Compliance & Safety
Food Temperature Log Template
Three temperature log sheets in one: walk-in and reach-in checks, cooking and hot-holding temps, and the two-stage cooling clock. Every limit comes from the FDA Food Code 2022, and a bad reading turns red the moment you type it. Print it for the clipboard next to your cleaning checklist.
4 flagged
28 readings logged today
2
Equipment out of range
1
Cooking / holding fails
1
Cooling fails
Equipment Temperature Log
Ambient air temp of every cold and hot holding unit, three checks per day. Limits per FDA Food Code 2022 §3-501.16.
Date: ____________ Verified by (PIC): ________
| Unit | Type | Limit | Open (7:00) | Mid (13:00) | Close (22:00) | Initials | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| ≤ 41°F | °F | °F | °F | ||||
| ≤ 0°F | °F | °F | °F | ||||
| ≤ 41°F | °F | Out of range°F | °F | ||||
| ≤ 41°F | °F | °F | °F | ||||
| ≤ 0°F | °F | Out of range°F | °F | ||||
| ≥ 135°F | °F | °F | °F | ||||
| ≤ 41°F | °F | °F | °F |
Red cell = out of range. Corrective action for a warm cooler: move product to a working unit, probe the food itself (air temp lags food temp), discard anything above 41°F for more than 4 hours, and call service. Log what you did in the initials line or on the back.
Pre-filled with a realistic Tuesday. Edit any cell. Out-of-range temps turn red the moment you type them. Print prints the open tab as a blank-ready sheet with initials and verify lines; clear the temps first if you want an empty form.
What Is a Food Temperature Log?
A food temperature log is the written record that proves your kitchen kept TCS food out of the danger zone: cooler and freezer air temps, internal cooking temps, hot-holding checks, and the two-stage cooling clock. The FDA Food Code does not require a specific form, but it does require the results, and every health inspector in the country asks to see them. This template covers all three sheets most operators keep, with the limits built in so a bad reading flags itself. It pairs with the cleaning checklist in the same inspection binder.
How to Use This Template
Step 1: Rename the units to match your line
Walk-in, reach-ins by station, freezers, hot wells, cold rails. Pick the type and the limit sets itself.
Step 2: Log at open, mid-shift, and close
Type the reading, add initials. Anything over 41°F or under 135°F turns red and counts on the summary bar.
Step 3: Use the cooking and cooling tabs during service
Pick the food category and the target fills in from the Food Code. Enter a cooling start time and the 2-hour and 6-hour deadlines show as placeholders.
Step 4: Print blank sheets for the clipboard
Print outputs the open tab with initials and a manager verify line. Copy pastes a text version into your ops chat or a spreadsheet.
Food Safety Temperature Chart
Every number the log checks against, with the section of the FDA Food Code 2022 it comes from. Most states adopt the Code as written; a few still run the 2017 edition, which uses the same numbers for everything on this chart. Print it and tape it next to the probe thermometer.
| Food or step | Temp | Hold / time limit | Food Code § |
|---|---|---|---|
| Poultry (whole or ground), stuffed meats and pasta, stuffing, wild game | 165°F | < 1 sec (instant) | 3-401.11(A)(3) |
| Any raw animal food cooked in a microwave | 165°F | Stand covered 2 min | 3-401.12 |
| Ground beef, pork, fish; injected or mechanically tenderized meat; ratites; eggs held for later | 155°F | 17 sec | 3-401.11(A)(2) |
| Whole cuts of beef, pork, lamb; fish; shell eggs for immediate service; farmed game | 145°F | 15 sec | 3-401.11(A)(1) |
| Whole beef or pork roast (alternate time/temp pairs allowed, e.g. 130°F for 112 min) | 145°F | 4 min | 3-401.11(B) |
| Fruits, vegetables, grains cooked for hot holding | 135°F | None | 3-401.13 |
| Reheating cooked-and-cooled food for hot holding | 165°F | 15 sec, reach it within 2 hrs | 3-403.11(A) |
| Reheating sealed, commercially processed ready-to-eat food | 135°F | None | 3-403.11(C) |
| Hot holding (roasts may be held at 130°F) | ≥ 135°F | Continuous | 3-501.16(A)(1) |
| Cold holding, all TCS food | ≤ 41°F | Continuous | 3-501.16(A)(2) |
| Untreated shell eggs, ambient air of the unit | ≤ 45°F | Continuous | 3-501.16(B) |
| Cooling stage 1: 135°F down to 70°F | 70°F | Within 2 hrs | 3-501.14(A)(1) |
| Cooling stage 2: 70°F down to 41°F | 41°F | Within 6 hrs total | 3-501.14(A)(2) |
| Frozen storage (no Code number; industry standard) | 0°F | Food stays frozen | 3-501.11 |
Source: FDA Food Code 2022, Chapter 3 and Annex 7 Chart 4-A. Temperatures are internal food temperatures unless the row says ambient.
The Danger Zone: 41°F to 135°F
The Food Code defines time/temperature control for safety (TCS) food as anything that supports rapid bacterial growth: cooked meat, dairy, cut melon, cooked rice, sprouts, cut tomatoes, garlic in oil. Between 41°F and 135°F those bacteria double roughly every 20 minutes at the warm end of the band.
That is why the log has three limits and not one. Cold units hold at or below 41°F (§3-501.16(A)(2)). Hot wells hold at or above 135°F (§3-501.16(A)(1)). Anything passing through the middle, which is every batch you cool, has a clock on it.
“Four hours in the zone is the discard line. Under §3-501.19, food held without temperature control gets a written time mark and goes in the trash at 4 hours (6 hours if it started at or below 41°F and never passes 70°F). If nobody wrote the time down, it is already too late.”
The Two-Stage Cooling Rule
§3-501.14 of the Food Code sets two clocks that both start when the food drops to 135°F: reach 70°F within 2 hours, and reach 41°F within 6 hours total. If you hit 70°F in 90 minutes, you have 4.5 hours left, not 4. Cooling is item 20 on the FDA model inspection form and it is the temperature violation inspectors write up most, because a covered stockpot in the walk-in fails it every time.
Missed 70°F at 2 hours
Reheat to 165°F, change the method, restart the clock. Log both the miss and the fix. This is legal once; it is not a routine.
Missed 41°F at 6 hours
Discard. No reheating exception applies. Write the discard and the weight in the log so the food cost variance on your recipe costing has an explanation.
Cooling methods that pass (§3-501.15)
- Portion into shallow hotel pans, 2 inches deep or less, uncovered until 41°F
- Ice paddle or ice bath with the pot stirred every 15 minutes
- Blast chiller if you have one; it is the only method that reliably beats 2 hours on a 5-gallon batch
- Add ice as an ingredient (stocks and soups) and cook the recipe short on water
- Never cool in the walk-in in a covered, full stockpot. That is the batch inspectors find at 50°F the next morning
How Often to Log, and What Inspectors Ask For
The Code says temperatures must be checked at a frequency that keeps food in compliance; it does not name a number for restaurants. The working standard most county health departments accept is cold and hot units at open, mid-shift, and close (roughly every 4 hours of operation), every cooked batch of raw animal food, and every cooling batch at the 2-hour and 6-hour marks. Receiving temps go on the invoice. Put the schedule in your SOPs and cover it in line cook and dishwasher onboarding, since the closer is often whoever is still there.
| Inspector asks | What satisfies them |
|---|---|
| Show me today's temps | Real numbers with times and initials. A column of 38, 38, 38, 38 for a month reads as pencil-whipped. |
| What did you do about this 46°F? | The corrective-action column is the answer. Moved product, called service, discarded, retrained. |
| How do you know the thermometer is right? | Show a calibration log entry from this week and do the ice-point test on the spot. |
| What was cooling last night? | Cooling log with start time and both checks. Inspectors probe whatever is in the walk-in at 10 a.m. |
Calibrating Thermometers: The Ice-Point Method
§4-203.11 requires food thermometers accurate to ±2°F (±1°C), and §4-502.11(B) requires them calibrated as often as needed to stay there. Weekly is the common schedule, plus any time a probe is dropped. Item 36 on the inspection form is “thermometers provided and accurate,” and the inspector will hand you a cup of ice.
- 1Fill a cup with crushed ice, top with cold water, stir, and wait 30 seconds for a slush
- 2Insert the probe at least 2 inches deep without touching the sides or bottom
- 3Wait for the reading to stop moving (about 30 seconds). It should read 32°F
- 4Dial thermometer: hold the nut under the head with a wrench and turn the face to 32°F. Digital: press the reset or calibrate button per the manual
- 5Retest. If it still will not hold 32°F ±2°F, pull it from service. Log the date, the reading, and your initials
This is a standard question on the ServSafe manager exam. The boiling-point method (212°F at sea level) also works but drifts about 1°F per 500 feet of elevation, so ice is the safer reference.
How Long to Keep Temperature Logs
The FDA Food Code sets no retention period for restaurant temperature logs; your state or county code does, and it varies. Local rules commonly land between 30 and 90 days, and some jurisdictions expect a year. Federal HACCP rules that apply to processors are stricter: 1 year for refrigerated seafood products under 21 CFR 123.9, 2 years under the FSMA preventive-controls rule at 21 CFR 117.315.
The safe default: keep the last 90 days in the binder and archive 12 months. A foodborne illness claim can surface months after service, and a dated log with initials is the first thing your liability carrier will ask for. Confirm the number with your local health department before you shred anything.
Related Tools & Guides
Restaurant Cleaning Checklist
Daily, weekly, and monthly sanitation tasks by station, printable for the binder
ServSafe Practice Test
Time and temperature questions in the format the manager exam uses
Restaurant SOP Template
Write the temperature-logging procedure your crew actually follows
Recipe Card Template
Put the target internal temp on every recipe card
Commercial Kitchen Layout Guide
Where cooling racks and reach-ins go so temps are easy to hold
HACCP Plan Template
The plan that names which temps are critical limits and who logs them