HACCP Plan for a Pub Kitchen

A carvery or Sunday roast operation introduces CCPs that a standard restaurant menu may not. Large joints of meat (beef topside, whole turkeys, legs of lamb) take significantly longer to cook through and, critically, longer to cool if leftovers are stored. Cooking CCP: probe the thickest part of the joint, avoiding bone. A 4kg turkey crown may need probing in multiple locations - the temperature can vary by 10-15C between the outer and inner sections. The critical limit remains 75C core. Hot holding CCP: once carved, meat on a carvery counter must stay above 63C. Bain-maries and heat lamps must be monitored - heat lamps alone rarely maintain 63C and should not be relied upon as the sole hot holding method. Gravy, vegetables, and Yorkshire puddings on the same counter all need to be above 63C. Cooling CCP: leftover roast meat that will be used the next day (sandwiches, pie fillings) must be cooled from 63C to below 8C within 90 minutes, then refrigerated. Do not leave a 3kg joint on the worktop to cool overnight - divide into smaller portions, use shallow containers, and if necessary use a blast chiller.

Pub kitchens often rely on a small core team supplemented by agency or part-time staff during busy periods. This creates a food safety challenge: how do you ensure everyone follows the HACCP plan when the team changes week to week? The answer is robust induction training and simple, visible procedures. Laminated single-page summaries of key CCPs (cooking temperatures, fridge temperatures, allergen procedures) posted in the kitchen are more effective than a 30-page HACCP document that nobody reads. Use a kitchen briefing at the start of every shift to cover the day's menu, any allergen-relevant specials, and which CCPs to monitor. Assign specific monitoring responsibilities to named individuals per shift rather than leaving it as "everyone's job." Document who was briefed and when. EHOs specifically look at whether temporary and part-time staff have received adequate food safety training, so keep records of induction sessions and any supervised food safety tasks.