Free tool
Free printable temperature log sheet
A blank food temperature log you can print today and start using on the next shift. Walk-in, freezer, hot-holding and cook temps, with a corrective action column — because a reading that was out of range means nothing without a record of what you did about it. Free, no email required, yours to keep.
No sign-up, no email wall. Print it, file it, photocopy it.
Daily Temperature Log
| Date | Time | Item / unit checked | Target range | Temp °F / °C |
In range? | Corrective action if out of range | Initials |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Y / N | |||||||
| Y / N | |||||||
| Y / N | |||||||
| Y / N | |||||||
| Y / N | |||||||
| Y / N | |||||||
| Y / N | |||||||
| Y / N | |||||||
| Y / N | |||||||
| Y / N | |||||||
| Y / N | |||||||
| Y / N | |||||||
| Y / N | |||||||
| Y / N |
Keep this record. Health inspectors typically ask to see recent logs on request. Store completed sheets somewhere dry and findable — not on the walk-in door.
Free template from ComplyMenu — complymenu.com
Using it
What to record, and how often
General guidance, not a substitute for your own local health code — requirements vary by state and by county, and your inspector's expectations are the ones that count.
Cold holding
Walk-in coolers, reach-ins and prep rails. Commonly checked at the start of each shift and again mid-service. Under the US FDA Food Code, cold holding is generally 41°F (5°C) or below.
Hot holding
Steam tables, soup wells, holding cabinets. Usually checked hourly or every two hours during service. The FDA Food Code generally sets hot holding at 135°F (57°C) or above.
Freezers
Once or twice daily is typical. Frozen food should stay frozen solid; a rising freezer reading is usually the earliest warning that a unit is failing.
Cook temperatures
Recorded per batch for the items your plan calls out. Minimum internal cook temperatures differ by product — poultry, ground meat and whole cuts are not the same — so check the figures your jurisdiction applies.
Cooling and reheating
The steps most often missed on paper. Cooling is time-and-temperature staged rather than a single reading, so note the time alongside each check.
Corrective actions
The column that matters most at inspection. An out-of-range reading with a note — discarded, moved, unit serviced — shows a working system. The same reading with a blank beside it shows the opposite.
When paper stops working
Paper is fine until it isn't.
A clipboard works. It also gets wet, gets filled in from memory at the end of a shift, and tells you nothing until you go and read it. Nobody knows a check was missed until someone counts the blanks.
ComplyMenu is the same log, on the tablet already in your kitchen — with the due list building itself, out-of-range readings demanding a corrective note before they'll save, and the whole history one click from a CSV when an inspector asks. CA$129/mo per location, flat, 14 days free, no card required.