Cooling Temperature Log – Boulder County

The Cooling Temperature Log is a record sheet published by Boulder County Licensing for tracking food as it cools: the date, the food, and the time, temperature and name for each reading, checked against the cooling limits printed at the top.

The limits printed under Regulation Requirements are:

• Room temperature prepared foods: cool to 41°F within 4 hours.
• Cooked foods: cool from 135°F to 70°F in 2 hours. If the food reaches 70°F in 2 hours, there are an additional 4 hours to cool it to 41°F.

A note on the log adds that approved methods must be used to rapidly cool food and that food must not be covered until it reaches 41°F. The sheet also prints the corrective action: if cooked food does not reach 70°F within the first 2 hours, it can be reheated to 165°F and then rapidly cooled, and if after the first 2 hours it still has not reached 70°F, it has to be thrown away.

The PDF holds two parts. The first is a Cooling Temperature Log Sample, filled in with an example (chicken surprise, with readings from 6 am at 175°F to noon at 39°F, entered by two people). The second is the blank Cooling Temperature Log. Each has two side-by-side columns of Date, Food, Time, Temperature and Name, a line for Corrective actions taken and a Reviewed by line. The county's page places the log among its tools for Active Managerial Control (AMC) in restaurants and other retail food establishments.

The log is meant for the people who prepare and cool food in restaurants and other retail food establishments, and for the managers who review the records. Boulder County Licensing lists it among the tools for restaurant managers under Food Safety and Active Managerial Control (AMC), a practice built on three basics: create policies based on your business' needs, train your employees on your policies, and follow up with the expectation that employees are following them.

How the log is used:

• Staff who cool food write the date, the food, and the time, temperature and name for each reading. The sample shows two different people entering readings on the same food.
• Managers or reviewers sign off on the Reviewed by line at the bottom.
• Anyone cooling cooked foods or room temperature prepared foods checks the readings against the limits printed at the top of the sheet.

The log does not state who is legally required to keep it or how long records must be retained. Ask Boulder County Licensing, or check www.BoulderCountyFood.org, if you need to know whether your establishment must keep these records.

Use the log each time you cool room temperature prepared foods or cooked foods, starting the entries when cooling begins. Room temperature prepared foods must reach 41°F within 4 hours. Cooked foods must go from 135°F to 70°F within 2 hours, and if they reach 70°F in that time there are an additional 4 hours to reach 41°F, so record the time of each reading across the whole cooling period. If cooked food has not reached 70°F after the first 2 hours, write down the corrective action taken. The log prints no due date and no filing deadline of its own.

The Cooling Temperature Log prints no mailing address, portal or filing channel, so there is nothing to send to Boulder County Licensing on the form itself. It is a working record: staff fill in the readings, and a reviewer signs the Reviewed by line. The form is published at www.BoulderCountyFood.org, and the county lists it among its tools for restaurant managers. For questions about whether and how your establishment must keep or provide these logs, contact Boulder County Licensing. FillingPDF lets you fill out and download the PDF; any submission follows the channels the county gives.