Safe Handling of Raw Chicken

Raw chicken should be received at or below 5°C, stored sealed on the bottom shelf, prepared on dedicated equipment, and cooked to a core temperature of 75°C verified with a calibrated probe. Poultry is one of the highest-risk products in any commercial kitchen because raw chicken frequently carries Salmonella and Campylobacter. Cooking destroys these pathogens, but cross-contamination during preparation can spread them to ready-to-eat food where they are never cooked out. Managing chicken well is therefore about two things: cooking it properly and stopping it from touching anything it should not. This guide covers the full journey — receival, storage, preparation, cooking and hygiene — so your team handles raw chicken safely every service. Why Does Chicken Need Special Care? Food Standards Australia New Zealand (FSANZ) recognises that contamination of raw chicken with Salmonella and Campylobacter is common. These bacteria cause foodborne illness that can be severe, particularly for young children, older adults, pregnant women and immunocompromised people. Because you should assume all raw chicken is contaminated, every control in your kitchen exists to either kill the bacteria through cooking or prevent their transfer to food that will be eaten without further cooking. Receival and Storage Control starts at the back door: Probe-check on receival and reject any delivery above 5°C. Store on the bottom shelf of the cold room or fridge so juices cannot drip onto other foods. Keep it sealed in its original packaging until you are ready to prepare it. Apply FIFO (first-in, first-out) with clear date labels so older stock is used first and nothing exceeds its use-by. Keeping chicken at or below 5°C keeps it out of the temperature danger zone of 5°C to 60°C, where bacteria multiply fastest. Preparation and Cross-Contamination Control Preparation is where most chicken-related outbreaks begin. Apply these controls: Use dedicated colour-coded boards (commonly red or yellow depending on your system) and dedicated knives for raw poultry. Prepare raw chicken away from, and never at the same time as, ready-to-eat foods. Wash and sanitise boards, knives, surfaces and hands immediately after handling. Never reuse a marinade that has touched raw chicken unless it is boiled first. Do not wash raw chicken under the tap — splashing spreads bacteria around the sink and surfaces. What Temperature Should Chicken Be Cooked To? Cook chicken to a minimum core temperature of 75°C, verified with a calibrated probe thermometer. Insert the probe into the thickest part of the piece, away from bone. For rolled or stuffed poultry, ensure the very centre reaches temperature, because the middle is the slowest to heat. If you hold at a lower temperature, you must use a validated time-temperature combination that achieves an equivalent level of pathogen reduction. Calibrate your probe regularly so the reading you trust is accurate. Hand Hygiene Between Steps Hands are a primary route of cross-contamination. Wash thoroughly with soap and warm water after handling raw chicken and before touching anything else — not just at the end of prep, but between every step. Drying with single-use towel completes the process; damp hands transfer bacteria more easily. Thawing Frozen Chicken Safely Thawing is a stage where control is often lost. Never thaw chicken at room temperature on a bench, where the surface warms into the danger zone long before the centre defrosts. Instead: Thaw in the refrigerator at or below 5°C, on the bottom shelf in a tray that catches drips. This is the safest method, though it takes time and planning. Thaw under cold running water in sealed packaging if you need it faster. Thaw in a microwave only if you cook it immediately afterwards. Once thawed, treat chicken as fresh and cook it within a short window. Do not refreeze thawed raw chicken unless it has been cooked first. Cooling and Reheating Cooked Chicken Cooked chicken that is not served immediately must be cooled and reheated with the same discipline as any potentially hazardous food. Apply two-stage cooling: from 60°C down to 21°C within two hours, then down to 5°C within a further four hours. Divide large quantities into shallow trays to speed cooling. When reheating for hot holding, bring the chicken back to at least 60°C, and target 75°C for rapid reheating of leftovers. Hold hot chicken at 60°C or above, and never mix fresh and previously cooked batches. Managing High Volumes During Service Busy services tempt shortcuts, which is exactly when errors happen. Reduce risk by prepping raw chicken in dedicated blocks away from plating, colour-coding equipment so nothing gets mixed up, and probing a representative piece from each batch rather than assuming the oven did its job. Log the cook temperature for high-risk batches so you have a record if a question is ever raised. A calibrated, well-maintained probe is the single most valuable tool for verifying that chicken is genuinely safe rather than just looking done. Why Colour Is Not a Reliable Doneness Test Judging chicken by colour alone is a common and dangerous habit. Cooked chicken can still look slightly pink near the bone even when it has reached a safe temperature, while overcooked, dry chicken can look done throughout well before you have confirmed it. Neither appearance tells you whether the core has actually reached 75°C. The only reliable test is a calibrated probe inserted into the thickest part. Cutting into a piece and looking at the juices is better than nothing, but juices can run clear before the safe temperature is reached and can be misleading in marinated or brined product. Train your team to trust the probe, not the eye. Build probe checks into your batch cooking routine and record the readings for high-risk items, so "it looked cooked" is never the basis on which chicken leaves your kitchen. This small discipline is one of the most effective defences against poultry-related foodborne