cooked and cooled correctly
Food Reheated for Hot-Holding
Must be reheated to an internal temperature of 165°F (74°C) for 15 seconds within 2 hours
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19. Reheating Roasts
Roasts can be reheated to these alternative temperatures:
Temperature
Time
130˚F (54˚C)
112 minutes
131˚F (55˚C)
89 minutes
133˚F (56˚C)
56 minutes
135˚F (57˚C)
36 minutes
136˚F (58˚C)
28 minutes
Instructor Notes
Roasts can be reheated to the alternative temperatures listed in the slide, depending on the type of roast and the oven used. Check your local regulatory requirements.
138˚F (59˚C)
18 minutes
140˚F (60˚C)
12 minutes
142˚F (61˚C)
8 minutes
144˚F (62˚C)
5 minutes
145˚F (63˚C)
4 minutes
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