Cooling and Cold-Holding Temperature Log
Cooling is where good kitchens get hurt. When SNHD's 2021 Risk Factor Study actually watched restaurants cool food, more than 9 out of 10 got it wrong. The fix isn't complicated: know the two numbers, put a clock on them, and write down what the probe says. This log is the writing-down part. Print a stack, put them on a clipboard by the walk-in, and fill in a row every time something hot goes in to cool.
The two rules this log enforces
- Two-stage cooling: hot food must drop from 135°F to 70°F within 2 hours, then from 70°F to 41°F within 4 more hours (6 hours total). If it isn't at 70°F by the 2-hour mark, reheat it rapidly to 165°F and start the cooling over once, or throw it out.
- Cold holding: once cooled, TCS food stays at 41°F or below, always. Cold holding above 41°F is the single most-cited violation in Clark County.
Make the clock easy to beat
Shallow pans, 2 inches deep. Ice baths and ice paddles for soups and sauces. Loosely covered or uncovered in the walk-in while cooling, on the top shelf, never stacked. Deep, covered, stacked containers are how a 6-hour rule gets lost overnight.
The log
One row per batch. Probe the food itself, write the actual time and temperature, and if a checkpoint misses, write what you did about it. A log with the occasional miss and a real corrective action is a working system.
| Date | Food item | Start time / temp |
2-hour check (70°F or below) |
6-hour check (41°F or below) |
Corrective action | Initials |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
The same columns work for cold-holding spot checks: write the unit or pan as the food item, the time and probe temperature at the start check, and any corrective action taken.
Free educational tool from Vinh Food Safety Solutions (vinhfoodsafety.com). This is not an official Southern Nevada Health District document, and keeping a log can't guarantee a grade. Temperatures and times reflect the SNHD 2023 Food Regulations, which follow the FDA Food Code.
Want logs your line will actually fill in?
I design temperature logs, SOPs, and records around how your kitchen really runs, so the paperwork survives a Friday night instead of dying on a clipboard.
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