Food preparation · Australia
Leftovers use-by planner
Turn each food's cooking date and time into general chill-by and eat-or-freeze reminders.
A little help in the kitchen
How to use it
Choose the US, UK, Australian or Canadian page for the guidance you follow.
Enter a custom food name and the date and time it finished cooking. Add a separate row for each food, up to 20. Past dates are accepted so you can check existing leftovers.
Choose the time zone where cooking happened. Read the cooling guidance and any shorter limits before calculating.
Choose Create use-by list. Refrigerate promptly and use leftovers sooner where possible. The eat-or-freeze reminder is the latest end of the country's general range.
Save, share a link, print or save a PDF, or download the calendar file. On a phone, choose a cooked day to view; print and calendar include every food.
How it works
Chill-by reminder = finished-cooking time plus the country's general room-temperature limit. This planner starts the clock when cooking finishes; it does not track hot holding, actual cooling temperatures or time spent out of the fridge later. Refrigerate promptly, rather than waiting until the reminder.
Latest general eat-or-freeze reminder = finished-cooking time plus the longest duration in the country's general refrigerated-leftovers range: US 96 hours, UK 48 hours, Australia 96 hours and Canada 72 hours. The full agency range remains visible. Counting from cooking avoids adding extra storage time at the chilling deadline.
The US hot-weather chilling reminder is one hour after cooking when the temperature is above 90°F (32°C). Australia's reminder is labelled refrigerate before, following the less-than-two-hour room-temperature guidance. Small, shallow containers help food cool quickly; a clock alone cannot measure cooling.
Names are labels only. The tool applies general leftovers guidance, without guessing ingredients or food categories. UK cooked rice needs rapid cooling, ideally within one hour, and refrigeration for no more than 24 hours. Australia's general four-day limit does not apply to vulnerable people, for whom FSANZ gives one day. Follow any shorter food-specific or package instructions.
Each food has its own cooking time. Calculations add elapsed hours in the selected time zone, so a daylight-saving change can shift the local deadline clock. Ambiguous or nonexistent cooking times must be corrected before calculation. Calendar events store the resulting UTC instants and include the guidance and exceptions.
The dates are conditional planning reminders, not confirmation that food is safe. Incorrect cooling, storage or reheating can make food unsafe earlier. Freezing does not make mishandled food safe or restart a missed limit. Do not use this planner to extend an expired date or override official guidance.
General leftovers guidance
Divide into smaller containers and refrigerate or freeze as soon as steaming stops, at 5°C or colder. Refrigerate before 2 hours at room temperature; do not wait for the limit.
For vulnerable people, use refrigerated leftovers within 1 day. The general 4-day limit shown here does not apply to them.
| Reminder | Basis |
|---|---|
| Refrigerate before | 2 hours after finished cooking; refrigerate promptly |
| Eat or freeze | 3 to 4 days; the reminder uses the latest end of this general range |
| Food-specific limits | Follow shorter guidance; names do not change the calculation |
Frequently asked questions
Why does the US example say Monday?
For Thursday 18:00 cooking, the US general chilling reminder is Thursday 20:00. The latest general eat-or-freeze reminder is Monday 18:00, 96 elapsed hours later when no clock change intervenes. USDA gives 3 to 4 days for properly handled refrigerated leftovers. Use sooner where possible, and use the one-hour chilling limit above 90°F.
Does each food need its own cooking time?
Yes. Each row has a custom name and a date and time when cooking finished. Different cooking times produce different reminders. The time zone applies to the complete list.
Does entering rice change its deadline?
No. Names do not select food rules. This planner uses general leftovers guidance only. On the UK page, the visible rice exception takes priority: cool quickly, ideally within one hour, refrigerate and use within 24 hours, and reheat only once. Follow food-specific and package instructions whenever they are shorter.
Is the chilling deadline a time to wait until?
No. Refrigerate promptly in small, shallow containers, following the country's cooling guidance. The reminder is a general outer limit and does not confirm that the food reached a safe temperature. The tool does not track hot holding or later periods out of refrigeration.
Can I freeze food after its deadline?
Do not use freezing to rescue food that was handled incorrectly or kept too long. The eat-or-freeze reminder assumes proper cooking, prompt cooling and continuous refrigeration. Follow official guidance if you missed a cooling or storage limit; the planner cannot determine whether a particular food is safe.
What does the calendar download include?
It includes refrigeration and latest general eat-or-freeze events for every food, plus the conditional one-hour US hot-weather event. Event descriptions include the country guidance, shorter-limit exceptions and selected time zone. Download and import the .ics file into your calendar; it does not create an account or send notifications from this website.
