Temperature Control and Food Safety Certification MN
In order to obtain Food Safety Certification in MN, one key is to understand how to control the temperature of cooked foods, and the proper cooking temperatures for raw foods. Grasping these concepts is not only necessary in order to gain your food manager certification, but also to prevent foodborne illness and ensure quality.
Proper Temperature Checking Technique
Simply inserting your probe thermometer into a cooked meat item will not always give you an accurate temperature result. There are certain things that you should be aware of to ensure proper control when checking the temperature of prepared food items:
- To check the temperature of beef, lamb, and pork roasts, you need to check the thickest portion.
- Avoid contact between your probe thermometer and any bones
- To check the chicken, probe on the thickest part of the breast.
- It is recommended that thin food be checked with a thermocouple-style thermometer
- Stir hot and cold soups, sauces, and other liquids before checking them.
Food Safety Certification Tips For Calibrating Your Probe Thermometer
No matter how often you check the temperature of your temperature-controlled items, you will not receive accurate results if you are using a probe thermometer that is not properly calibrated. Health inspectors will calibrate their thermometers before every inspection. Likewise, food safety certification-aware kitchen staff should also recalibrate often to assure accurate temperature control. Thermometers should be calibrated before their first use after they have been dropped, or after they have gone from one temperature extreme to the other. There are two methods to properly calibrate a probe thermometer.
Boiling method
- Bring water to a boil
- Once your water has reached a boil, insert your thermometer
- Adjust your probe to read 32 degrees Fahrenheit.
- Ice-water method
- Fill a container with crushed ice and then add water
- Wait five minutes in order for your ice water’s temperature to stabilize
- Insert your thermometer into the center of your ice water, making sure the probe does not touch the side or bottom of your container
- Adjust the probe to read 32 degrees Fahrenheit.
Ice Water Method
- Ice-water method
- Fill a container with crushed ice and then add water
- Wait five minutes in order for your ice water’s temperature to stabilize
- Insert your thermometer into the center of your ice water, making sure the probe does not touch the side or bottom of your container
- Adjust the probe to read 32 degrees Fahrenheit
The ice-water method is the safest and most accurate method. The Food Safety Certification MN training should cover these tips and other temperature control information in depth to ensure understanding.
