Abstract: The devices, methods, and algorithms of the present disclosure provide a hot food holding cabinet to detect the presence and uniquely identify a plurality of food holding trays within a plurality of food holding locations within a hot food holding cabinet. There can also be multiple, separate food holding cabinets that are linked together. Timing and other functions related to the storage of the food holding trays are initiated automatically, without any manual input from a user. This allows for the automated initiation and tracking of product quality parameters by the cabinet computer. The parameters can include product timers and holding profiles, and whether the food holding trays are removed, transferred between bins in a single cabinet, or transferred between separate cabinets.