Leftover planning
After-Cooking Storage Planner
Choose the cooked food and the date it entered reliable refrigeration. The planner turns published refrigerator windows into calendar dates and keeps the cooling and reheating rules beside the result.
Cool promptly
Refrigerate cooked perishables within two hours
USDA guidance says perishable food should not stay unrefrigerated for more than two hours. If the surrounding temperature is above 90°F / 32°C, that limit drops to one hour. A storage-date calculation is only useful when that cooling rule was met and the refrigerator then stayed at 40°F / 4°C or below.
If you know a cooked food spent longer than those limits in the temperature danger zone, discard it rather than resetting the clock in the refrigerator.
Reheat safely
Heat leftovers to 165°F / 74°C
USDA FSIS advises reheating previously cooked foods and leftovers to at least 165°F / 74°C, verified with a food thermometer. Sauces, soups and gravies should be reheated to a boil. Reheat only the amount you need when practical; repeated reheating can reduce quality.
Important limits
A calendar cannot inspect your leftovers
The planner cannot know how quickly the food cooled, whether the refrigerator stayed cold, whether serving utensils introduced contamination, or whether a package has a stricter instruction. It therefore gives planning dates, not a guarantee that food is safe.
Do not taste food to decide whether questionable leftovers are safe. When storage history is uncertain, use the more cautious option and discard the food.
Sources · 29 September 2026
Where the storage windows come from
Cooling and reheating guidance is based on current USDA FSIS guidance for the two-hour rule and reheating leftovers to 165°F / 74°C.