Restaurant Temperature Logs and Limits
Which temperatures to record in a restaurant, the key limits in the UK and the US, how to use and calibrate probes, how to cool food safely and a log to copy.
Updated 7 min read
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Key takeaways
- Record the temperatures that control risk: deliveries, fridges and freezers, cooking, hot holding, cooling and reheating.
- Know your own country's limits: the UK legal fridge limit is 8°C, and the FDA Food Code uses 41°F for cold holding.
- A reading that is out of range needs a written action, not just a number.
- Calibrate probes regularly and keep the log where the cook can reach it.
In short: a temperature log is the daily proof that your cold food stayed cold, your hot food stayed hot and your cooked food was cooked enough. Record only what you will really check, set the limits from your own authority's guidance, and write what you do when a number is wrong.
UK and US figures are as of October 2026 and come from official guidance and widely used summaries; confirm them for your area with your local authority.
Temperature control is the heart of kitchen safety. Bacteria multiply in the warm range between cold storage and hot holding, so the job is to keep food out of that range, or to move through it quickly. See the HACCP guide for how this fits into your safety plan.
What to record
Not every kitchen needs every line. Choose the ones that match your menu.
- Deliveries: the temperature of chilled and frozen goods on arrival.
- Fridges and freezers: air temperature or food temperature at set times.
- Cooking: core temperature of high risk foods such as poultry, minced meat and rolled joints.
- Hot holding: food kept hot for service.
- Cooling: food cooked in advance and chilled.
- Reheating: food brought back to temperature.
- Display and delivery: food in a display cabinet, and food leaving for delivery.
Key temperatures in the UK
The following are widely used UK figures. Councils and the Food Standards Agency publish the detail, and rules differ slightly across the four nations, so confirm for yours.
- Chilled food: the legal maximum is 8°C in England and Wales according to council guidance, and the Food Standards Agency advises keeping fridges at 5°C or below.
- Hot holding: at least 63°C for food kept hot after cooking, with limited tolerance periods allowed for service.
- Cooking: a core temperature of 70°C for two minutes (or an equivalent time and temperature combination) is the common standard.
- Freezers: many guides recommend minus 18°C or colder.
Check the current official guidance on the Food Standards Agency business guidance pages and your own council's food team.
Key temperatures in the United States
The FDA Food Code is a model code that many states and counties adopt, often with changes. Commonly cited values:
- Cold holding of temperature controlled food: 41°F (5°C) or below.
- Hot holding: 135°F (57°C) or above.
- Cooking: poultry to 165°F (74°C), ground meat to 155°F (68°C), and whole cuts of beef, pork and fish to 145°F (63°C), each for the specified time.
- Reheating: food for hot holding reheated to 165°F (74°C) within a short time set by the code.
- Cooling cooked food: from 135°F to 70°F within 2 hours, then from 70°F to 41°F within a further 4 hours.
These come from the FDA Food Code and secondary summaries; your state may use a different edition. Ask your county health department which edition applies.
Probes, not guesses
The air temperature in a fridge is not the temperature of the food. Use a clean, calibrated probe thermometer for food, and fridge thermometers or built in displays for air.
- Wash and sanitise the probe between uses, to avoid cross contamination.
- Insert into the centre of the thickest part for cooking checks.
- Wait for the reading to settle.
- Keep a spare and replace batteries.
Calibrate regularly, for example weekly or whenever a probe is dropped. In ice and water the reading should be about 0°C, and in boiling water about 100°C at sea level. Record the calibration date.
Cooling cooked food safely
Cooling is where many kitchens go wrong. A large pot of stock or rice left on a counter stays warm for hours. Good practice:
- Divide food into shallow containers.
- Use an ice bath, blast chiller or cold running water around the container.
- Stir occasionally to release heat.
- Cover and refrigerate when food is cool enough.
- Record the start time and the temperature after the target period.
Follow the time limits in your own authority's guidance. Where the FDA two stage rule applies, food must reach 70°F within two hours; if it does not, the code requires a corrective action such as reheating and restarting the cooling, or discarding.
A simple daily log to copy
| Date | Time | What | Reading | Limit | Initial | If out of range, action |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 09:00 | Walk in fridge | at or below limit | ||||
| 09:05 | Reach in fridge 1 | |||||
| 09:10 | Freezer | |||||
| 11:00 | Delivery, chilled | |||||
| 12:30 | Chicken, core temp | cooking limit | ||||
| 13:00 | Hot hold, soup | at or above limit | ||||
| 22:00 | Closing fridge check |
Print one sheet per week and keep the limits written on the sheet. A cook should not need to look anything up.
What to do when a reading is wrong
Write the answer in advance. For a fridge that is above its limit:
- Check the door, the load and the setting.
- Probe the food. If it is within the limit, move it to another fridge.
- Recheck the fridge in an hour.
- If food has been above the limit for longer than your plan allows, discard it. Do not guess.
- Call the engineer. Record what you did, who did it and when.
Name the person who may decide to discard food. See also reduce food waste for how to record waste honestly, including food discarded for safety.
Delivery and display checks
Check chilled deliveries as soon as they arrive, before signing. Reject goods that are warm or damaged, and record the rejection. For display fridges and hot cabinets, check at fixed times and keep the same limits. For delivery orders, think about the time between pack and door and how you keep hot food hot. See takeaway packaging and run your own delivery.
Paper, digital and automatic logging
Paper works when it is used. Digital logs on a tablet can be quicker to search and harder to lose. Automatic sensors in fridges can alert you at night, but you still need food checks with a probe. Whichever you choose, be sure the record is made at the time and cannot be changed afterwards without a trace. Inspectors ask whether the records are real.
Some kitchens put the log on the same kitchen display or tablet as orders, but keep your food safety records separate from your sales system unless you are certain they meet your authority's expectations. DineHarbor's kitchen display handles orders and tickets; your temperature records remain part of your own food safety system.
Common mistakes
- Filling the log in at the end of the week.
- Writing the limit but not the action.
- Never calibrating the probe.
- Measuring the air and calling it the food.
- Putting hot pots directly into the fridge, which warms the other food.
- Using one limit for every country.
Who checks what, and when
A log works when each check has an owner. Give the opening cook the fridges, freezers and deliveries. Give the grill cook the cooking checks on their own station. Give the sous chef or manager the hot holding and cooling checks, and the weekly review of the sheets. At the end of each week the manager signs the page, looks for patterns such as a fridge that creeps up every Friday, and writes any maintenance request.
Treat an out of range reading as information. A fridge that drifts upward is telling you it needs a service before it fails on the busiest night of the month. A cook who records an honest low cooking reading and fixes it is doing the job properly, and should be thanked, not blamed.
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Questions and answers
How often should I check fridge temperatures?
At least at opening and closing, and many kitchens add a mid service check. Your food safety plan should say how often. Some operators use automatic loggers with alerts as well.
What is the legal fridge temperature in the UK?
As of October 2026, UK council guidance gives 8°C or below as the legal limit for chilled food, while the Food Standards Agency advises keeping fridges at 5°C or below. Check current official guidance for your nation.
What temperature should chicken be cooked to?
UK guidance gives a core temperature of 70°C for two minutes, or an equivalent combination. The FDA Food Code uses 165°F (74°C) for poultry. Use the limit that applies where you operate.
How do I calibrate a probe thermometer?
Check it in a mix of ice and water, where it should read about 0°C, and in boiling water where it should read about 100°C at sea level. Replace or have it recalibrated if it is off by more than the tolerance in the maker's instructions.
What do I do if the fridge fails overnight?
Check the temperature of the food with a probe. Food that has stayed within the limits can be moved to another fridge; food that has been above the limit for longer than your plan allows should be discarded. Record what you did.
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About the author
Editorial team
The DineHarbor team writes this blog for restaurant owners and managers. Every article is checked against the product before it is published, so what we describe is what the software does.
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