Free HACCP temperature forms: goods receiving, hot holding and cooling logs
In brief
- Three free HACCP temperature forms as PDF and Excel: a goods receiving log, a hot holding temperature log and a cooling log for cooked food.
- On receipt EU rules set for example fresh meat at most +7 °C, poultry +4 °C, minced meat +2 °C and frozen goods −18 °C (Regulation 853/2004).
- Hot holding and cooling limits come from national rules. Slovakia requires at least +60 °C for 4 hours at most and cooling of meat, dumplings and rice within 90 minutes.
Fridge temperature is only one of the points HACCP watches. Receiving goods, hot holding and cooling cooked food matter just as much. We have prepared three forms for them, each as a PDF to print and as an Excel file. The fridge and freezer sheet is in our article on the fridge temperature log.
Three HACCP forms to download
1. Goods receiving log
Date, supplier, product, measured temperature and the limit from the label, packaging condition and whether you accepted or rejected the delivery. One sheet for all deliveries in a month.
2. Hot holding temperature log
Dish, minimum temperature, time it was ready, two checks during service and the time by which it must be served.
3. Cooling log for cooked food
Temperature and time when cooked, a check during cooling and the time the food was cooled. Excel calculates the duration and turns it red when it exceeds your target.
Free, no sign-up. A4 format. The back of every form has instructions, the limits with their legal source and a list of what inspectors look for.
Goods receiving: when to refuse a delivery
Receiving chilled and frozen goods is where you decide whether they enter your kitchen at all. Measure the temperature on delivery, before anything is put away. Measure packed goods between packs and do not pierce the packaging. Limits for products of animal origin are set by Regulation (EC) No 853/2004:
- Fresh meat of domestic ungulates at most +7 °C, offal at most +3 °C.
- Poultry meat at most +4 °C.
- Minced meat at most +2 °C, meat preparations at most +4 °C.
- Fresh fish at a temperature approaching that of melting ice.
- Frozen goods −18 °C or colder.
For other chilled goods the temperature on the manufacturer label applies. If a delivery is over the limit or the packaging is damaged, refuse it and record it. A line saying “rejected, 9.2 °C” shows an inspector that you really check deliveries.
Hot holding: the minimum comes from national rules
EU law requires hot food to be held at temperatures that do not create a health risk but sets no single figure. The minimum and the time limit come from national rules, for example:
- Slovakia (Decree 533/2007, § 9): solid dishes at least +60 °C, liquid dishes at least +65 °C, served within 4 hours of cooking, reheated to at least +70 °C in the core.
- Czechia (Decree 121/2023, § 3): at least +60 °C within the time limit the operator sets in its HACCP procedure, no further holding or reheating after it.
Check the rule in your country and write the minimum into the form. Record the “serve by” time as soon as the dish is ready. Probe the centre of the food, not the edge of the container, at least twice during service.
Cooling: as fast as possible, then chilled storage
Food that is not served straight away has to pass quickly through the temperatures at which bacteria multiply fastest. Regulation (EC) No 852/2004 requires food held or served chilled to be cooled as quickly as possible after heat processing. Some countries add exact values. Slovakia requires unportioned roast, stewed or boiled meat, dumplings and rice to be cooled within 90 minutes of preparation, Czechia keeps chilled dishes at 0 to +4 °C.
In practice cool food in shallow containers, an ice bath or a blast chiller, never in a full cold room. Set the target temperature and time in your HACCP plan and write it into the header of the form.
What correctly filled lines look like
- Receiving: 14 Oct, 7:15, meat supplier, pork shoulder 12 kg, 4.8 °C, limit 7 °C, packaging fine, accepted, initials.
- Hot holding: goulash, minimum 60 °C, ready at 11:00, serve by 15:00, checks at 11:30 with 78 °C and 13:30 with 64 °C, initials.
- Cooling: rice 6 kg, cooked at 12:10 with 92 °C, check at 12:50 with 31 °C, cooled at 13:25 with 4 °C, duration 75 minutes, stored in fridge 2, initials.
A value out of limit is not a fault in itself. A value out of limit without a recorded action is. What inspectors look for in the records is covered in our article on temperature record inspections.
An instrument with a valid calibration
All three forms have a space for the instrument and the date its calibration is valid until. The probe thermometer you use for deliveries and hot holding is an instrument just like the fridge thermometer. More in our article on thermometer calibration for HACCP.
What a monitoring system can watch for you
Deliveries and cooling are checked with a probe thermometer during a specific task, which is where a form makes sense. Fridges, freezers, display cases and bain-maries can however be watched continuously. An automatic system records the temperature by itself, sends an alarm to your phone on a breach and creates the HACCP report for an inspection in one click. How it works is explained in our article on automatic temperature monitoring. Configure the price for your business in the pricing configurator.
Legal basis: Regulation (EC) No 852/2004 on the hygiene of foodstuffs, Regulation (EC) No 853/2004 (Annex III), Slovak Decree 533/2007 (§ 9) and Czech Decree 121/2023 (§ 3). Limits reflect the texts in force in October 2026. Your HACCP plan and the manufacturer label take precedence.
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