The two stages
- Stage 1: from 135°F down to 70°F within 2 hours.
- Stage 2: from 70°F down to 41°F within 4 more hours (6 hours total).
- Food made from room-temperature ingredients (like tuna salad) must reach 41°F within 4 hours.
- Log the time and temperature at the start, at 2 hours and at 6 hours.
Sources: Food Code 3-501.14 · Source protocols: cooling log (start, 2 hours, 6 hours)
If you miss a stage
- Missed stage 1 (not 70°F by 2 hours): reheat to 165°F and start over, or throw it out.
- Missed stage 2 (not 41°F by 6 hours): throw it out.
Sources: Source protocols: cooling hot food (if missed)
How to cool fast
- Divide food into shallow pans, 2 inches deep or less.
- Cut big roasts into pieces of 4 pounds or less.
- Metal pans cool faster than plastic.
- Set pans in an ice-water bath up to the food level.
- Stir every 15–30 minutes.
- Use ice wands, or add ice as an ingredient in soups and stews.
- Use a blast chiller if you have one.
- Leave food uncovered on the top shelf until it is below 41°F, then cover it.
- Don't stack pans. Leave room for air.
Sources: Food Code 3-501.15
Rice, beans and big pots
- Never cool a deep pot of rice, beans, chili or soup on the stove, on the counter, or in a closed cooler.
- Cooked rice and beans can carry Bacillus cereus spores that grow when food cools slowly.
- Foil-wrapped baked potatoes held warm can grow botulism.
Sources: Food Code 3-501.15 · Source protocols: TCS food guide (why some of these surprise people)
Food trucks
- Cool cooked TCS food at the commissary, not on the truck, unless your health officer exempts you.
Sources: R392-102-12(5)
The rules behind it
- Cooling. 135°F to 70°F within 2 hours, then to 41°F within 6 hours total. Food Code 3-501.14, 3-501.15; R392-102-12(5) (trucks: at the commissary)
- Cool food only at the commissary. Cooked TCS food is cooled at the commissary (135°F to 70°F in 2 hours, 41°F in 6), not on the truck, unless the health officer exempts you. R392-102-12(5); Food Code 3-501.14, 3-501.15 · source