SOP For Effectively Cooling Cooked Foods in Hotel Kitchen

SOP Number: Kitchen / F&B Production SOP

Department: Kitchen / Food Production - Cooling Cooked Foods

Purpose of this SOP:

When cooked food is not served right away to the guest or is left over and can be saved later, it must be cooled as quickly as possible to prevent microbial growth. The temperatures of the cooked food should be taken during the cooling process to make sure that time and temperature standards are met to ensure the safety of food served to customers.

The Executive Chef and the Sous Chef should be responsible to ensure that the hot foods are cooled down using appropriate practices and procedures to ensure food safety and sanitation. The hotel management should develop and implement proper written Kitchen SOP's to ensure the same is implemented correctly throughout all the food preparation outlets.

Cooling Cooked Foods Standard Procedures:

There are two main acceptable methods of cooling food 1) The One-Stage Method and 2) Two-Stage Method, other methods are also used to cool down the cooked foods. The chefs or kitchen employees who are involved in the cooling process of food must observe and follow the correct cooling procedures:

One-stage (four hours) method:

• To cool down hot cooked food from 57º Celsius to 5º Celsius within four hours using an appropriate procedure.
• Take temperatures of the product after four hours to make sure that food temperature is below 5º Celsius.
• Record the temperatures on cooling log on a regular interval.
• Make sure to reheat food to above 57º Celsius if food has not cooled to 5º Celsius in four hours.

Two-stage method:

• Cool hot cooked food from 57º Celsius to 21º Celsius or lower within two hours.
• Once it reaches 21º Celsius then cool down to 5º Celsius or lower within an additional four hours, for a total cooling time of six hours, using an appropriate procedure.
• Take temperatures at the two and six-hour intervals to make sure that the appropriate temperatures were reached.
• Reheat food to above 74º Celsius if food has not cooled to 5º Celsius in four hours.
• This particular method allows six hours to cool in the first two hours of cooling the food is passed through part of the temperature danger zone where the growth of microorganisms is most likely to occur.

Other Methods for Cooling Foods:

• By reducing the quantity of the food being cooled.
• Cutting large food items into smaller pieces or divide large containers of food into smaller containers.
• By using a blast chiller or tumble chillers to cool food before placing it into refrigerated storage.
• By using ice-water baths.
• Divide cooked food into shallow pans or smaller pots then place them in ice water and stir food items frequently.
• Add ice or water as an ingredient while preparing foods, This works for foods that contain water as an ingredient, such as a soup or stew.
• The recipe can initially be prepared with less water than is required.
• Cold water or ice can then be added after cooking to cool the product and to provide the remaining water required in the recipe.
• Stir food to cool faster and more evenly. Ice paddles (plastic paddles that are filled with water and frozen) and chill sticks can be used to stir food through the cooling process.
• Stirring food with these cold paddles chills food quickly as this acts as internal ice baths.

 

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