Cooling and Reheating Food Safely

In short: hot food spends the most dangerous hours of its life on the way down to fridge temperature. Cool it in small, shallow portions, use ice or a blast chiller, measure the time and temperature, and reheat only what you will serve. Write each step into your food safety plan so the whole team does it the same way.

About 8 minutes to read. General information, not legal advice. Limits differ by country: check your local authority.

A common cause of trouble in kitchens is cooked food that was left warm for too long afterwards: the big pot of stock that cooled on the back burner overnight, the tray of rice left on the counter, the curry that was put into the fridge while still steaming. Cooking reduces bacteria, but food that lingers between hot and cold gives whatever is left time to grow. That is why cooling and reheating deserve their own written procedure, not an afterthought.

Why cooling is the risky step

Bacteria grow fastest at temperatures between cold and hot. The UK Food Standards Agency (FSA) describes this band as the "danger zone", from 8°C to 63°C, and advises defrosting in the fridge so food never enters it. For cooked food the practical rule is simple: spend as little time as you can in that band on the way down.

A large volume of food holds its heat. A 20 litre pot of stock left to cool at room temperature can stay warm in the centre for many hours. A shallow tray of the same stock, divided into small containers, loses heat much faster because more of the surface is exposed. Everything in this guide is about increasing surface area, moving heat out quickly and proving it with a thermometer.

What the rules say

Rules differ, so always check the one that applies to your premises.

• United States. The FDA Food Code describes a two stage cooling process for cooked time and temperature controlled food: from 135°F (57°C) to 70°F (21°C) within two hours, then from 70°F to 41°F (5°C) or lower within the next four hours, six hours in total. If you reach 70°F in less than two hours, you still have the remaining time to reach 41°F. State and local health departments adopt the Food Code on their own timetable, so ask your local department which edition and which times apply to you.
• United Kingdom. The FSA's guidance tells businesses to cool cooked food as quickly as possible and then put it in the fridge. It lists practical methods: divide food into smaller portions, cut large joints, stir regularly, spread food on trays, use ice or cold water baths, or use a blast chiller. Cold food has to be kept at 8°C or below, which is a legal limit in England, Wales and Northern Ireland, and the FSA recommends setting fridges at 5°C or below. The FSA's guidance does not give a single number of minutes for cooling, so write the target into your own plan and check it with your local environmental health officer.
• Elsewhere. Many countries follow the Codex or the EU hygiene regulations, and local inspectors often publish their own time limits. Ask yours.

Choose your cooling method

You do not need expensive kit. Match the method to your volume.

Rules of thumb that work

1. Cook in smaller batches. The best way to cool large amounts is to avoid cooking them in one go. Two 10 litre pots cool far faster than one 20 litre pot.
2. Keep the depth shallow. Five centimetres or less in a metal tray is a sound habit for thick foods.
3. Use metal, not plastic, for the first stage. Metal gives up heat much faster.
4. Leave the lid off or ajar while the food is above fridge temperature, then cover it.
5. Stir. Heat is trapped in the middle, and stirring brings it to the surface.
6. Do not put the hot container next to other food in the fridge. Cool it in an ice bath first, or put it where air moves freely.
7. Never leave food to cool overnight on the stove.

Measure it, then write it down

A method you do not measure is a hope. Use a clean, calibrated probe thermometer. Insert it in the centre of the thickest part, wait for the reading to settle, and note the time.

A simple cooling log has these columns:

If your plan follows the FDA stages, record a second check at the two hour mark. If your plan follows UK practice, record the time the food went into the fridge and the temperature on the way in.

When something goes wrong, the action matters more than the number. A common plan says: if food has not cooled in time, reheat it once to a safe core temperature and cool again quickly, or throw it away. Decide your rule in advance with your food safety adviser, write it in the log and follow it. For the wider system, see our guides to temperature logs and limits and building a HACCP style plan.

Store cooled food properly

Cooling is only the first half. After that:

• Label every container with the dish and the date cooked, and the use by date from your plan. Our guide to FIFO and storage covers labelling in detail.
• Cover and keep cooked food above raw food on the shelf, so nothing drips down.
• Keep the fridge at the temperature your plan states. The FSA recommends 5°C or below for fridges in England, Wales and Northern Ireland and 8°C is the legal limit.
• Do not overfill the fridge. Air must move.
• Keep to your use by dates. If you have not written one, you have no way to prove you followed it.

Reheating

Reheating is safe when it is quick, thorough and happens once.

1. Reheat only the portion you will serve. Do not reheat a whole batch and cool it again.
2. Reheat until it is steaming hot all the way through. Your plan should state a core temperature target for reheating, taken from the rule that applies where you operate (ask your local authority), and the cook should check it with a probe, not by eye.
3. Use proper equipment. Ovens, steamers, pans or a combi oven. Do not use bain maries or hot cabinets to bring cold food up to temperature, because they are made to hold hot food, not heat it.
4. Stir and re-measure if you use a microwave, because heat is uneven.
5. Serve at once. Do not leave reheated food waiting.
6. Do not reheat more than once. Throw away what is left.

Rice and other starchy dishes are often cooked in big batches, so they deserve special attention in your plan: cool them fast, store them cold and reheat them once. Many kitchens cook small batches throughout service rather than keep one large batch.

Hot holding and display

Cooling and reheating sit next to a third control: keeping hot food hot while it waits. Your plan should state the minimum hot holding temperature (the FSA uses 63°C in its danger zone description) and how long food may stay on display. The FSA also notes that cold food on display can be out of the fridge for up to four hours, after which it should be thrown away or returned to the fridge. If you serve a buffet, put time labels on the pans. See also temperature logs and limits.

Train the team

The most common failure is a busy cook who knows the rule but skips the step at 21:30. Make it easy:

• Put a laminated one page procedure on the wall by the chiller: method, target times, who signs.
• Keep a probe thermometer, ice, shallow trays and the log where the work happens.
• Teach the reason, not only the rule: "We cool in trays because the middle of a big pot stays warm for hours."
• Add cooling to the closing checklist so nothing is left on the stove. See opening and closing checklists.
• Test new starters in their first week. See staff training.

Inspectors will usually ask how you cool food, what the target is and where the records are. Your answers should match what the cook does at night. See preparing for a food hygiene inspection.

Common mistakes

• Cooling a large pot at room temperature overnight.
• Putting hot food into a fridge that is already full.
• Filling containers deeper than the plan allows.
• Not checking the middle of the food.
• Cooling cooked food in the same sink used for washing raw food.
• Reheating a whole batch, serving some, and cooling the rest again.
• Writing the log from memory at the end of the shift.

A quick checklist

1. Cook in batches you can cool in time.
2. Choose your method: shallow trays, ice bath, blast chiller, or a mix.
3. Check the temperature in the centre with a clean probe.
4. Log the start time, a checkpoint and the end.
5. Label and date every container.
6. Store cooked food above raw, in a fridge at your plan's temperature.
7. Reheat only what you need, once, to the core temperature in your plan.
8. Review the sheets weekly and fix patterns.

Sources

• US FDA, Food Code cooling fact sheet and Food Code (two stage cooling, as of October 2026).
• UK Food Standards Agency, guidance on chilling food correctly in your business and the Safer Food, Better Business chilling pages.
• Your local environmental health or public health department for the rule that applies to you.

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