Food Cooling and Reheating SOP Template

1.Purpose

To cool cooked food quickly enough to prevent bacterial growth, and to reheat it to a safe temperature before it is hot held or served.

2.Scope

Applies to all cooked TCS food that is cooled for later use and later reheated, including soups, sauces, rice, beans and cooked proteins. Initial cooking temperatures are covered by recipe cards and the line check SOP.

Definitions

TCS food

Time/temperature control for safety food, such as cooked rice, sauces or meat, that supports rapid bacterial growth if not cooled or reheated correctly.

Two-stage cooling

Cooling cooked food from 135 degrees Fahrenheit to 70 degrees Fahrenheit within 2 hours, then from 70 degrees to 41 degrees Fahrenheit or below within an additional 4 hours, or as required by your local food code.

Ice bath

A container of ice and water used to surround a pot or pan of hot food to speed up cooling.

3.Responsibilities

Line Cook

Cools and reheats food following the required times and temperatures and logs each check.

Sous Chef

Spot-checks cooling and reheating logs during the shift and decides on corrective action for out-of-range items.

Executive Chef

Sets which items must be cooled or reheated using this SOP and reviews the logs weekly.

RACI matrix

R = Responsible, A = Accountable, C = Consulted, I = Informed

4.Materials and PPE

Materials, tools and systems

• →Calibrated probe thermometer
• →Shallow metal pans for cooling
• →Ice paddles or ice wands
• →Ice bath containers
• →Cooling and reheating temperature log
• →Timer or kitchen clock

Personal protective equipment

• →Oven mitts or heat-resistant gloves
• →Apron

5.Procedure

1. 5.1

   Decide which items need active cooling

   Line Cook

   As soon as a batch of soup, sauce, rice or cooked protein will not be served or hot held immediately, the line cook flags it for active cooling rather than leaving it to cool on the counter.

2. 5.2

   Transfer food into shallow pans

   Line Cook

   Divide hot food into shallow metal pans no deeper than about 2 inches, or use an ice paddle in a stockpot, to increase surface area for faster cooling.

3. 5.3

   Start the first cooling stage

   Line Cook

   Place the pans uncovered in an ice bath or in the walk-in with space around them for airflow, and note the start time and starting temperature on the cooling log.

4. 5.4

   Check temperature at the two-hour mark

   Line Cook

   At two hours, probe the thickest part of the food and record the temperature on the log to confirm it has dropped to 70 degrees Fahrenheit or below.

   Checkpoint: Food reaches 70 degrees Fahrenheit or below within 2 hours of starting to cool, or as required by your local food code.

5. 5.5

   Continue cooling to the final temperature

   Line Cook

   If the first stage passed, keep the food cooling uncovered or loosely covered until it reaches 41 degrees Fahrenheit or below, within 4 more hours, then record the time and temperature.

   Checkpoint: Food reaches 41 degrees Fahrenheit or below within a total of 6 hours from the start of cooling, or as required by your local food code.

6. 5.6

   Handle food that fails a cooling checkpoint

   Sous Chef

   If the food is still above 70 degrees Fahrenheit after 2 hours, or above 41 degrees Fahrenheit after the full cooling window, discard it and note the reason on the log.

   Warning: Food that fails a cooling checkpoint must be thrown away, not restarted or served.

7. 5.7

   Cover and label cooled food

   Line Cook

   Once food reaches 41 degrees Fahrenheit or below, cover the pan, label it with the item name, cooled date and use-by date, and move it to its normal storage shelf.

8. 5.8

   Pull the correct item for reheating

   Line Cook

   When reheating for hot holding or service, pull the labeled item and check that it is within its use-by date before heating it.

9. 5.9

   Reheat to the required temperature quickly

   Line Cook

   Reheat the food on the stove, in the oven or in another rapid-heating method until it reaches at least 165 degrees Fahrenheit within 2 hours, or as required by your local food code.

   Warning: Never reheat food in a slow cooker or steam table, since they do not heat fast enough to pass through the danger zone safely.

10. 5.10

    Verify reheating temperature before holding

    Line Cook

    Probe the thickest part of the reheated food and record the temperature on the log before transferring it to a hot holding unit.

    Checkpoint: Reheated food reaches at least 165 degrees Fahrenheit for 15 seconds before it is hot held, or as required by your local food code.

11. 5.11

    Discard food that will not be reheated within one day

    Line Cook

    Follow the label's use-by date and discard any cooled item that has not been reheated or used within the time set by your food safety plan.

12. 5.12

    Review the cooling and reheating log

    Executive Chef

    Weekly, the executive chef or sous chef reviews the log for repeated failures and adjusts batch sizes, pan depth or staffing to fix the root cause.

6.Quality checks

• →Cooling log shows the required temperature drop at each checkpoint.
• →No food was left cooling in deep, covered containers.
• →Reheated food reached at least 165 degrees Fahrenheit before hot holding.
• →Items that failed a cooling checkpoint were discarded and logged, not served.

7.Records

• →Cooling temperature log
• →Reheating temperature log
• →Discard log for failed cooling or reheating checks

8.KPIs

• →Percent of cooling checks passing the two-stage time limits
• →Number of items discarded for failed cooling per month
• →Average time from cook to fully cooled
• →Percent of reheated items meeting the 165 degree checkpoint

9.Common mistakes

• →Cooling a large pot of soup in a deep container instead of shallow pans.
• →Covering food tightly while it is still hot and cooling.
• →Using a steam table to reheat food instead of the stove or oven.
• →Not recording the starting time, so the two-hour checkpoint cannot be verified.
• →Restarting the cooling clock instead of discarding food that failed a checkpoint.

10.Revision history