COOKED IN A VACUUM BAG FOR 20 MINUTES

RAW

50C

51C 53C

(122F) (124F) (127F)

55C

57C

59C 60C 61C

(131F)

(135F)

(138F) (140F) (142F) (145F) (149F)

63C

65C

67C

69C

71C

(153F)

(156F)

(160F)

This piece of meat was photographed over a minute after it was

cut. Notice how much redder it is than it was immediately after it
was cut (see Above photo). This cherry-red bleed-out is a typical
characteristic of sous-vide and low temperature cooking.

72C DRY

(162F)

pre/post sear tests at 230C (450F)

increasing preference
pre-seared 30
seconds per side

pre-seared 45
seconds per side

pre-seared one
minute per side

no pre-sear
post-seared 30
seconds per side

pre-seared 45
seconds per side
post-seared 30
seconds per side

NOTES

BACTERIA AND SAFETY

80
INHERENTLY SAFE PASTEURIZED
ZONE. BACTERIA ARE KILLED
ALMOST INSTANTLY IN THIS ZONE.

170

TIME/TEMPERATURE ZONE. IN THIS

ZONE BACTERIA ARE BEING KILLED;
BUT NOT INSTANTLY. SAFETY IS
DETERMINED BY A COMBINATION OF
WHAT YOU ARE COOKING, HOW
LONG YOU COOK IT, AND AT WHAT
TEMPERATURE YOU COOK IT.

160

150

FSIS PO
ULTRY C
URVE
FSIS BE
EF CUR V
E

140

Food code safe poultry

temperature. Instantly safe.
70

Food code safe roasts

and steaks temperature.
Safe in under a minute.
60
FDA minimum
hot-holding temperature.
FSIS bacterial kill
zone begins.
Pathogen growth stops.**

130
0

15

30

45

60

75

90

105
105 112
112

Cooking time in minutes once internal temperature is reached

to safely pasteurize poultry and beef at a given temperature.
The poultry curve represents a 6.5D pasteurization for salmonella.
The beef curve represents a 7D pasteurization for E. coli.

120

Food code safe pork,

ground beef, and eggs
temperature. 15 seconds
makes it safe.

50

Bacterial spores
germinate here on
cooling.**

Temperature data taken from the Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS)*.

110
40

40
THIS IS THE REFRIGERATION
SAFETY ZONE
0

32

* http://www.fsis.usda.gov/oa/fr/95033F-a.htm and
http://www.fsis.usda.gov/OPPDE/rdad/FSISNotices/RTE_Poultry_Tables.pdf
** Bruno Goussault

Celsius

Fahrenheit

100

THIS IS THE DANGER ZONE.

BACTERIA ARENT BEING KILLED
HERE. UNTIL YOU REACH 50C, THE
HIGHER THE TEMPERATURE,
TEMPERATURE THE
FASTER BACTERIA GROW. ABOVE
50C, BACTERIAL GROWTH DECLINES
AND STOPS.

Celsius
40

50

60

70

90

80

n
n 45-60min at 54.4-55C. Not pasteurized. Dont cook
Tenderloin:
o long -- texture will suffer.
too
a strip steak,
k porterhouse steak: 1-6h at 54.4-56C. We
Rib steak,
C The longerr they cook, the more tender they get.
use 55C.
k steak: 45m
m at 58C or 1-3h at 57C or 4-8h at 56C.
Skirt
Cooking
too low
o
o or too short will make it unpleasantly chewy.
g steak: 45m-1h
m
Hanger
at 57C or 2-4h at 56C.

beef
Hard
steaks:
d sear finished
n
k 52-54.4C: a technique for cooking steaks at very low
w temperaturess and finish
n searing for a long time to develop a heavy crust. Not FDA approved.
p
Short ribs or osso buco: 57-65C. We use 48h at 60C
C (or 56h at
57C or 36h at 62C). 24h at 60C has a skirt-steak texture.
72h at
xt
60C is mushy.
Hamburgers:
u
56-60C. We do 2-6h at 56C.

forcemeats

Forcemeats and meatballs: poultry based forcemeats

a 64-65C.
Pork based forcemeats 60C. Meatballs 1-4h at 58-60C.
6
Lamb loin
l
and chops:
p 1-3h at 56C or 3-5h at 55C.

lamb
Lamb shank: see short ribs above.

Turkey breast: 1-2h at 64-65C. Cooking too long

compromises texture.
Turkey legs and thighs: 1-3h at 65-66C. Some
people
o
advocate as high as 70C for a long time.
Chicken
breast: 45-90 min at 63-64C. Cooking for too
C
long compromises texture.

poultry

Chicken legs and thighs: 1-2,5h at 65-66C. Some

e
people cook higher.
Duck
u breast: 45-90m
5
at 57-58C. Tender ducks at 57C, chewy ducks att 58C,
ducks
u
to be served
r
cold at 58C.
All manner
n
of cconfit: 85-90C
0 till done. These temperatures and times are
ttraditional. O
Only high temperatures give real confit texture.
Squab
b breast: 45min
m at 56C.

Pork belly: 48-72h at 60-62C.

pork

Pork shoulder: 60-62C. See short ribs for timing. Some muscles
s
in the
e shoulder will become stringy when cooked a long time.
i

fish

Strip
Striped
ped bass: 57C
57
7C till done. Stripers are one of the few fish you can cook
coo
ok for a
o
while
whi
ile without breaking
breaking down the flesh.
classically
Salmon: 12-20min
12-20
0min att 41.5-43C for
fo
or super-low temp salmon, 12-20min at 50C for classica
aally
salmon.
These
cooked salmo
on. Thes
o
sse times assume
assu
ume portion cuts. You can cook cold-served salmon higher.
u
hiigher.
Vegetables:
e
over 85C. They take a long time to cook in the bag.

vegetables

Creme anglaise:
e 15-20min
0
at 82C. 1
15 minutes is thin, 20 minutes is thick.
Cooking
o
longer
o
than 30
3 minutes will give an off, eggy smell.

eggs

Eggs: see the egg chart.

110

120

130

140

150

Fahrenheit

160

170

180

190