Cooking instructions
An important step in bringing a product to the market is ensuring that the back of pack cooking instructions achieves safe core temperatures, that the product is of optimal quality after heating, and that instructions are easily understood by the consumer.
Leatherhead’s cooking instruction service is the only independent UKAS accredited testing offering a 24 and 48-hour turnaround of results with outstanding customer service. The highly experienced team will discuss your requirements, recommend and guide you to the most appropriate test which will meet specific retailer protocols. You will be provided with a report including the final instructions for your back of pack.
We offer:
- Cooking instructions verification: independent testing to confirm that your suggested cooking instruction will achieve a safe temperature and time combination, as well as the desired sensory quality
- Cooking instructions generation: experimental testing to determine the optimal cooking method (prior to verification)
Both services can be completed with either a 24-hour or 48-hour turnaround to meet product launch schedules or other deadlines.
Gain additional insight from your cooking instructions booking with the following extras:
- Additional tests: help meet the latest retailer requirements by adding additional tests for more robust verification
- Post-cook weight: learn how much weight your product has lost under the strictly controlled cooking conditions
- Photos: get closer to the testing with photos of the product pre (if required) and post-cook
- Pre-cook individual piece weight: report includes a record of the individual weights of product pieces
- In-cook temperature profiling: determine exactly when a safe time and temperature combination is achieved, potentially reducing cook times
Our service is accredited and actionable
- Quality and sensory assessment of product and packaging
- Time and temperature data meets Food Standards Agency (FSA) requirements
- Adherence to strict testing protocol
Following testing, you will receive a report with a clear consumer-friendly cooking instruction and the supporting test data and methodology for your due-diligence requirements.
Book your testing
with us
T: +44 1372 822 303
Contact the team via email
Why us?
- Independent
- UKAS accredited
- Retailer approved
- 24 and 48 hour turnaround
- Highly experienced team
- Outstanding customer service
- Wide range of calibrated equipment
Join Leatherhead’s membership community
Members receive a 10% discount on cooking instruction testing (excludes extras).
You'll be in good company with more than 1500 other organisations who are already Leatherhead members.
"Communications with your team is spot on every time – nice and personable"
"The team was helpful in getting us booked in at very short notice and delivering results within our pressured timescale"
"The report was easy to follow and understand"
"Service from contacts friendly, organising the cooking tests is straight forward"
"They discussed our requirements well over the phone before we booked"
Book your testing with us
T: +44 1372 822 303
Why Leatherhead:
- Team of experts dedicated to generating and verifying cooking instructions
- Fully equipped kitchens to undertake product testing using domestic equipment
- Cross-disciplinary nature of organisations gives access to regulatory and sensory teams as appropriate
- Fast comprehensive service
- Testing is conducted using UKAS accredited methods. We were the first cooking instructions provider with United Kingdom Accreditation Service (UKAS) accreditation for thermal oven, microwave oven, grill, hob, deep fat fryer, defrost and in cook temperature measuring (testing lab no 9365). In August 2022, we added air fryers to our UKAS-accredited cooking instruction generation and verification services. All microwave testing uses a fixed voltage supply for consistent microwave power
