The chef hands you a tray of chicken thighs off the barbecue and says "run those up". They are beautifully charred. You have a probe in your pocket. The difference between a good service and an ambulance on the quay is whether you use it, and whether you know where to put it.
Why cooking works, and where it stops
Thorough cooking destroys vegetative bacteria - the living, growing cells - by heat. It does not reliably destroy spores (Clostridium perfringens, Bacillus cereus), and it does not destroy heat-stable toxins (Staphylococcus aureus). Cooking is your biggest kill step and your most important critical control point, but it is not absolution for what happened before it or what happens after.
Colour, texture and clear juices are not proof of safe cooking. Only a core temperature is.
The standard time-temperature combinations
| Core temperature | Hold for | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| 60 degrees C | 45 minutes | |
| 65 degrees C | 10 minutes | |
| 70 degrees C | 2 minutes | Common reference standard |
| 75 degrees C | 30 seconds | The figure taught most widely in catering |
| 80 degrees C | 6 seconds |
These are equivalent lethalities. The classic exam answer is 75 degrees C for 30 seconds at the core. Remember that exact statutory figures are jurisdiction-dependent and the yacht's own food safety management system sets your working limits.
Some foods need extra care regardless of the guest's preference: poultry, minced and rolled meats, burgers, sausages, kebabs, reformed products and liver must be cooked thoroughly through, because surface bacteria have been mixed inside. A rare steak is defensible - the interior of a whole muscle is essentially sterile and the surface is seared. A rare burger is not, unless it is produced under a specific documented procedure.
Probing correctly
- Use a clean, disinfected probe. Wipe with a probe wipe (alcohol) before and after every use.
- Insert into the thickest part or the centre of the food - for poultry, the thickest part of the thigh, avoiding bone, which conducts heat and reads high.
- For liquids, stir first and probe the centre.
- Wait for the reading to stabilise, then read it.
- Take the temperature of the worst case item on the tray, not the smallest.
- Record the reading.
Calibrating the probe
An uncalibrated probe is a lie you write in the log. Check it regularly (most systems say weekly, and always after a drop):
- Ice point: crushed ice and a little water, stir - the probe should read 0 degrees C (plus or minus 1).
- Boiling point: clean boiling water - the probe should read 100 degrees C (plus or minus 1), adjusted for altitude (irrelevant at sea level, which is where you are).
If it fails, adjust it per the manufacturer or replace it, and record the check.
Onboard Notes
Yacht ovens are small, badly calibrated and cook unevenly with the boat heeled; the tray at the back is not the tray at the front, so probe more than one piece. Barbecue and beach cooking is the highest-risk cooking a yacht does: charcoal, wind, poor light, no thermometer to hand. Take the probe ashore, take spare probe wipes, and never plate poultry off a beach grill without probing it. Keep a spare probe aboard - the one you have will fail on the first day of a charter.
Scope note: xplor is not an approved centre or an accredited training provider. This lesson is preparatory study only - no certificate and no regulated qualification is awarded here, and the Level 2 food safety award must be sat and assessed with an approved centre of a regulated awarding organisation.