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.
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The whole chart, on one printable PDF
Cooking, cooling, holding, reheating, sanitizer concentrations and handwashing - every number on one sheet for the fridge door.
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.
The same numbers, asked as exam questions
A chart you can read is not the same as a number you can produce. Ten items below use the temperatures on this page exactly the way the exam does - open one to see the answer and the rule behind it.
A banquet cook pulls a tray of tuna salad from the walk-in at 9:00 a.m. and sets it out on an unrefrigerated buffet. Held without temperature control, what is the latest time it can still be served?
- 12:00 p.m.
- 2:00 p.m.
- 3:00 p.m. — correct
- 4:00 p.m.
3:00 p.m.. The clock starts when the food leaves 41 degrees F, not when the guests arrive, and the food must never rise above 70 degrees F. Six hours from 9:00 a.m. is 3:00 p.m. Write the discard time on the label. FDA Food Code 3-501.19 - Time as a public health control
After seven hours in a cold well, the chicken salad reads 54 degrees F (12 degrees C) on the probe. What has to happen to it now?
- Sell what is left immediately
- Sell what is left within two hours
- Cool it to 41 degrees F (5 degrees C)
- Throw it out — correct
Throw it out. It is above 41 degrees F and past the six-hour window, so there is no legal way to save it - you cannot re-cool food that has already spent hours in the danger zone. Discard it and note why. FDA Food Code 3-501.19 - Time as a public health control
Food is sitting on a buffet with no heat and no ice. Over six hours, what is the highest temperature it is allowed to reach?
- 41 degrees F (5 degrees C)
- 50 degrees F (10 degrees C)
- 60 degrees F (16 degrees C)
- 70 degrees F (21 degrees C) — correct
70 degrees F (21 degrees C). Six hours is only allowed while the food stays at or below 70 degrees F (21 degrees C). Cross that line and the food is discarded immediately, whatever the clock says. FDA Food Code 3-501.19 - Time as a public health control
What is the minimum hot-holding temperature for soup on a service line?
- 100 degrees F (38 degrees C)
- 120 degrees F (49 degrees C)
- 135 degrees F (57 degrees C) — correct
- 155 degrees F (68 degrees C)
135 degrees F (57 degrees C). Hot food must be held at 135 degrees F (57 degrees C) or hotter - the same number as the minimum cooking temperature for plant food, which is why the two are worth remembering as a pair. FDA Food Code 3-501.16 - Hot holding
Cooling food has to pass quickly through which temperature range?
- 65 degrees F to 20 degrees F (18 degrees C to -6 degrees C)
- 125 degrees F to 70 degrees F (52 degrees C to 21 degrees C) — correct
- 180 degrees F to 130 degrees F (82 degrees C to 54 degrees C)
- 220 degrees F to 195 degrees F (104 degrees C to 90 degrees C)
125 degrees F to 70 degrees F (52 degrees C to 21 degrees C). The two-stage rule is 135 degrees F to 70 degrees F within two hours, then 70 degrees F to 41 degrees F within four more. The 125-70 band is where food spends most of its danger-zone time, so it has to move fastest. FDA Food Code 3-501.14 - Cooling
Which is an approved way to thaw food?
- As part of the cooking process — correct
- Under running water at 125 degrees F (52 degrees C)
- In a sink of standing water at 70 degrees F (21 degrees C)
- On the counter at room temperature
As part of the cooking process. Four approved methods: in the cooler, under running water at 70 degrees F (21 degrees C) or below, in a microwave if it goes straight to the stove, or as part of the cooking itself. The counter is not on the list because the outside of the food sits in the danger zone for hours. FDA Food Code 3-501.13 - Thawing
Hot TCS food on a service line must be held at:
- 70 degrees F (21 degrees C) or above
- 125 degrees F (52 degrees C) or above
- 135 degrees F (57 degrees C) or above — correct
- 155 degrees F (68 degrees C) or above
135 degrees F (57 degrees C) or above. 135 degrees F (57 degrees C) is the floor for hot holding, and it is checked every two hours. Soup that started at 160 degrees F at eleven is not still at 135 degrees F at two unless somebody has been watching it. FDA Food Code 3-501.16 - Hot holding
When cooling, food must go from 135 degrees F (57 degrees C) down to what temperature within two hours?
- 80 degrees F (27 degrees C)
- 45 degrees F (7 degrees C)
- 70 degrees F (21 degrees C) — correct
- 41 degrees F (5 degrees C)
70 degrees F (21 degrees C). Two hours to get from 135 degrees F to 70 degrees F, then four more hours to reach 41 degrees F. The first drop is the one people fail, because a deep pan of hot stew cools far more slowly than anyone expects. FDA Food Code 3-501.14 - Cooling
Seafood is cooked to order. What internal temperature must it reach?
- 135 degrees F (57 degrees C) for 15 seconds
- 145 degrees F (63 degrees C) for 15 seconds — correct
- 155 degrees F (68 degrees C) for 15 seconds
- 165 degrees F (74 degrees C) for 15 seconds
145 degrees F (63 degrees C) for 15 seconds. Fish and shellfish, pork, whole cuts of beef and eggs for immediate service all cook to 145 degrees F (63 degrees C) for 15 seconds. Ground meat is 155 degrees F and poultry is 165 degrees F. FDA Food Code 3-401.11 - Cooking raw animal foods
Cold food may be held without temperature control for how long, provided it stays at or below 70 degrees F (21 degrees C)?
- 2 hours
- 4 hours
- 6 hours — correct
- 8 hours
6 hours. Six hours for cold food, four hours for hot. Both require the food to start safe - 41 degrees F or below for cold, 135 degrees F or above for hot - and to be marked with the time it must be thrown out. FDA Food Code 3-501.19 - Time as a public health control
Run the whole bank scored per exam domain: the free ServSafe practice test, or the 90-question timed mock.
More temperature questions, including the traps
Every item below turns on a number, and several turn on the difference between two numbers that sound interchangeable.
A food handler is about to use the restroom. What must they do before going in?
- Wash their hands
- Take off their hat
- Change their gloves
- Take off their apron — correct
Take off their apron. An apron never goes into a restroom. Take it off and hang it where it cannot touch food, then come back and wash your hands before returning to the line. FDA Food Code ch. 2 - Personal cleanliness
Where should a coat be kept during a shift?
- On a shelf above the food
- On a shelf below the food
- In a designated area away from food — correct
- On a hook by the cooking line
In a designated area away from food. Personal belongings get a place of their own that does not share space with food, utensils or packaging - a locker, a hook in the break area, or a shelf outside the kitchen. FDA Food Code ch. 6 - Employee areas
A handler in gloves finishes with raw meat and is about to handle produce. What now?
- Clean and sanitise the gloves.
- Keep working in the same gloves.
- Set the gloves aside to reuse on the next meat order.
- Wash their hands and put on new gloves. — correct
Wash their hands and put on new gloves.. Gloves do not get washed. Take them off, wash your hands properly and put on a clean pair before touching the produce. FDA Food Code ch. 3 - Glove use
How far off the floor should stored supplies be kept?
- 2 inches (5 cm)
- 4 inches (10 cm)
- 5 inches (13 cm)
- 6 inches (15 cm) — correct
6 inches (15 cm). Six inches (15 cm) off the floor and away from the walls - enough room to see a spill, sweep behind a pallet, and spot the trails that tell you something is living back there. FDA Food Code ch. 6 - Storage
A food handler has a sore throat and a fever. When must they be excluded from the operation?
- When the people served are mainly a highly susceptible population — correct
- When the fever is above 100 degrees F (38 degrees C)
- When the sore throat has lasted more than five days
- Before the regulator has been notified
When the people served are mainly a highly susceptible population. Sore throat with fever is a symptom that has to be reported to the person in charge, and the handler is restricted from working with exposed food. Exclusion is mandatory when the operation serves a highly susceptible population. FDA Food Code ch. 2 - Employee health
Which jewellery may be worn on the hands while handling food?
- A plain-band ring — correct
- A medical ID bracelet
- A leather-band watch
- A diamond ring
A plain-band ring. A plain band is the only exception, and it still has to be clean and snug. Everything else - stones, leather, bracelets, watches - traps soil and eventually falls into food. FDA Food Code ch. 2 - Jewellery
A food handler has an infected cut on a finger. What is required before they can keep working with food?
- A bandage over the cut
- Avoiding food and prep areas entirely
- A single-use glove over the bare hand
- An impermeable bandage, a finger cot, and a single-use glove over it — correct
An impermeable bandage, a finger cot, and a single-use glove over it. Cover the wound with a clean, impermeable bandage, add a finger cot, then a single-use glove over the top. A dressing that only covers without sealing is how a plaster ends up in somebody's soup. FDA Food Code ch. 2 - Wounds and bandages
A plain-band ring may be worn:
- At any time — correct
- Only when not handling food
- Only under gloves
- Only when washing dishes
At any time. A plain band is the one piece of hand jewellery that is allowed during food handling, because it cannot harbour soil the way a setting or a stone does - provided it fits snugly. Nothing else on the hands or arms. FDA Food Code ch. 2 - Jewellery
Why must a food handler not scratch their scalp?
- It transfers an allergen
- It moves pathogens from hair and skin onto the food — correct
- It puts food in their hair
- It causes toxic-metal poisoning
It moves pathogens from hair and skin onto the food. Hair and skin carry staph, and scratching moves it onto the hands - which then go into the food. If you have to scratch, step away from the line, do it, then wash your hands. FDA Food Code ch. 2 - Personal cleanliness
After which of these must a food handler wash their hands?
- Clearing tables — correct
- Putting on gloves
- Serving customers
- Using hand sanitiser
Clearing tables. Any time the hands may have picked something up: clearing tables, washing dishes, taking out the trash, handling money, touching a phone. Gloves go on clean hands, and sanitiser never replaces soap and water. FDA Food Code 2-301.14 - When to wash
The numbers as a scored drill: free ServSafe practice test, or the 90-question timed mock.
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.