In hot holding the risk is the total time spent in the danger zone as much as the temperature right now. WHO defines that zone as 5 to 60 °C; a pan hovering at the limit passes every single reading yet may have spent hours inside the zone. So the form carries the service start time of the pan as well as the temperature.
Where to measure
Bain-marie water is not the temperature of the food; the probe goes into the thickest part of the food at the centre of the pan and is cleaned after every pan. Frequency is written for two regimes: a busy lunch service where pans turn over quickly, and a long open buffet where a pan stands for hours and readings are taken more often. If food travels elsewhere, departure and arrival readings are added to the form; those two lines show whether the transport container did its job.
A reading below the limit
Print the lower target limit (above 60 °C, the upper edge of the WHO danger zone) and the action for a reading below it at the top of the form in advance, so that reheating, removal from service or disposal is not left to the interpretation of the moment. The record holds the lot, measurement time and point, result, device, operator, corrective action and the time the pan left service. Writing the service start time on the pan label makes elapsed time visible without opening the form.
