Liam Jones
Founder, Pilla App
Live stream will appear here
Learn how to run accurate dishwasher temperature checks, build them into your food safety system with Pilla, and use AI to automate the process.
Join Liam Jones, founder of Pilla and a qualified food safety consultant, for a session on dishwasher temperature checks.
Understand
Commercial dishwashers rely on high temperatures during the final rinse to kill bacteria. If that temperature is not reached, your dishes, glasses, and utensils may look clean but still harbour harmful bacteria that can cause foodborne illness.
The wash cycle at 55-65°C removes food debris but does not kill bacteria. It is the final rinse at 82°C or above that provides thermal disinfection, killing most harmful bacteria within seconds of contact. To check the temperature correctly, run a normal cycle with a typical load (not empty), then read the rinse temperature from the display immediately after the cycle completes. Allow the machine its full warm-up time first, as checking too early gives artificially low readings.
If the temperature is below 82°C, do not use the dishwasher for sanitising. Switch to manual washing with chemical sanitiser as a temporary measure and call for maintenance. If the temperature is significantly below 70°C, this indicates a serious fault such as heating element, boiler, or thermostat failure. Machine displays can drift over time, so periodically use thermal indicator strips placed on items before washing. They change colour when 82°C is reached, providing independent confirmation.
Apply
See how dishwasher temperature checks fit into your wider food safety management system in Pilla. We walk through how to build this into your system so that your team has clear processes, accountability, and a documented trail that proves compliance.
Automate
Learn how AI can speed up this process and connect Pilla to your other tools, giving you a much more joined up system across your business.
Bring your questions , we'll be answering them live throughout.