Taking something out of the freezer for tomorrow's service? There's a little more to defrosting food safely than leaving it to thaw and hoping it's ready in time.
We've added a new Defrosting task template to Chomp's Kitchen App, helping your team stay on top of safe defrosting procedures and keep a record of this to show in your audit report.
Defrosting might seem like a straightforward kitchen job, but getting it wrong can create food safety risks.
When food is left to thaw at room temperature for too long, the outside can enter the temperature danger zone (5°C–60°C) while the centre is still frozen. That gives harmful bacteria an opportunity to multiply.
There's also the risk of cross-contamination from dripping juices, particularly when defrosting raw meat, poultry or seafood.
New Zealand's Simply Safe & Suitable Food Control Plan and Australia's food safety guidelines include specific guidance for defrosting food safely, including:
Our new Defrosting task template gives your team a dedicated place in the Kitchen App to manage defrosting as part of their everyday food safety routine.
Whether you're preparing frozen ingredients for tomorrow's menu or managing larger batches ahead of a busy service, having a consistent process helps your team stay organised and follow your Food Control Plan.
It also provides a useful way to document defrosting checks and any issues that need attention.
If your kitchen regularly defrosts frozen food, it's worth considering whether a dedicated Defrosting task would be useful for your team.
Head to Task Manager in ChompHQ to review the new template and add it to your food safety schedule, it'll be ready to use in your Kitchen App once you've added it in ChompHQ.
Open Task Manager in ChompHQ →
For more information about safe defrosting procedures, check out MPI's Simply Safe & Suitable Food Control Plan.