How I Set Up the Cooked Food Temperature Check Template with Customers in Pilla
Cooking is the critical control point that kills the bacteria you can't wash off, can't see, and can't smell. I've reviewed monitoring records in hundreds of kitchens and the gap is rarely the cooking itself. The food comes out hot. The problem is that nobody checked the core, nobody recorded it, and when the EHO asks for evidence, there's nothing to show.
A timer and a visual check are not enough. Chicken can look done on the outside and still be raw at the bone. Reheated rice can be steaming on top and lukewarm in the middle. The only reliable way to confirm safety is a probe in the thickest part, a reading on the display, and a record that proves it happened. That's what this article covers. I'll walk you through what the law requires, where the real risks sit, and how I set up cooked food temperature checks as a work activity in Pilla so the records are there when you need them.
Key Takeaways
- What temperature should cooked food reach? The target is 75°C at the thickest part of the food for at least 2 seconds. Whole cuts of beef or lamb can be served below that if the surface has been properly seared, but minced products, poultry, and reheated food must hit 75°C throughout
- Why do you need to check? Regulation (EC) 852/2004 requires food to be cooked thoroughly enough to eliminate microbiological hazards. Your EHO will expect documented evidence that you're checking core temperatures on high-risk items, not just relying on timers or appearance
- How do you set it up in Pilla? Use the work template below, set it to run four times throughout each day, spread across service periods. Record the core temperature of each item you cook or reheat during that period
- How do you automate the follow-up? Set up Poppi to track completion and chase anyone who hasn't done their check
Article Content
Understanding What's Required of You
Cooking is a critical control point under HACCP. It's the step where you reduce harmful bacteria to safe levels. If it fails, nothing downstream, not hot holding, not serving, not packaging, can fix the problem. The food is unsafe and you won't know until someone gets ill.
The target core temperature is 75°C held for at least 2 seconds. That's the UK benchmark recommended by the Food Standards Agency. At 75°C, virtually all harmful bacteria, including Salmonella, Campylobacter, E. coli O157, and Listeria, are destroyed within seconds. Lower temperatures can achieve the same kill if held for longer (70°C for 2 minutes is an equivalent combination), but 75°C for 2 seconds is simpler to verify in a busy kitchen and gives a clear, repeatable target.
The legal basis is Regulation (EC) 852/2004, which requires food business operators to put procedures in place to ensure food is cooked thoroughly enough to eliminate microbiological hazards, or reduce them to acceptable levels. The regulation doesn't specify a number, but your EHO will assess you against FSA guidance, and the 75°C standard is what they expect to see documented.
There's a distinction that matters: whole muscle cuts versus minced products. A whole cut of beef or lamb can be served pink in the middle because bacteria sit on the surface, and searing the outside kills them. The interior was sterile to begin with. Minced meat is different. The mincing process folds surface bacteria through the entire product. A burger or sausage that's pink in the centre could have live E. coli O157 running through it. Minced products, poultry, pork, rolled joints, and anything that's been pierced or tenderised must reach 75°C throughout. No exceptions for customer preference.
Reheated food carries extra risk. It's already been through the danger zone once during cooling and storage, and bacteria may have multiplied during that time. Some bacteria, like Bacillus cereus in rice, produce heat-resistant toxins that survive even thorough reheating. That's why you reheat to 75°C, not just to serving temperature, and why food should only be reheated once. If it's not used after reheating, it goes in the bin.
Your EHO expects to see temperature records for high-risk cooked items: all poultry, minced products, large joints, reheated dishes, and anything for vulnerable groups. They'll check that you're recording item names, core temperatures, whether the item was cooked fresh or reheated, and what corrective action was taken when something didn't hit target. Records that show 75°C for every item, every day, with no variation and no corrective actions are as suspicious as no records at all. Real monitoring catches the occasional low reading and documents what happened next.
Setting It Up as a Work Activity
The cooked food temperature check template in Pilla uses a repeating element for each food item you check. Each row captures three things: the name of the food item (text input), whether it was cooked or reheated (single choice), and the core temperature reading (number input). You add one row per item checked during the service.
Create a work activity that runs four times throughout each day, spread across service periods, and assign it to the chef or team leader responsible. Record the core temperature of each item you cook or reheat during that period. Tag it with "Food Safety Checks" so it groups with your other monitoring tasks and Poppi can track them as a set.
What I'd want to see when reviewing this:
Each food item should be named specifically. "Chicken breast" is better than "chicken". "Beef lasagne (reheated, batch from Monday)" is better than "lasagne". The name should tell you exactly what was checked so that if a customer falls ill and you need to trace back, you can identify the batch without guessing.
The cooked/reheated choice matters because it changes the risk profile. A freshly cooked chicken breast that hits 75°C is a straightforward pass. A reheated curry that hits 75°C also passes, but the record shows it went through two heating cycles, which is useful if you need to investigate a problem later. I want to see reheated items clearly marked, not lumped in with fresh cooking.
Temperature readings should cluster around 75 to 85°C for most items. Readings above 90°C are unusual for a core temperature and might mean the probe was too close to the heat source or not inserted deep enough. Readings below 75°C should trigger a corrective action: continue cooking and recheck. If the final recorded temperature is below 75°C with no note explaining why, that's a gap your EHO will question.
Common mistakes I see:
Recording a single temperature check for an entire batch when the items vary in size. If you're cooking 30 chicken breasts, the thickest one takes longest to cook through. Checking the thinnest piece and assuming the rest are fine defeats the purpose. Check the largest or thickest item, or check at least two or three pieces from different positions in the oven or pan.
Touching bone with the probe and recording the inflated reading. Bone conducts heat faster than meat. A probe resting against bone will read higher than the actual meat temperature, and you'll pass a piece that hasn't cooked through. Insert the probe into the thickest part of the flesh, parallel to the bone, not touching it.
Not waiting for the reading to stabilise. Probe thermometers take a few seconds to reach the correct temperature. Pulling the probe out early and recording whatever number you saw gives an inaccurate reading. Wait until the display stops moving.
Using appearance instead of a probe. "Juices run clear" and "no pink meat" are useful guides but they're not reliable for food safety. Some properly cooked meat stays pink. Some undercooked meat looks done. I've seen kitchens where the rule was "if it looks right, it's fine" and the EHO shut that down on the first visit. A probe is the only way to confirm the core temperature.
Automate the Follow-Up with Poppi
We're still finalising the best automation setup for food safety checks. Once that's ready, this section will show you how to use Poppi to track completion and chase anyone who hasn't done their check.