ServSafe Manager · the numbers
ServSafe temperatures: the complete chart
Time & Temperature is the heaviest domain on the exam, and almost every question in it comes down to one of the numbers below. Learn these and you have bought yourself a large slice of the marks. Everything here is drawn from the public FDA Food Code.
Cook to these minimum internal temperatures
| Temperature | What it covers | Hold time |
|---|---|---|
| 165°F (74°C) | Poultry, stuffed food, reheated leftovers, food cooked in a microwave | 15 seconds |
| 155°F (68°C) | Ground meat, and eggs held for later service | 17 seconds |
| 145°F (63°C) | Fish and shellfish, pork, whole cuts of beef and veal, eggs for immediate service | 15 seconds |
| 135°F (57°C) | Plant food — vegetables, fruit, grains and legumes (for hot holding) | 15 seconds |
The Food Code gives 17 seconds at 155°F; plenty of course materials round it to 15. Check your provider's materials, and never state a temperature lower than the one above.
Hold at these
| Rule | Number |
|---|---|
| Hot holding | 135°F (57°C) or hotter |
| Cold holding | 41°F (5°C) or colder |
| The danger zone | Between 41°F and 135°F — where bacteria grow fastest |
| Receiving cold TCS food | 41°F or colder; milk and shell eggs may arrive at 45°F or colder |
| Reheating for hot holding | 165°F for 15 seconds, within 2 hours |
Cool on this curve
The first stage is the one people fail. A deep pan of hot stew cools far more slowly than anyone expects, which is why the approved methods are shallow pans, ice baths, ice paddles and dividing the batch.
Hours without temperature control
| Situation | Limit |
|---|---|
| Cold food held without temperature control | 6 hours, starting at 41°F or below, never above 70°F |
| Hot food held without temperature control | 4 hours, starting at 135°F or above |
| Both cases | Mark the food with the time it must be discarded, and throw it out at that time — not later |
The three other numbers that come up
| Number | Where it applies |
|---|---|
| 180°F (82°C) | Final rinse in a heat-sanitising dish machine |
| 171°F (77°C) | Hot water sanitising in a three-compartment sink, 30 seconds of contact |
| 100°F (38°C) | Minimum water temperature at a handwashing sink |
How to remember them without a mnemonic
- Start from the top and walk down. 165, 155, 145, 135 — four steps, each 10 degrees apart, from "most dangerous to cook wrong" (poultry) to "least" (vegetables).
- 41–135 is the danger zone, and both ends of it are also holding temperatures. Learn the pair as one fact.
- 180 belongs to the dish machine, not to food. Nothing you cook goes to 180 — that single sentence prevents the most common wrong answer in the whole domain.
- Two and four make six. Cooling is 2 hours to 70, then 4 hours to 41. Cold food without temperature control gets 6 hours; hot food gets 4.
Test yourself on the four numbers
A cook is reheating chilli for the hot bar. What internal temperature does it need?
- 135°F (57°C)
- 145°F (63°C)
- 165°F (74°C) — correct
- 180°F (82°C)
165°F for 15 seconds, within two hours. Reheating is the one place where a food that cooks at 135 goes up to 165, because it has already been through the danger zone once. FDA Food Code 3-403.11
Which of these is cooked to 155°F?
- A whole pork loin
- Ground beef patties — correct
- Grilled salmon
- Steamed broccoli
Ground meat. Grinding mixes surface bacteria through the whole portion, so ground meat needs a higher temperature than the whole cut it came from: 155°F rather than 145°F. FDA Food Code 3-401.11
Questions people ask
Do I need to memorise the Celsius figures too?
The exam is written in Fahrenheit, but the questions often show both (165°F / 74°C). Learn the Fahrenheit numbers and let the Celsius version jog your memory rather than replacing it.
Is 41°F or 40°F correct for cold holding?
41°F is the number in the FDA Food Code and on the exam. Some operations run their fridges colder as a safety margin, which is good practice, but the exam answer is 41°F.
Where do these numbers come from?
The public FDA Food Code — the same document the exam is built on. Each explanation in this trainer cites the chapter or section so you can verify it yourself.
Not affiliated with ServSafe. ServSafe® is a registered trademark of the National Restaurant Association. This chart is compiled from the public FDA Food Code; your provider's course materials are authoritative for your exam version.