1. The Flow of food: Preparation
Chapter 7
The Flow of food: Preparation

2. Preparation:General Preparation Practices
Equipment-make sure workstations, cutting boards, and utensils are clean and sanitized.
Quantity- Remove from the cooler only as much food as you can prep in a short period of time.
Storage-return prepped food to the cooler, or cook it as quickly as possible.

3. Thawing Refrigeration: thaw in a cooler (41° or lower)
Running water: submerge food under running water at 70˚ or lower.
Microwave: thaw food in a microwave oven if it will be cooked just after thawing.
Cooking: Thaw food as part of the cooking process

4. Produce
Cross-contamination: make sure fruit and veggies do NOT touch surfaces exposed to raw meat or poultry.
Washing-water should be a little warmer than the produce, pay special attention to leafy greens such as lettuce and spinach
Sanitizing-water containing ozone
Soaking or storing-when soaking or storing produce in standing water or an ice-water slurry, do NOT mix different items or multiple batches of the same item.

5. Produce continued
Fresh-cut produce- Regrigerate and hold sliced melons, cut tomatoes, and cut leafy greens at 41˚or lower
Raw seed sprouts- If your operation primarily serves high-risk populations, do NOT serve raw seed sprouts.

6. Batter and Breading
Batch size- prep batter in small batches. Store what you don’t need at 41˚or lower in a covered container
Discarding- create a plan to throw out any unused batter or breading after a set amount of time.
Allergens- Do NOT use the same batter or breading fro different types of food if one of the food items can cause an allergic reaction.

7. Eggs and Egg Mixtures Pooled eggs- handle carefully
Pasteurized eggs- for items that need little or no cooking. Caesar salad dressing, hollandaise sauce, Pasta Carbonara
High-risk populations- pasteurized eggs

8. Salads Containing TCS Food
Using leftovers- TCS must be handled the right way (cooked, held and cooled correctly)
Storing leftovers- throw out leftover food held at 41˚or lower after seve days. (check the use-by date)

9. Fresh Juice Packaged On-Site
Fresh juice – use pasteurized according to HACCP plan, Hazard Analysis Critical Control Point
Or label as specified by federal regulation.

10. Ice Consumption- Make ice from water that is safe to drink
Cooling food- NEVER use ice as an ingredient if it was used to keep food cold
Containers and scoops- Store ice scoops outside of the ice machine in a clean, protected location. NEVER hold or carry ice in containers that have held raw meat, seafood, or poultry or chemicals. NEVER use a glass to scoop ice or touch ice with hands.

11. Preparation Practices That Require a Variance
Smoking food as a way to preserve it (not to enhance flavor)
Using food additives or adding components such as vinegar to preserve or alter the food so it no longer needs time and temperature control for safety
Curing food
Custom-processing animals
Packaging food using a reduced-oxygen packaging (ROP) method.
Sprouting seeds or beans
Offering live, molluscan shellfish from a display tank.

12. How to Check Temperatures
Pick a thermometer with a probe that is the right size for the food
Check the temperature in the thickest part of the food
Take at least two readings in different locations.

13. Cooking TCS Food in the Microwave
Cover the food to prevent its surface from drying out
Rotate or stir it halfway through the cooking process
Let the covered food stand for at least two minutes after cooking to let the food temperature even out
Check the temperature in at least 2 places to make sure that the food is cooked through.

14. Partial Cooking During Preparation
Do not cook the food for longer than 60 minutes during initial cooking
Cool the food immediately after initial cooking
Freeze or refrigerate the food after cooling it. If refrigerating the food, make sure it is held at 41˚or lower.
Heat the food to at least 165˚before selling or serving it
Cool the food if it will not be served immediately or held for service

15. Consumer Advisories
Disclosure- If your menu includes TCS items that are raw or undercooked, you must note it on the menu next to these items.
Reminder- If your menu includes TCS that are raw or undercooked, you must note it on the menu
Reminder- You must advise customers who order food that is raw or undercooked of the increased risk of foodborne illness. Check your local regulatory requirements.

16. Children’s Menus
The FDA advises against offering raw or undercooked meat, poultry, seafood, or eggs to children.
Undercooked ground beef- shiga toxin-producing E.coli

17. Operations that Mainly Serve High-Risk Populations
NEVER serve raw seed sprouts or raw or undercooked eggs, meat, or seafood.
Over-easy eggs, raw oysters on the half shell, and rare hamburgers.

18. Cooling Food
Cool TCS food from 135˚to 41˚F or lower within six hours. Total cooling time cannot be longer than 6 hours.
First, cool food from 135˚to 70˚within two hours.
Then cool it to 41˚or lower in the next 4 hours.
If food has not reached 70˚F within two hrs., it must be thrown out or reheated and then cooled again.

19. Methods for Cooling Food
Thickness or density of the food- the denser the food, the more slowly it will cool
Storage container- stainless steel transfers heat away from food faster than plastic. Shallow pans let the heat from food disperse faster than deep pans.
NEVER place large quantities of hot food in a cooler to cool. Coolers are designed to keep cold food cold.
Before cooling food, you should start by reducing its size. (cools faster)
Food can also be cooled by adding ice or cold water as an ingredient.

20. Ice-water bath
Ice paddle
Blast chiller or a tumble chiller

21. Reheating food Food reheated for hot-holding
From start to finish you must heat the food to an internal temperature of 165˚F within two hours. Make sure food stays at this temperature for at least 15 seconds.
Temperature
Time
130˚F (54˚C)
112 minutes
131˚F (55˚C)
89 minutes
133˚F (56˚C)
56 minutes
135˚F (36˚C)
28 minutes
136˚F (58˚C)
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