Free template
Hot-holding log
Record food kept hot for service: when it went into the bain-marie or hot cupboard, each temperature check, and when it was served or thrown out.
Free, no sign-up. A4 landscape, one week per sheet.
| Date | Food / dish | Batch | Into hot holding (time) | °C at start | Check (time, °C) | Check (time, °C) | Check (time, °C) | Served or discarded (time) | Initials | If below 63 °C: what was done |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
How to use it
- Write the dish and the batch when it goes into hot holding, with the time and its temperature.
- Check the food (not just the unit’s dial) at the times your own plan sets, and write the time and the reading.
- If food has dropped below 63 °C, write what you did: reheated it once to 70 °C or above, or threw it out.
- Write when the food was served up or discarded. Don’t top up old food with new: start a new line.
The FSAI guidance figures
- Hot holding: 63 °C or above
- Reheating: a core of 70 °C or above, once only
These are guidance figures. Use the limits in your own food safety management system, and see the FSAI Safe Catering pack and food safety temperatures explained.
This sheet does the same job as the FSAI’s hot hold/display record (SC4) in the FSAI Safe Catering pack.
When paper gets hard to keep up
Paper sheets get missed on busy days, filled in at the end of a shift, and lost when you need them. In Hygivo, hot holding is part of the batch record: phone reminders when a check is due, and a missed check becomes an issue a manager sees. Hot holding in Hygivo.
This is general information, not advice for your business. Your food safety management system (HACCP plan) and FSAI guidance are the reference. Hygivo is not affiliated with or endorsed by the FSAI.
Keep this record on your phone instead
Last reviewed 2026-10-12.