6 ways to automate cooked food temperature checks

#1 - Simple log

Who it's for: Single-site kitchens where the chef or duty manager runs the check themselves. No second checker, no EHO pressure yet, just a need to record that cooked food reached a safe temperature.

What it is: A cooked food temperature check is a record of the core temperature of each cooked or reheated item, taken with a probe in the thickest part. This version keeps it to the three things that belong to every check: what the item was, whether it was cooked or reheated, and the core temperature. The three sit together in one box, so each item reads as a single check rather than three loose fields. The UK target is 75°C at the core, or 70°C held for two minutes, which is the equivalent the Food Standards Agency accepts. Regulation (EC) 852/2004 is the law behind it: food has to be cooked thoroughly enough to remove the hazard, and 75°C is the number an environmental health officer checks you against.

In practice: A single-site bistro runs this four times across the day, spread over service. The chef probes the thickest chicken breast in the tray, types "Chicken breast", taps "Cooked", and records 78°C. The next item gets its own box. The whole thing takes seconds per item and leaves a record that names the food, the method, and the temperature, which is exactly what an inspector asks for.

Why it works: The three inputs live in one box, so a temperature can never be saved on its own. The item name and the cooked or reheated context are always captured next to it. That is what makes the record traceable later: if a customer reports illness, you can find the exact item and batch instead of guessing from a lone number.

Steps included:

• 1 grouped check (one box per item) holding: food item (text), cooked or reheated (single choice), core temperature (number)

#2 - With guidance

Who it's for: Kitchens with new starters or a rota of staff who don't all know the safe temperatures by heart, and want the check to teach as it goes.

What it is: The basic check with a guidance note added to the box. The note states the 75°C core target, the 70°C-held-for-two-minutes equivalent, and where to put the probe: the thickest part, not touching bone. Roughly a third of kitchen staff in hospitality have never had formal food safety training beyond a basic certificate, so the target often lives in one person's head. A guidance note on the check puts it in front of whoever is on shift.

In practice: A gastropub with high summer turnover runs this. A new commis chef opens the check, reads the note, and knows before probing that a chicken breast needs 75°C and that resting the probe against the bone gives a false high reading. They probe the flesh, record 76°C, and move on. No one had to stand over them.

What it adds to the basic check:

1. The safe core temperature is on screen at the moment of the check, not in a training folder
2. Probe placement guidance cuts the most common false pass (probe touching bone)
3. New staff run the check the same way as the head chef from day one

Why it works: The guidance sits inside the same box as the reading, so staff see it at the moment they probe, not in a training session they have half forgotten. It turns the head chef's standard into a prompt that is always on screen.

Steps included:

• 1 guidance note (safe core temperatures and probe placement)
• 1 grouped check (one box per item) holding: food item (text), cooked or reheated (single choice), core temperature (number)

#3 - With a signature

Who it's for: Groups where someone needs to sign off the day's checks for audit purposes, and each site or shift needs to be accountable for its own record.

What it is: The basic check with a signature added at the end. The person running the checks signs to confirm all items reached a safe core temperature. The signature turns a set of readings into a named, dated commitment. For a group with a food safety manager overseeing several kitchens, that signature is the line that makes each site accountable for its own checks.

In practice: A 20-site pub group runs this. Each kitchen's duty manager logs the cooked items through the day, then signs off at the end of service. The group's food safety lead can open any site's record and see the items, the temperatures, and the signature, all timestamped, without driving to the venue.

What it adds to the basic check:

1. A signature confirming all items reached a safe core temperature
2. Named accountability for each site's checks, not just an anonymous log
3. A dated record someone has put their name to, which an auditor expects to see

Why it works: A signature turns a private set of readings into a record someone has put their name to. Nobody can later say the checks were not done or were done by someone else. The signature tied to the readings creates the full evidence an EHO or a group auditor wants to see.

Steps included:

• 1 grouped check (one box per item) holding: food item (text), cooked or reheated (single choice), core temperature (number)
• 1 signature (sign-off confirming safe temperatures)

#4 - With photo evidence

Who it's for: Kitchens under EHO scrutiny, or supplying vulnerable groups, that want visual proof of each dish's probe reading rather than ask an inspector to trust a typed number.

What it is: The basic check with a photo of each dish's probe reading added to the box. The photo is captured at the time of the check, alongside the item name and the reading. A number typed into a log can be written from memory or rounded up; a photo of 78°C on the probe screen next to the chicken is contemporaneous proof. For high-risk items (poultry, mince, large joints, reheated dishes), that is the difference between a record and evidence.

In practice: A care-home kitchen cooking for residents runs this on every batch of reheated food. The cook probes the centre of the shepherd's pie, photographs the probe reading against the dish, and records 79°C, reheated. If the CQC or the EHO ever questions a meal, the kitchen can show the exact reading for that exact dish on that day.

What it adds to the basic check:

1. A photo of each dish's probe reading, captured at the time
2. Proof that holds up to an inspector or an investigation, not just a number
3. A visual record of which item was probed, so a low reading can be traced to a real dish

Why it works: Evidence taken in the moment is far stronger than a number recalled later. The photo ties the temperature to the actual item and the actual time, which is what an inspector or an insurer needs to see.

Steps included:

• 1 grouped check (one box per item) holding: food item (text), cooked or reheated (single choice), core temperature (number)
• 1 photo of each dish's probe reading

#5 - With Poppi checking the photo

Who it's for: Multi-site groups where photos get taken but nobody reviews them. Head office that can't look at every site's photos, or busy kitchens where the photos sit unseen until the next audit.

What it is: A photo-checked check is the basic check plus a photo of each dish's probe reading that Poppi (AI) reviews the moment it's saved. Poppi answers one question about each photo, set by you: does the probe reading show this dish reached a safe cooked temperature (at least 75°C)? If the answer is no, Poppi posts what it spotted to the team chat, so it gets sorted before everyone leaves. A close photo of each probe reading next to the dish is something an AI can actually judge well, where a wide shot of the whole kitchen is not.

In practice: A 20-site pub group photographs each item as it's probed through the day. The closing manager takes photos but there's no time to review them that night - they sit in the records unseen. With Poppi checking, the moment a photo shows a reading below 75°C, Poppi posts to the team chat ("This photo shows the temperature at 72°C, below the safe minimum"). The chef can re-probe while still in the kitchen. On photos that pass, nothing changes - the check is done and logged.

What it adds to the basic check:

1. A photo of each dish's probe reading that gets checked the moment it's saved, not just stored
2. A team chat message with Poppi's reason the moment a photo fails the check
3. The manager stops being the only person who ever looks at the photos

Why it works: The check happens in the seconds between the photo being taken and the person leaving. That's the only moment the problem is still cheap to fix. A manager reviewing photos the next morning can only record that a temperature was low; Poppi catching it at service end gets it re-probed while the chef is still there.

Steps included:

• 1 grouped check (one box per item) holding: food item (text), cooked or reheated (single choice), core temperature (number)
• 1 photo of each dish's probe reading
• 1 Poppi decision (judges each photo against your question)
• 1 Poppi action (posts to the team chat if a photo fails the check)

#6 - With a team alert if the check is overdue

Who it's for: Kitchens or catering operations where temperature checks must be completed by a set time - a service end, a shift handover, or a kitchen audit deadline - and sometimes they get left incomplete.

What it is: A missed-check alert is the basic check plus a Poppi (AI) action set to the workflow's end time. If the temperature checks aren't finished by the time they are due to be completed, Poppi posts a message in the Pilla team chat so the outstanding checks get done before the deadline passes. It watches the end time, so it catches the checks that quietly got abandoned half-done, not just the ones that never started.

In practice: A busy kitchen has to complete all cooked item checks by the end of each service. On a Saturday night the team is tired and it is easy to leave the last few items unprobed. With this version, if the checks aren't finished by end of service, the team chat gets a message, so the shift lead catches the incomplete work that evening rather than the next morning's opener finding the checks weren't done.

What it adds to the basic check:

1. A message in the team chat if the checks aren't finished on time
2. A catch for checks that got abandoned halfway through, not just skipped entirely
3. A record of when the checks should have been done, next to when they actually were
4. The manager finds out that night, not the next day

Why it works: The alert is tied to the deadline, so an unfinished check record raises its own hand. Nobody has to remember to chase outstanding items; the deadline does.

Steps included:

• 1 grouped check (one box per item) holding: food item (text), cooked or reheated (single choice), core temperature (number)
• 1 Poppi action (posts to the team chat if the checks aren't finished by deadline)

How to pick the right version

You don't need to know our product to choose. Every version here is the basic check plus one addition, so pick the additions your kitchen actually needs.

Do other people run the check?

If you clean yourself and know the targets, the plain log is enough: #1. The moment rota staff probe food, the safe temperatures need to be on the screen: #2.

Does someone need to sign off the checks?

In a single kitchen, the records speak for themselves. Across several sites, an auditor wants to know who confirmed each day's checks. If no sign-off is needed, skip this one. If you run more than one site or answer to a food safety lead, #3 adds a signature.

Do you need visual proof of the probe reading?

A logged number says the work was done; a photo shows it. If you want proof for an inspection or investigation, #4 adds a photo of each dish's probe reading captured at the time.

Does anyone actually look at the photos?

If a manager genuinely reviews every photo, #4's record is enough. If photos get taken and filed unseen, #5 has Poppi (AI) check each one as it's saved, and tell the team chat when something's wrong.

Do the checks have to be finished by a set time?

If a tired team sometimes leaves the last items unprobed, #6 posts a message to the team chat when the deadline passes with the checks still incomplete.

Need more than one addition? Open the version with the addition that matters most in the playground and add the others as steps. That's how the product works anyway: every option here is one step added to the same check.

Related workflows

• Fridge temperature check - the storage check that protects food before it is cooked
• Food probe accuracy test - how to prove the probe itself is reading true
• Food cooling temperature check - the check for food going the other way, from hot to cold storage

Conclusion

Cooking is the step that kills the bacteria you cannot wash off, see, or smell, but only if someone checks the core and records it. The gap in most kitchens is rarely the cooking; it is that nobody captured the proof and nobody follows through. Every version above is the same basic check plus one addition: guidance, a signature, a photo, an AI check on the photo, or a deadline alert. Pick the ones your kitchen needs and combine them in the playground.

More additions are coming in future refreshes, like pulling every site's checks into one report. Those need more review time and will land separately.

→ Build your own cooked food temperature check on Pilla.