HACCP plan for chicken: receiving to reheating, with worked rows

The HACCP plan for chicken in a restaurant kitchen controls one main hazard: Salmonella and Campylobacter that live on raw poultry. Receive it at 41°F or below, thaw it in the cooler or under cold running water, keep it from touching ready-to-eat food, cook every piece to 165°F, hold it at 135°F or above, and cool and reheat leftovers on the clock. This page gives each step as a plan row with the limit, how to check it and what to do when it fails, and a daily log you can copy.

Free logs are on the logs page. The numbers are from the FDA Food Code and USDA; your health department's adopted code may differ in places.

Why chicken gets its own plan section

Chicken is the food most often cited in kitchens that have a plan. The CDC estimates that Salmonella causes about 1.35 million infections in the U.S. each year, and poultry is among the leading sources, along with Campylobacter [3]. Two things make chicken harder than most foods. First, the bacteria are on the outside and in the cuts of raw meat, so any surface that touches the raw bird can pass them on. Second, chicken is cooked in many forms, from whole roast birds to fried tenders, sliced strips on a grill and pulled meat in sauces, each with its own temperature and hold risks.

The general plan is described in the HACCP plan for a restaurant guide, which includes a short chicken example. This page goes deeper on the chicken steps only.

Step 1: receiving

• Limit: fresh chicken at 41°F or below; frozen chicken solid, with no ice crystals or leakage suggesting thawing and refreezing [1].
• Monitoring: probe the product or read the case air temperature for each delivery; check the packaging for tears, leaks, off smells and the use-by date.
• Corrective action: reject above 41°F, or with torn packaging, slime or odor. Do not accept a "just this once" from a driver.
• Record: the receiving temperature log.

Buy from an approved supplier. Whole birds and parts should be inspected and carry the USDA mark of inspection.

Step 2: storage

• Store raw chicken at 41°F or below, in sealed containers or on a tray, on the bottom shelf of the cooler so it cannot drip onto food below.
• Store in order of cooking temperature from top to bottom: ready-to-eat foods on top, then seafood, whole cuts of beef and pork, ground meat, and poultry at the very bottom. The order follows the cooking temperatures, because the bottom item needs the highest temperature (165°F) to be safe [1].
• Label with the date received; use first in, first out. Follow the supplier's use-by date and write your own maximum storage time into the plan.
• Check cooler temperatures twice a day; see the walk-in cooler log.

Step 3: thawing

Frozen chicken must not thaw on the counter. The Food Code allows four ways [1]:

1. In the refrigerator at 41°F or below. Allow 24 hours for every 4 to 5 pounds.
2. Submerged under running water at 70°F or below, with a flow strong enough to float off loose particles, for no more than 2 hours, then cook right away.
3. In a microwave, if the food is cooked at once.
4. As part of the cooking process, from frozen.

Do not thaw in a sink of standing water, in a bucket by the back door or in a hot kitchen. Do not wash raw chicken: washing splashes the bacteria onto sinks and counters, and it removes none of them. The USDA gives this advice for homes and it applies equally in the kitchen [2]. Cooking, not rinsing, is the kill step.

Step 4: preparation and cross-contamination

This is the step where most chicken-related outbreaks begin: not the chicken itself, but what the chicken touched.

• Use a separate cutting board, preferably color-coded, and separate knives and tongs for raw poultry. Wash, rinse and sanitize them after each use.
• Prep chicken last, or at a separate station, after ready-to-eat items such as salad and sliced bread.
• Wash hands for 20 seconds after touching raw chicken, and change gloves between raw chicken and any other food.
• Marinades that touched raw chicken are thrown away, or brought to a full boil before use as a sauce. Do not use the same marinade to baste the cooked chicken.
• Sanitize prep tables with a food-contact sanitizer at the right strength, test strips ready.
• Keep raw chicken out of the way of the pass and the plate-up area.

Put cross-contamination into the plan as a monitored step: someone checks, once per shift, that the boards, sanitizer strength and station layout are as written, and initials it.

Step 5: cooking

The kill step. The Food Code limit for poultry, and for any food stuffed with poultry or containing it, is 165°F (74°C), reached instantly [1]. USDA says the same: 165°F for all poultry, whole or ground, measured with a food thermometer [2].

• Where to probe: the thickest part. For breasts, the center of the thickest part. For whole birds, the innermost part of the thigh, away from the bone. For stuffing, the center of the stuffing.
• How many: in a batch, probe several pieces, including the biggest. Record the lowest. For a fryer load of tenders, probe three from different baskets.
• Color is not proof. Pink near the bone in a fully cooked bird can be normal; clear juices in an undercooked one can be misleading. The thermometer decides.
• Corrective action: continue cooking and check again. If the item was already served, recall the plate if you can.
• Verification: calibrate the thermometer in ice water (32°F) weekly, or after a drop.

Some chicken is cooked in more than one stage, for example par-fried then oven finished, or sous vide then seared. The critical limit applies at the final cooked state, and with sous vide there are time and temperature tables instead; see the sous vide HACCP plan. For chicken that is smoked or cured, see smoked and cured meats.

Step 6: hot holding

Cooked chicken that is held for service, such as on a steam table, under a heat lamp or in a warming cabinet, stays at 135°F (57°C) or above [1]. Monitoring and the choice between 135°F and 140°F are explained in the hot holding temperature guide.

• Check with a probe at the start of holding and every 2 hours (every hour at a busy line).
• If a tray reads below 135°F, reheat it to 165°F for 15 seconds before returning it to hold. The Food Code lets you reheat rapidly if you do it within the 2-hour window since it dropped out of temperature [1].
• If you do not know how long it was under 135°F, or it was longer than 4 hours, discard it.
• Do not use a hot hold to cook or reheat from cold; it only holds.

Step 7: cooling and storing leftovers

Cooked chicken that you keep for sandwiches, salads or tomorrow's special has to cool through the two-stage rule: 135°F to 70°F within 2 hours, and to 41°F within 4 more hours [1]. Cut a roast bird into pieces or slice breasts, put them in a shallow pan, and use ice or a blast chiller. A whole cooked bird left on a counter or put into the walk-in covered is a common failure. The method and a filled-in sheet are in the cooling log for a restaurant guide.

Chicken salad and other foods made from cooked chicken must be cooled before mixing, or the mix must be cooled, and then held at 41°F or below. Date mark ready-to-eat TCS food held more than 24 hours; it can be kept for 7 days at 41°F or below, counting the day it was made as day 1 [1].

Step 8: reheating

Cooked, cooled chicken that you reheat for hot holding must reach 165°F for 15 seconds within 2 hours [1]. Use an oven, a steamer, a pan or a microwave. Do not use a steam table, chafing dish or hot hold to reheat, since they do not heat fast enough. Reheated chicken can go back into hot hold, but do not cool and reheat the same food more than once.

Worked plan rows for chicken

A daily chicken log

These rows are examples of how an entry reads and are not records of a real kitchen. Keep logs with the rest of your temperature records; where a plan is required the Food Code asks for at least 90 days [1].

Variations: fried, grilled, rotisserie and wings

• Fried chicken: oil temperature does not equal food temperature. Probe the chicken, not the oil. Bone-in pieces are the slowest.
• Grilled strips and tenders: thin, so they cook fast and dry out; probe a thicker one.
• Rotisserie: probe the thigh, not the breast. Hold at 135°F or above, or cool in pieces.
• Wings: small and bony, so probing is awkward; probe the thickest wing in each batch at the joint, not touching bone.
• Breaded and pre-cooked frozen products: raw-looking breaded chicken may be uncooked. Follow the package and cook to 165°F.

Questions

What internal temperature must chicken reach?

165°F (74°C) in the thickest part, measured with a food thermometer.

Should I wash raw chicken?

No. It spreads bacteria and removes none. Cooking kills them.

How long can cooked chicken sit out?

Not at all in the danger zone beyond the limits: hot hold at 135°F or above, or cooled on the 2-hour, 6-hour schedule.

Is pink chicken always undercooked?

No. Color can mislead. A probe reading of 165°F is the test.

How long can I keep cooked chicken?

Up to 7 days at 41°F or below if date marked, counting day 1 as the day it was prepared, or less if your health department sets a shorter limit.

Do I need a separate cutting board?

Yes, or wash, rinse and sanitize between raw chicken and any ready-to-eat food.

Where do I get a log?

The free sheets on our logs page work for cook, hold and cool records; add a product column.

Sources

1. FDA Food Code 2022 (3-202.11 receiving, 3-401.11 cooking, 3-501.13 thawing, 3-501.14 cooling, 3-501.16 holding, 3-501.17 date marking, 3-403.11 reheating), U.S. Food and Drug Administration
2. Chicken and food safety, USDA Food Safety and Inspection Service
3. About Salmonella, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention

Cutting and grinding raw meat for sale? See the HACCP plan for a butcher shop.

Related: all food safety guides.