Food Protection Manager Certification
Time and temperature control: practice questions
Our Food Protection Manager bank has 15 questions on this topic. Here are 5 of them with answers; the full mock exam draws from every topic, like the real one.
Question 1
How should a bimetallic stemmed thermometer be calibrated using the ice-point method?
- Hold it under hot tap water and set it to 135 °F
- Place it in boiling water, wait, and adjust it to 100 °F (38 °C)
- Put it in the freezer and set to 0 °F
- Place it in ice water, wait, and adjust it to 32 °F (0 °C)
Show the answer
D. Place it in ice water, wait, and adjust it to 32 °F (0 °C) — Bimetallic thermometers must be accurate to ±2 °F.
Question 2
Cooked food was left out and is 85 °F. It cooled from 135 °F 3 hours ago. What should be done?
- Serve it immediately
- Put it in the refrigerator immediately to finish cooling it
- Reheat it to 135 °F and keep it out
- Discard it, because it didn't reach 70 °F within 2 hours
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D. Discard it, because it didn't reach 70 °F within 2 hours — Food that misses the first cooling stage can sometimes be reheated to 165 °F if caught within 2 hours, but not after.
Question 3
Which food is a TCS food?
- Whole raw potatoes
- Dry pasta
- Bread
- Cut tomatoes
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D. Cut tomatoes — Cut tomatoes, cut leafy greens and cut melons are TCS.
Question 4
What type of thermometer should be used to measure the temperature of thin food like hamburger patties?
- An oven thermometer
- A thermocouple or thermistor with a thin probe
- An infrared thermometer
- A meat thermometer with a thick dial stem only
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B. A thermocouple or thermistor with a thin probe — Infrared thermometers measure surface temperature only.
Question 5
What temperature should frozen food be held at?
- 32 °F exactly
- 41 °F
- Frozen solid
- 50 °F
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C. Frozen solid — Refrigerators keep TCS food at 41 °F or below.