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These 10 free CC questions are organized by exam domain, so you can see how each part of the Certified Culinarian blueprint is tested. Reveal the answer and explanation under each question.
After 90 minutes of braising, beef short ribs register 185°F. They are moist, but a skewer meets firm resistance. The covered pan still contains ample liquid at a gentle simmer. How should the cook finish them?
Correct answer: C - Continue the covered braise until a skewer enters with little resistance.
While finishing hollandaise, a cook pours in clarified butter too quickly. Yellow oil separates from the liquid, but there are no cooked egg particles. Which technique is most likely to restore the sauce?
Correct answer: B - Start with a little warm water in a clean bowl; whisk in the broken sauce gradually.
For a risotto that becomes creamy as stock is added while the grains retain a slight bite, the most suitable rice is:
Correct answer: A - Arborio rice
A cooling log for chicken stock records 135°F at 1:00 p.m., 68°F at 2:30 p.m., and 46°F at 5:00 p.m. Under the FDA Food Code's two-stage time-and-temperature requirements, what does this record support?
Correct answer: A - Continue active cooling; the stock must reach 41°F or below by 7:00 p.m.
A cook has covered a clean finger cut with an impermeable bandage. There is no bleeding or sign of infection. Before the cook resumes preparing sandwiches, what additional precaution is required under the FDA Food Code?
Correct answer: B - Wear a single-use glove over the bandage.
Two foods are being reheated on the range for hot holding. Soup just opened from an intact, commercially processed can has reached 142°F. Beef stew cooked and correctly cooled in-house has reached 152°F. Both have been heating for 45 minutes. Under the FDA Food Code, which may now be transferred to hot-holding equipment?
Correct answer: C - Only the soup: the stew still needs to reach 165°F for 15 seconds.
Each evening, a sous chef checks that cooks recorded the required temperatures, confirms that any deviations were corrected, and signs the completed HACCP logs. These checks are an example of:
Correct answer: D - HACCP system verification
Before adding eggs to a butter cake made by the creaming method, the baker checks the butter-and-sugar mixture. Which appearance indicates that the creaming stage is complete?
Correct answer: A - Pale and fluffy, holding soft peaks without an oily layer around the bowl
At breakfast, a guest reports a cow's-milk allergy. A server suggests lactose-free cow's milk for the oatmeal because 'the allergen has been removed.' Which explanation should the cook give?
Correct answer: D - Lactose-free milk still contains proteins that can trigger a milk allergy.
A banquet requires 64 portions of cooked, boneless roast, each weighing 5 oz. Trimming retains 80% of the purchased weight; cooking retains 75% of the trimmed raw weight. The meat is sold only in 5-lb packages. What is the smallest order that will provide all 64 portions?
Correct answer: D - 7 packages, totaling 35 lb
The CC exam also covers these domains. Drill them in the full free practice test:
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