Evening service: cooking, reheating and hot holding

Priya is on the grill in a café. She probes a thin burger from the batch. It reads 70°C, so she serves the whole batch straight away.

One reading is not enough. FSA guidance gives these equivalents for the core of the food: 75°C for 30 seconds, 80°C for 6 seconds or 70°C for 2 minutes. At 70°C, the core must stay there for the full 2 minutes. Priya should also have checked the thickest burger. Burgers are minced, so they must be cooked right through. The same applies to poultry, pork, rolled joints and offal.

Is your probe accurate? In iced water it should read between −1°C and +1°C. In boiling water it should read between 99°C and 101°C.

Later, a kitchen in England puts last night's bolognese into a bain-marie to warm it up for service. This is wrong. A bain-marie keeps hot food hot, but it heats food too slowly. In England, Wales and Northern Ireland, reheat food quickly on a hob or in an oven until it is piping hot throughout. A core of 75°C is the common guide. In Scotland, the law says reheated food must reach at least 82°C, unless this would harm its quality. In every nation, reheat food only once.

Once food is hot, keep it at 63°C or above in England, Wales and Northern Ireland, and above 63°C in Scotland. In England, Wales and Northern Ireland, hot food on display can be kept below 63°C once, for less than 2 hours. After that, throw it away, or cool it as quickly as possible to 8°C or below. Do not use this tolerance in Scotland.