The food temperature danger zone is the range where bacteria grow, and the FSA's figures bound it. The Food Standards Agency's cooking-your-food guidance, cited below, gives the danger zone as between 8 and 63°C, where bacterial growth occurs, and says leftovers must be cooled and put in the fridge within two hours and eaten within 48 hours. The same guidance gives the cooking standard as 70°C for 2 minutes, or the equivalents it lists, 75°C for 30 seconds among them. A kitchen shows food stayed out of the zone with three records: cold storage below it, hot holding above it, and cooling through it within the time. The danger zone temperature log planner on this site prints the three, sized to the kitchen, free and without an account.
Cold storage
Fridges and freezers read on the plan's schedule, the readings judged against the limit on the sheet, the action recorded when a reading is over and the recheck after it. It is the record most kitchens have, and the one most often found with a blank week when the inspector opens the folder.
Hot holding
The counter and the line probed at service at the intervals the plan sets, above the zone's upper figure, recorded with the time and the initials. The hot food temperature check on this site is the record, and it carries the cooking standard as well so one sheet covers both.
Cooling
Cooked food passing back through the zone, with the FSA's two hours as the limit for leftovers into the fridge. The record shows the start time, the finish time and the result. It is the record most kitchens do not keep and the one an inspector asks about.
Keeping the three
Sized to the appliances and the checks per day, kept for every trading day, with the corrective actions. ProbeLedger Pro keeps them; the planner prints them. 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 food temperature danger zone
Is the zone the same for all food?
For food that supports bacterial growth; the plan lists the kitchen's items.
How long can food sit in the zone?
The FSA's two hours is the figure for leftovers into the fridge; the plan applies it at cooling.
Is the planner free?
Yes, without an account.