If You're Serving A Home Buffet, Here's How Hot The Food Should Be

If you're entertaining a large group of people at home, serving a meal buffet-style is often the easiest way to go. Amid hectic party preparations, remember to prioritize an important aspect of setting up a home buffet — food safety. Safety should be a focus whenever you're setting out platters of food because no one wants to get a foodborne illness like E. coli, norovirus, or a salmonella infection. Foodborne illnesses are, at best, uncomfortable and inconvenient, but they can sometimes be deadly. Fortunately, you can take steps to reduce the chances that harmful bacteria will be able to multiply by keeping your hot foods hot, ensuring that cold foods stay cold, and avoiding cross-contamination.

The bacteria strains that cause these diseases thrive in temperatures between 40 and 140 degrees Fahrenheit, so you will need to maintain your hot buffet offerings at 140 degrees Fahrenheit or above. A digital instant-read food thermometer will simplify your buffet setup. Use it to make sure your meat and egg dishes are cooked to their proper bacteria-killing temperature, which is at least 145 degrees for steaks, chops, hams, roasts, and seafood; 160 degrees for dishes made with raw ground meat or raw eggs; and 165 degrees for all poultry dishes and casseroles. On party day, monitor buffet food temperatures with your instant-read food thermometer.

The food temperature range between 40 and 140 degrees Fahrenheit is known as the "danger zone" because bacteria that cause foodborne illnesses multiply rapidly in these temperatures. As you plan your home buffet, think about how you will safely serve the food at the proper temperature. Consider using warming mats, food warmers, or chafing dishes to keep hot foods out of the danger zone. One important tip is to check your food warmers and mats to be sure they can keep food at the proper temperature; some models can't.

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration recommends keeping hot buffet dishes in a warm oven (200 to 250 degrees) and placing smaller platters of these foods on your buffet table. When you replenish the table, use clean serving plates to prevent cross-contamination from food that has been sitting out and items your guests have touched. Also, follow the FDA's two-hour rule to further minimize risks. Refrigerate leftovers no later than two hours after setting them out. If your buffet is held outdoors and the air temperature is in the 90s, get those leftovers into the refrigerator within one hour.