Quick answer
Use a cooking method suitable for the food and establish both the core temperature and the required time. FSA standard guidance includes 70°C for two minutes or equivalent combinations such as 75°C for 30 seconds. These are guidance combinations, not one universal legal cooking temperature for every product, process or UK setting.
The surface and the centre can tell different stories
Food can be hot or browned outside while a part that needs thorough cooking remains undercooked. The checking method must reach the relevant part of the food and reflect the cooking process.
GOV.UK’s business cooking guidance gives core time–temperature combinations and advises using a clean probe. Visual observations can support a defined method, but colour alone should not replace a required measurement.
Use a suitable time–temperature combination
| Core temperature | Time at that temperature |
|---|---|
| 70°C | At least two minutes. |
| 75°C | At least 30 seconds. |
| 80°C | At least six seconds. |
The temperature and time form one combination. Reaching 75°C for an instant does not demonstrate a method requiring 30 seconds. Select and justify the method for the food, portion size and equipment; specialist lower-temperature processes need their own adequate controls.
Check which foods need thorough cooking
The official cooking guidance distinguishes foods such as poultry, pork, rolled joints, minced-meat products and offal from intact whole cuts of beef or lamb. Do not apply a whole-steak surface-cooking approach to a burger, rolled joint or chicken.
Follow the product’s instructions, including whether it is raw or ready to eat and whether it can be cooked from frozen. Less-than-thoroughly-cooked burgers and specialist processes need separate controlled methods beyond a general temperature table.
Use the probe as part of a defined check
- Use a suitable thermometer that has been checked for reliable operation.
- Clean and disinfect the probe using the relevant procedure.
- Place the tip in the centre or thickest relevant part, avoiding a misleading surface reading.
- Allow the reading to stabilise and establish the required holding time.
- Check additional relevant points where the food or batch may heat unevenly.
- Record the result and any corrective action under the business’s method.
CookSafe’s temperature-monitoring guidance explains food variation, probing and the need for business-specific checks. A single convenient point should not stand in for a justified batch-monitoring arrangement.
Worked example: the chosen method has not yet passed
Hypothetical example: a café’s validated method requires chicken to reach 75°C for at least 30 seconds. A check finds 72°C, with no established holding time.
Staff keep the food from service, continue cooking and recheck using the method. They record the original result and the successful correction rather than replace the first number. The manager reviews whether portion size, loading or instructions caused the failed check.
Protect food after the cooking check
Choose the next process: immediate service, appropriate hot holding or a safe cooling method. Use clean equipment to prevent raw-food contamination reaching the cooked food. A successful cooking check does not protect against poor handling afterwards.
- Do not use hot-holding equipment to perform an unverified cooking step.
- Do not describe an equipment setting as a food-core reading.
- Do not choose an easier limit simply because a batch fails the established method.
- Do not assume all food needs the same process.
Next steps
Confirm the method for the actual product, train staff to perform the check and define the response to a failure. Our cross-contamination guide explains protection after cooking, while the records guide connects results with actions.
Read official cooking guidance — Select the method that applies to the food and process.