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Food Safety
THERE ARE PRECAUTIONS THAT NEED TO BE TAKEN WHEN WORKING WITH RAW MEATS.
FAILURE TO FOLLOW PROPER FOOD PREPARATION PROCEDURES CAN RESULT IN ILLNESS
AND DEATH. SOME PRECAUTIONS ARE LISTED IN THIS DOCUMENT BUT YOU SHOULD NOT
RELY SOLELY ON THIS DOCUMENT FOR FOOD SAFE PROCEDURES. IT IS RECOMMENDED
THAT ONLY PERSONS WHO ARE FULLY TRAINED IN FOOD SAFETY SHOULD PREPARE FOOD
ITEMS.
Wash all surfaces and equipment that comes into contact with raw meat or its juices.
Always thoroughly wash your hands after working with raw meat.
Do not allow raw meat or its juices to contact cooked meat.
Use separate utensils for working with raw and cooked meat.
Use separate containers/trays for holding raw and cooked meat.
Always use a clean food thermometer to ensure meat is at a safe temperature before removing from the
rotisserie.
THE TABLE BELOW DESCRIBES HOW LONG EACH TYPE OF MEAT MUST BE AT A SPECIFIC
TEMPERATURE TO ENSURE THAT ALL BACTERIA ARE KILLED. ALWAYS USE A CLEAN
CALIBRATED FOOD THERMOMETER TO ENSURE THAT YOUR PRODUCT REACHES THESE
TEMPERATURES FOR THE SPECIFIED TIME PERIOD BEFORE CONSIDERING IT SAFE FOR
CONSUMPTION.
Product
Temperature/Time
Poultry (Whole or ground duck, chicken or turkey)
165˚ F [74˚ C] for 15 seconds
Stuffing and stuffed meat, fish, poultry and pasta
165˚ F [74˚ C] for 15 seconds
Ground meat (beef, pork, and other meat)
155˚ F [68˚ C] for 15 seconds
Injected meat (brined ham and flavor injected roasts)
155˚ F [68˚ C] for 15 seconds
Pork, beef, veal, lamb, Steaks/Chops
145˚ F [63˚ C] for 15 seconds
Roast
145˚ F [63˚ C] for 4 minutes
Seafood (fish, shellfish, crustaceans)
145˚ F [63˚ C] for 15 seconds
Commercially processed ready-to-eat food
135˚ F [57˚ C] (Hot held for service)
*National Restaurant Association,
ServSafe Course book
, Fifth Edition, New Jersey, Prentice Hall, 2008.
The values listed in this table are industry standard minimum temperatures to ensure food is safely
cooked, and may not represent the temperatures dictated by your company.
COOKING ANY NEW PRODUCT OR ANY CURRENT PRODUCT PREPARED IN A DIFFERENT
WAY REQUIRES A VALIDATION OF COOKING TIMES AND COOKING TEMPERATURES BY
MEASUREMENT OF INTERNAL PRODUCT TEMPERATURES.
DO NOT ASSUME SAFE COOKING PARAMETERS EXIST WITHOUT PERFORMING FOOD-
SPECIFIC TESTS. ALWAYS MEASURE THE INTERNAL TEMPERATURE OF A PRODUCT
BEFORE ENDING THE COOKING. ACCEPTED INTERNAL TEMPERATURES SHOULD NOT BE
LOWER THAN THOSE PUBLISHED FOR ESTABLISHED FOOD SAFETY STANDARDS.
Consult Hardt if you need help setting up a food safety program.
Table 1
Safe Cooking Times and Temperatures*
