Proper Cooling Methods for Foods
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Chefs Connection
Proper Cooling in Your Professional Kitchen
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Jon Kawaguchi, Supervisor, Environmental Health Services, Multnomah County Health Department: Hi, I am Jon Kawaguchi, I’m the Environmental Health Supervisor for Multnomah County, Oregon. Did you know that 1 in 6 Americans each gets sick year after consuming a meal? Improper cooling is one of the leading factors contributing to foodborne illnesses. Today chef Rogelio will demonstrate different methods of how to rapidly cool hot food items properly.
Rogelio Mora Executive Chef Outtakes Quick Cuisine: Hello, my name is Rogelio Mora, and I’ve worked in Outtakes for 10 years, executive chef in this location. So today we are gonna do 2 procedures on how to cool down soup. We are gonna do an ice bath we are also gonna do in a hotel pan. We’re gonna do that next, so let’s get excited for that.
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Calibrate your thermometer
Rogelio Mora: Ok, so the first thing we are gonna do, we’re gonna calibrate our thermometer. We got ice, water, most of the ice. Make sure it reaches 32 degrees before we start temping anything.
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Method 1 - Ice Bath
Good for Soups, Sauces and Chowders
Rogelio Mora: Ok, so the first thing we are gonna do, we’re gonna get some hot soup and we’re gonna pour it into the container to cool it down.
One of the important things you gotta make sure is the ice water covers the product, so that way it cools down faster. And then you are gonna grab the stirrer and you’re gonna keep stirring until the product reaches 41 degrees or below. So that’s one of the processes of doing it. And it gets faster where you want it to be.
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Method 2 - Shallow Pan
Good for Soups, Sauces and Chowders
Rogelio Mora: Alright so the second thing we’re gonna do, we’re gonna put the hot food in a shallow pan, and we’re gonna put it inside a walk in.
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Method 3 - Portioning
Good for Lasagna, Turkey and Roasts
Rogelio Mora: Alright so we got a meat-lover lasagna here. So, we’re gonna cool down the lasagna and one of the things, we can’t do an ice bath in this one because it’s a dense product. So we’ve got to make sure we cut it into smaller pieces and put it in a sheet pan for cooling down to the right temperature. We’ve gotta make sure it reaches 41 degrees or below.
So it has been 2 hours since we put the lasagna in the walk in. I‘ve temped it got it’s 65 degrees, so I’m gonna put it in my log, and I’m gonna temp it every hour until it reaches 41 degrees or below.
Okay, so it’s been 5 hours since we started to process our lasagna. Now it has reached 41 degrees. So now it is safe to wrap it cover and date it and put it back in the walk in.
Rogelio Mora: So we’re back again with the method that we started the cooling earlier. So we got the shallow pan and the ice bath. They’ve both reached 41 degrees. So that is safe to combine them, label and date them for storage.
Jon Kawaguchi: Thank you chef Rogelio. You did a wonderful job demonstrating the different methods on how to rapidly cool hot food items.
First he insured that his equipment was accurate by calibrating his thermometer. Second, throughout the entire process he monitored the temperature of the food product. Meaning he insured it went from 135 degrees to 70 degrees within 2 hours, and then from 70 degrees to 41 degrees within the next 4 hours. Finally, he insured the temperature was at least 41 degrees before he covered it and placed it into storage.
For more information on food safety, please contact Multnomah County Health Department.
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Environmental Health Services
Call: 503-988-3400
www.mchealth.org
Visit Us: 847 NE 19th Ave, Suite 350
Portland, OR 97232
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Video Team
Jon Kawaguchi, REHS
Elizabeth Sandberg, REHS
Matt Davis, Health Educator
Jaimee Mayfield, Video Producer/Director
Special Thanks
Outtakes Cafe