68 kg of Braised Beef and a Walk-In at 8°C
At the Lakeside Conference Centre a banquet for 320 covers at 12:00 tomorrow features slow-braised beef. The sous chef cooked 68 kg on Tuesday evening. The beef came off the range at 21:30 and was decanted into four stainless pans 20 cm deep, covered, and placed in the walk-in. The cooling log reads: 23:00 - 34°C; 01:00 - 24°C; 05:00 - 12°C. The walk-in ambient is currently 8°C; the door gasket is torn and the unit is also holding 40 L of stock that was placed in it hot at 22:00. The blast chiller is out of service until Thursday. The beef is the main protein. Stock on hand: 40 kg of frozen chicken thighs and 20 kg of halloumi. Service is in the main banqueting hall for a paying conference group.
1. Can any of the beef be served at tomorrow's banquet? Show the decision and state what happens to the 68 kg.
Read the worked answer
No - discard the whole batch. The reasoning is time in the danger zone, not the final temperature.
- The beef entered the danger zone (5°C to 57°C) at 21:30. Two hours later, at 23:00, it was still at 34°C. The first cooling stage (to 21°C within 2 hours) was already failed.
- At 01:00 it was 24°C; at 05:00, 7.5 hours after cooking, it was still at 12°C. It never reached 5°C, and with the walk-in at 8°C it never could.
- Total time in the danger zone is therefore well over 7 hours, against a limit of about 4 hours cumulative for cooked food being cooled.
Why reheating to 74°C does not rescue it Reheating kills vegetative bacteria but not the heat-stable toxins produced by organisms such as Bacillus cereus and Clostridium perfringens during a long, warm, slow cool. The pans were 20 cm deep and covered - the centre stayed warm for hours - and the 40 L of hot stock at 22:00 raised the ambient and loaded the unit further.
Action Denature and dispose of all 68 kg under supervision, record the weight, reason and the signature of the person who disposed of it, and photograph the log. Do not donate it, do not 'use it for staff food', and do not keep it 'for checking in the morning' - the decision is made now, before service planning starts.
2. It is now 06:30 on the day of the banquet. How do you deliver 320 covers at 12:00, and what are the timing constraints on each option?
Read the worked answer
Work the options against the clock, not against preference.
- Frozen chicken thighs, 40 kg. For 320 covers that is about 125 g per portion - thin for a main. Thawing 40 kg under refrigeration needs 24 hours, so that route is closed. Either cook from frozen in a braise (safe, but add 45 to 60 minutes to the cook and hold the sauce separately), or thaw under cold running water at 21°C or below with the packages kept moving, which is viable in 3 to 4 hours if started by 07:00. Then braise, cool in shallow 5 cm pans, and reheat to 74°C for at least 15 seconds before service.
- Halloumi, 20 kg. About 60 g per portion - a component, not a main on its own. Pair it with the chicken as a second protein or use it for a vegetarian cover count.
- Buy in. At 06:30 a local approved supplier may be able to deliver pre-cooked, chilled protein by 09:30, subject to approved-supplier status and allergen documentation. This is the best-quality option if delivery is confirmed in writing by 08:00 and the product arrives at 5°C or below with a temperature probe check at the door.
Menu and client Change the dish rather than fake it: braised chicken with a vegetarian halloumi option. Tell the conference organiser by 08:00, in person, with the reason and the price adjustment. A client told at 08:00 can brief their delegates; a client told at 11:45 cannot. Brief the kitchen brigade, reprint the menu cards, and check allergen information for the new dish.
3. What corrective and preventive actions does this incident require in the kitchen's cooling and cold-holding systems?
Read the worked answer
Corrective actions for this event
- Repair the walk-in door gasket today, and move the 40 L of stock out - hot stock must never be placed in a walk-in; it belongs in the blast chiller or an ice bath.
- Record the disposal and the reason in the food safety log, and notify the executive chef and the client.
- Recheck the temperature of every other item in that walk-in against 5°C; anything that has been above 5°C for an unknown period goes.
Preventive actions
- Cooling method: maximum 5 cm depth in shallow pans, uncovered in the blast chiller or with an ice paddle, portioned into smaller containers. A 20 cm covered pan is the direct cause of the slow centre cooling.
- Cooling log with a correction column: every batch signed off at both stages (57°C to 21°C in 2 hours; 21°C to 5°C within a further 4 hours). If a batch misses stage one, the corrective action is written at the time, not reconstructed afterwards.
- Chiller capacity planning: the blast chiller must be sized for the largest cook, and its downtime must trigger a change in production planning - not a decision to cool in the walk-in.
- Cold-holding monitoring: twice-daily walk-in checks with min/max readings and an alarm, plus a fault log for the gasket.
- Production scheduling: 68 kg cooked at 21:30 for a 12:00 service two days later is a planning failure as much as a temperature failure. Large batches should be cooked, cooled and verified on a schedule that leaves time to recover when something goes wrong.