What is the temperature danger zone is answered by two figures and one rule. 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. Between the cold figure and the hot figure bacteria multiply fastest, so the rule is about time: how long food may spend there before it goes in the fridge or is discarded. The danger zone temperature log planner on this site prints the records a kitchen keeps of its storage, holding and cooling, free and without an account.
Why the zone exists
Bacteria on food multiply at a rate that depends on temperature; below the cold figure they slow, above the hot figure they stop or die. The zone is the range in between, and everything a HACCP plan does about biological hazards is about time and temperature relative to it.
Getting out of the zone: cooking
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. The probe reading at the end of cooking is the record that the food left the zone; the hot food temperature check on this site is that record.
Staying out: holding and storage
Hot holding at 140°F or warmer, cold storage at 40°F or below, checked and recorded through the day at the intervals the plan sets. A reading inside the zone is a corrective action, decided in advance in the plan and recorded when taken, with the recheck that shows it worked.
Passing through: cooling and the clock
Cooked food cools through the zone on its way to the fridge, and the FDA's 2 hours is the limit on that passage. The cooling record shows the start, the finish and the time. ProbeLedger Pro keeps all three records; 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 what is the temperature danger zone
Is 41°F the same as 40°F?
The FDA's safe food handling page cited here says 40°F; local codes may state a neighbouring figure. The plan records the rule that applies.
Does the zone apply to dry goods?
To food that supports bacterial growth; the plan says which items are controlled.
Is the planner free?
Yes, without an account.