Danger zone temperature is two figures and a clock. The FDA's safe food handling page, cited below, says to keep the refrigerator at 40°F or below and the freezer at 0°F or below, to refrigerate perishables within 2 hours of cooking or purchasing and within 1 hour if the temperature outside is above 90°F, and its buffet guidance keeps hot foods at 140°F or warmer and cold foods at 40°F or colder. The two temperatures bound the zone; the clock is how long food may sit inside it. A kitchen's temperature records exist to show that storage stayed below the cold figure, holding stayed above the hot one, and cooling crossed between them inside the time. The danger zone temperature log planner on this site sizes those records for a kitchen, free and without an account.
The cold figure
The refrigerator at 40°F or below, the freezer at 0°F or below, cold food on a buffet at 40°F or colder. Read and recorded on the plan's schedule; a reading above is a corrective action written in the plan in advance and recorded when taken.
The hot figure
Hot food kept at 140°F or warmer on the buffet and the line, probed and recorded. The FDA's safe cooking temperatures, from the same page: 145°F with a 3 minute rest for whole cuts of beef, pork, veal and lamb and for fin fish; 160°F for ground meat and egg dishes; 165°F for poultry, leftovers and casseroles; 140°F to reheat fully cooked ham. Cooking takes the food out of the zone and holding keeps it out; the hot food temperature check on this site is both records.
The clock
Perishables into the refrigerator within 2 hours of cooking or purchase, within 1 hour when it is above 90°F outside. Cooling is where food passes back through the zone; the plan's cooling record is the one most kitchens lack and the one an inspector asks about.
The log
Storage, holding and cooling, each with its figure and its checks per day, kept for every trading day. The planner prints the sheets; ProbeLedger Pro keeps the readings with the actions. FoodDocs lists its Lite plan at $99 per site per month billed monthly or $79 billed annually, and its Standard plan at $199 per site per month, with a free 14-day trial, on its pricing page cited below. ProbeLedger Pro is $49 per month for the whole site.
Questions people ask about danger zone temperature
Is the danger zone the same in every state?
The FDA's figures are federal guidance; state food codes adopt the FDA Food Code with their own edits. The plan records the local rule.
What about food that has been in the zone too long?
The plan's corrective action, usually discard, recorded with the reason.
Is the planner free?
Yes, without an account.