Free restaurant temperature log for fridges and hot holding

Where can I get a free fridge temperature log?

Printable temperature log (HTML: print from your browser) · Temperature log (CSV for Excel or Google Sheets)

Columns: date, time, unit or food item, temperature (°F), within limit (Y/N), corrective action taken, initials, and a verification column for the manager.

What temperatures should a restaurant fridge log show?

• Cold holding: 41°F or below (§3-501.16(A)(2)).
• Hot holding: 135°F or above (§3-501.16(A)(1)); roasts cooked to §3-401.11(B) may be held at 130°F.
• Cooking: 165°F for poultry and stuffed foods; 155°F for 17 seconds for ground meat; 145°F for 15 seconds for intact meat, fish and eggs for immediate service (§3-401.11).
• Reheating for hot holding: 165°F for 15 seconds within 2 hours (§3-403.11).
• Frozen storage: food frozen solid; many operators set 0°F as a house standard.

How do I fill in a temperature log properly?

1. Use a calibrated probe thermometer. Calibrate in ice water (32°F) at least weekly and after a drop. Note calibration on the log or a separate record.
2. Measure the food, not just the air. Insert the probe into the thickest part or the centre of the container.
3. Write the actual number. "OK" or a tick isn't a record. Inspectors look for real readings with natural variation; a column of identical numbers looks invented.
4. Record corrective actions on the same line. "Cooler at 46°F: moved food to walk-in, discarded sliced turkey (unknown time), called repair."
5. Initial every entry, and have a manager review and initial the sheet daily or weekly.
6. Don't rewrite logs. Cross out errors with a single line and initial them.

How often should restaurant temperatures be checked?

Your HACCP plan or standard operating procedures set the frequency. A practical schedule for most kitchens: every refrigeration unit at opening and close; hot and cold holding on the line every 2 hours during service (that lets you catch hot food that has dropped below 135°F while it can still be reheated); each batch of cooked TCS food at the end of cooking. Cook-chill and sous vide storage under §3-502.12(D) needs continuous electronic monitoring that you check visually twice a day.

What mistakes do inspectors catch on temperature logs?

• Logs filled in at the end of the shift from memory.
• Out-of-range readings with no corrective action recorded.
• Air temperature recorded for a unit where the food is warmer.
• No record of thermometer calibration.
• Logs missing for days the restaurant was open.

How does the temperature log fit a HACCP plan?

In a HACCP plan, every critical control point names a record that proves it was monitored. For cold holding, hot holding, cooking and reheating CCPs, that record is usually this temperature log. When an inspector reviews your plan, they will compare the critical limit written in the plan with the numbers on the log and with what they measure on the day. If your plan says "cold holding checked every 4 hours" and the log has two entries a day, that gap is a finding even if every reading was fine. Write a frequency you can keep, then keep it.

Keep one sheet per unit or per station rather than one sheet for the whole kitchen; it makes trends obvious. A reach-in that reads 40°F, 41°F, 42°F across a week is telling you to call for service before it fails.

Where can I get the other HACCP logs?

The free temperature log is yours to keep. The Plan Pack adds cooling, receiving, cleaning and sanitising, and corrective action logs as CSV, Word and print-ready HTML, plus the full HACCP plan export. See pricing.