Skills Hub
food-safety-cooling
Two-Stage Cooling of Cooked Foods
Always tested on the ServSafe
Cool from 135 to 70 degrees F in 2 hours; then to 41 degrees F in 4 more hours.
About this skill
FDA Food Code two-stage cooling: 135 to 70 degrees F in 2 hours, then 70 to 41 degrees F in 4 more hours. Total cooling time: 6 hours. Use shallow pans and ice baths.
12 total steps
7 critical steps
Time limit: 90 min
What graders are watching for
- 1Shallow pans (≤4 inches deep)
- 2Ice bath for liquids
- 3Do not refrigerate hot food
Common mistakes (and how to avoid them)
- !Deep pans (24+ hours to cool)
- !Refrigerating hot food (raises fridge temp)
- !Not using an ice bath for liquids
Practice this skill step-by-step
The static walkthrough above is the marketing overview. The full step-by-step interactive practice (with critical-step highlighting, per-step "why this matters" rationale, and what graders watch for on each individual step) is unlocked with a subscription.