Expert: Carol Schlitt - 2/24/2007

Question
hiya
well im doing nvq carting level one
well im trying to find out the holding temperature and maximum holding time for chicken could u tell me plzzz

Answer
Hi Stacey,

It depends on which state you reside and what food code they are using.  In Illinois, where I live, chicken and all foods that are served hot, must be held at 140 degrees or above. In some states, it is 135 degrees.

As long as a food is held above 140 you can hold it until the cows come home.  However, food does not get better held at this temperature (tends to dry out,etc) so most restaurants establish their own policy of how long they will hold food for a quality issue as opposed to a safety issue.  For example, some burger chains have the policy to hold cooked hamburgers at 140 degrees a maximum of 20 minutes as they find the quality of the burger goes down and is not indicitive of the quality of product they want to sell.

I hope this answers your question.  If you have additional questions, please let me know.

Carol