It may seem like a minor purchase for a hotel restaurant or catering operation but the purchase of several food thermometers can often be the best purchase that a hospitality kitchen operation can make. Why take chances with food spoilage or cases of “food poisoning”. The reputation of food poisoning lasts longer than the event. Furthermore the reputation of cases of food poisoning has ruined the operations of more than one hotel restaurant or at that time successful catering operation. Temperature control is the most successful as well as best way to manage food borne illness and the spread of “food poisoning”. Who needs to take such a chance of your catering business and its reputation in the food industry, unnecessarily and needlessly?

Generally it can be held that any food needing refrigeration should never be at room temperature for more than one hour, or at the very most a maximum of two hours before that food is served/

As a long held rule in the food catering trade plan to keep frozen food below 0 degrees Fahrenheit, cold food under 40 degrees F.. For hot food the values should generally be between 32 and 40 degrees. Poultry, fish and meats – including cold cuts and smoked meats should be stored at less than 37 degrees F. Milk, eggs, butter, cheeses and eggs not over 40 degrees F. Butter can be warmed up by the chef beforehand. 50 degrees. Of temperature is fine. Most fruit, salad, vegetables and desserts can do well at temperatures of up to 45 degrees F. Cover and label everything you are involved with in your catering food operations. By doing so you will reduce the chances of contaminating you're prepared with contaminants from the raw foodstuff. These can be salmonella bacteria as well as other deadly contaminants.

If there is one danger area to watch for in temperature ranges with food storage – it is the red line zone between 40 degrees to 140 degrees F. As for freezer temperatures this has to be between 0 degrees F and – 15 degrees F. for frozen poultry, meats and fish, frozen fruits and vegetables, ice cream and other frozen desserts. It is always best and wise to make sure that you have one thermometer in the refrigerator and another thermometer for testing purposes

When storing food, use shallow storage containers to present a large surface area.

Place these storage containers in the freezer or refrigerator as soon as possible. Make it a priority. Earlier is always better and safer than later. The idea of cooling hot foods first is a dangerous idea left over from the era of iceboxes, when hot food would melt the ice, actually increasing the efficiencies of the icebox. Large quantity food tasks have to be performed with an awareness of food safety. It can be said that the danger zone can be said to be between the temperatures of 40 degrees F and 140 degrees F. Defrost frozen food in the refrigerator, or in a microwave oven – following the microwave oven manufacture's directions which can usually be found in the microwave oven manual or online on the manufactures product support website. Frozen food can routinely be defrosted under running cold water, or cold water that is changed every thirty minutes. The basic standby rule is that frozen food that is defrosted should be cooked within a two hour maximum timeframe.

In your catering and food preparation operations make it a standard practice to hold and store hot foods at a temperature of 165 degrees F before serving. Cooking temperatures are in most cases higher than the 165 degrees count. It can be generally held, by professional chef's experience that by and large, cooking temperature s means internal temps in the ranges from 160 degrees F to 180 degrees F. Poultry is a situation of its own – each meal or oven setup may be different and unique. It's up to your expertise and individual professional experiences. In has been known that since the dawn of mankind and cooking by the fire that during cooking – broiling or baking or roasting that most bacteria and parasite are killed ,inactivated or denatured ,. A probe thermometer is your best tool. Usually food is served well under the hour or two standard holding time periods.

As in every profession it can be said that spoilage control, control of potential cases of food poisoning usually come down to simple attention to detail. In this case the investment of a relatively small amount of money out of the outlay of a catering or hotel restaurant budget for a number of quality food thermometers can not only be a useful tool but also a timesaver as well as providing feedback of proper food preparation temperatures and documentation further on if need be