Templates

Free Cold Storage Temperature Log Template (Printable + CSV)

By the operator · October 17, 2026

If you store anything that has to stay cold, you need a written record that it did. This page gives you a free temperature log you can print or download, a calibration log, and a plain-English summary of what the federal rules say. Every regulatory point links to the primary source.

Open the printable log Download CSV Calibration log (CSV)

What the log looks like

Each row is one check of one unit or zone. Here are the columns, with a filled-in example row so you can see how it’s used. The example values are illustrative, not from a real facility.

The CSV opens in Excel, Google Sheets, or Numbers. It has a header block for facility name, location, and month, plus 62 blank rows: two checks a day for a 31-day month. Copy it once per unit, or add a “Unit / zone” value to every row if you’d rather keep everything on one sheet.

What temperature to log against

Set the target range for each unit based on what’s stored in it. The product label, your customer’s spec, or your own food safety plan may call for something tighter than these general benchmarks:

• Frozen: 0 °F (−18 °C) or below. USDA’s Food Safety and Inspection Service says food stored constantly at 0 °F will always be safe, and that only quality suffers over time (USDA FSIS, Freezing and Food Safety). FDA gives the same 0 °F freezer benchmark (FDA, Are You Storing Food Safely?).
• Refrigerated: 40 °F (4 °C) or below, per the same FDA and USDA guidance.

Those two pages are written for consumers, but they’re a clear, citable baseline for freezer and cooler setpoints. Write the target on the log itself, as a range or a limit like “0 or below.” That way whoever takes the reading knows instantly whether it’s a problem.

What every entry should include

FDA’s general recordkeeping rule for food facilities, 21 CFR 117.305, says records must:

• Be originals, true copies (photocopies, scans, pictures), or electronic records
• Contain the actual values observed, so write “-4”, not “OK”
• Be accurate, indelible, and legible. Use pen, not pencil.
• Be created at the time of the activity, not filled in later
• Identify the facility (name and, when necessary, location)
• Include the date and, when appropriate, the time
• Include the signature or initials of the person doing the check
• Where appropriate, identify the product and lot code

The template has a column or header field for every one of these.

Storage-only warehouses: what 21 CFR 117.206 asks for

If your facility is solely engaged in the storage of unexposed packaged food and stores refrigerated packaged food that needs time/temperature control for safety, FDA’s modified requirements in 21 CFR 117.206 apply. In plain English:

1. Establish temperature controls adequate to minimize or prevent pathogen growth.
2. Monitor those controls often enough to show they’re consistently working.
3. Take corrective action if you lose temperature control in a way that may affect safety: fix the problem and reduce the chance it happens again, evaluate the affected food, and keep it out of commerce if you can’t make sure it isn’t adulterated.
4. Verify by calibrating thermometers and recorders (or checking them for accuracy), reviewing calibration records within a reasonable time, and reviewing monitoring and corrective-action records within 7 working days of when they’re created. A longer timeframe needs a written justification from a preventive controls qualified individual.
5. Keep records of monitoring (either affirmative records showing temperature was controlled, or exception records showing when it wasn’t), corrective actions, and verification.

That’s why the log has a “Reviewed by” column, and why there’s a separate calibration log. Monitoring alone isn’t the whole requirement.

How long to keep the logs

Under 21 CFR 117.315, records required by Part 117 must be kept for at least 2 years after the date they were prepared. Records can be stored offsite (everything except the food safety plan) as long as you can bring them back onsite within 24 hours of a request for official review. Electronic records count as onsite if they can be accessed from an onsite location.

How often to check

The regulation says “adequate frequency,” not a fixed number. What’s adequate depends on your setup. Some common practices:

• Manual checks at set times, often at shift start and end, so each shift owns a reading.
• Continuous data loggers or alarmed sensors, with the manual log as a backup and a place to record exceptions and corrective actions.
• After any event: a power blip, a door left open, a defrost cycle that ran long, or a big inbound load.

Whatever frequency you choose, write it down (the printable sheet has a “Check frequency” field) and then stick to it.

Checking thermometer accuracy

Verification includes calibrating your thermometers or checking them for accuracy. Two common ways to check:

• Against a reference thermometer you trust, placed next to the device in the same spot
• Ice-point check for probe thermometers: a probe in a well-stirred slurry of crushed ice and water should read 32 °F

Record each check on the calibration log: the reference reading, the device reading, the difference, and whether the device passed, was adjusted, or was replaced. Follow the device manufacturer’s instructions for adjusting it.

When a reading is out of range

Fill in the corrective action column right away. A useful entry answers:

• What did you see, and when?
• What did you do to fix it (closed the door, called for service, moved product)?
• What product or lots were in the unit, and how did you evaluate them?
• When did the temperature come back in range?

A short, honest note written at the time is worth more than a polished one written a week later. 21 CFR 117.305 requires records to be created as the activity happens.

Get the template

• Printable temperature log (prints one landscape page per unit per month)
• Temperature log CSV
• Thermometer calibration log CSV

Free to use and modify for your own facility.

Why the readings matter in an underground freezer: why underground cold storage works.

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