ServSafe Temperature Practice Test
Free 20-question quiz on the danger zone, cooking temperatures, cooling, reheating and holding. Instant answers with explanations.
Every Temperature You Need to Know
Time and temperature control is the single most heavily tested area on any food safety exam, and it is also the easiest to score well on, because almost every question is straight recall. Learn the tables below and you have banked a large block of marks before you walk in.
Minimum Internal Cooking Temperatures
| Temperature | Applies To |
|---|---|
| 165°F (<1 sec) | Poultry, stuffing, stuffed meat and pasta, dishes containing previously cooked TCS food |
| 155°F (17 sec) | Ground meat, ground seafood, injected or mechanically tenderised meat, shell eggs for hot holding |
| 145°F (15 sec) | Seafood, steaks and chops of beef, pork, veal and lamb, shell eggs served immediately |
| 145°F (4 min) | Whole roasts of beef, pork, veal and lamb |
| 135°F (no time) | Fruit, vegetables, grains and legumes that will be hot-held |
Holding, Cooling and Reheating
| Process | Requirement |
|---|---|
| Hot holding | 135°F or above |
| Cold holding | 41°F or below |
| Cooling stage 1 | 135°F to 70°F within 2 hours |
| Cooling stage 2 | 70°F to 41°F within 4 more hours (6 hours total) |
| Reheating for hot holding | 165°F for 15 seconds, within 2 hours |
| Hot food, no temperature control | Maximum 4 hours, then discard |
| Cold food, no temperature control | Maximum 6 hours, never above 70°F, then discard |
Receiving Temperatures
| Item | Receive At |
|---|---|
| Cold TCS food | 41°F or lower |
| Shell eggs | Air temperature 45°F or lower |
| Live shellfish | Air temperature 45°F, internal 50°F or lower |
| Milk | 45°F or lower, cooled to 41°F within 4 hours |
| Hot TCS food | 135°F or higher |
| Frozen food | Frozen solid, with no signs of thawing or refreezing |
How to Calibrate a Thermometer
Two methods appear on the exam. The ice-point method is the one used in most kitchens: fill a container with crushed ice, add water to make a slurry, insert the probe without touching the sides, wait 30 seconds and adjust the reading to 32°F. The boiling-point method adjusts the reading to 212°F at sea level, dropping roughly 1°F for every 550 feet of elevation.
Why the Danger Zone Matters
Between 41°F and 135°F, bacteria on TCS food can double roughly every twenty minutes. The narrower band from 70°F to 125°F is faster still, which is exactly why the cooling rules give you only two hours to clear it. Every holding, cooling and reheating rule on this page exists to limit the total time food spends in that range.
Drill temperatures until they stick
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