Servsafe Certification - Chapter 5: The Flow of Food

The Flow of Food in order.

Purchasing, receiving, storing, preparing, cooking, holding, cooling, reheating, serving.

Official best practices for preventing cross-contamination.

Use separate, color-coded equipment for new and RTE food; wash, rinse, and sanitize equipment after each task with new pathogens; prep raw and RTE foods at different times and store them in different places; buy prepared food.

Time-Temperature Abuse

When food remains in the temperature danger zone for longer than necessary, or has been cooked to below a minimum temperature.

The time TCS food must be thrown away after remaining in the temperature danger zone for.

4 hours.

The principles for avoiding time-temperature abuse.

Monitoring, tools, recording, time-temperature control, corrective actions.

The monitoring principle of avoiding time-temperature abuse.

Ensure management and staff know which food should be temperature monitored, what it should be monitored for, and why.

The tools principle of avoiding time-temperature abuse.

Use thermometers to ensure food reaches minimum temperature, and timers to ensure food stays out of the temperature danger zone.

The recording principle of avoiding time-temperature abuse.

Have food handlers record temperatures regularly and log them in visible locations.

The time-temp control principle of avoiding time-temperature abuse.

Ensure procedures do not keep TCS foods in the temperature danger zone for too long.

The corrective actions principle of avoiding time-temperature abuse.

Ensure staff reheats and recools food that enters the temperature danger zone.

The four types of monitors commonly seen in food service.

Bimetallic stemmed thermometers, thermocouplers, thermistors, infrared (laser) thermometers.

The range of temperatures bimetallic thermometers check.

0-220°F

The component bimetallic stemmed thermometers are accurate past.

The dimple.

Things a good quality bimetallic stemmed thermometer will have.

Calibration nuts, an easy-to-read display, and a dimple.

Foods bimetallic stemmed thermometers are not useful to measure.

Thin foods.

The orifice thermocouplers and thermistors measure temperature through.

The tip of a probe.

Immersion Probes

Probes used for liquids like soups.

Surface Probes

Probes used to take the temperature of equipment like grills.

Penetration Probes

Probes used to check the internal temperature of food.

Air Probes

Probes used for checking temperature inside coolers and ovens.

Types of temperature an infrared thermometer cannot measure.

Air temperature, internal temperature.

Guidelines to follow while using an infrared thermometer.

Hold the thermometer close to the object without touching it, remove anything between the laser and the exact object being measured, follow manufacturer instructions.

Maximum Registering Thermometers

Thermometers that record the maximum temperature reached during use, typically used to ensure dishwashers get hot enough.

Time-Temperature Indicators

Small devices used to ensure food has not been time-temperature abused during the shipment process, attached to products.

The Boiling-Point method of calibrating a thermometer.

Bring water to a boil and insert the thermometer. Wait until it stops moving and then adjust the thermometer’s temperature to 212°F.

The Ice-Point method of calibrating a thermometer.

Fill a large container with ice and add tap water until full. Submerge thermometer and wait for dial to stop moving, then adjust temperature to read 32°F.

Times to calibrate a thermometer.

Before each shift, before deliveries, after extreme temperature changes, after one has been bumped.

The degree to which thermometers must be accurate.

Plus or minus 2°F for food, and plus or minus 3°F for air.

Spots to insert thermometers when taking temperatures.

A random spot, then the thickest spot.

What to wait for before logging temperature readings.

The thermometer to steady.