Sous vide cooking temps

[Samo154]

Wondering what temperature most kitchens cook there food at sous vide? Most places I've worked cook at 62c and hold at 50c wondering what everyone else does? And why?

Also is there a difference if u cook at 60c or 70c apart from speed. We probe all the food so would it make a difference?

[nickrey]

May I suggest that you look at the sous vide topic index. It has many suggestions for cooking temperatures.

 

The bottom line is that cooking sous vide is a function of temperature and time and both need to be adjusted to achieve your desired outcomes.

 

For proteins, the only thing I'd cook at 62C is dark chicken meat.

 

Even if you use probes, the temperature is important as it affects the uniformity of the product. Using a higher temperature gives you a gradient on the product (more cooked on the outside layer, less in the middle). This means for a steak that you might wind up with medium well on the outside and medium rare in the middle. Good for conventional cooking, perhaps less so for sous vide.

 

If you want a good, practical, way of looking at cooking temperatures and time, check out the sous vide dash iphone app. 

 

 

[lordratner]

May I suggest that you look at the sous vide topic index. It has many suggestions for cooking temperatures.

 

The bottom line is that cooking sous vide is a function of temperature and time and both need to be adjusted to achieve your desired outcomes.

 

For proteins, the only thing I'd cook at 62C is dark chicken meat.

 

Even if you use probes, the temperature is important as it affects the uniformity of the product. Using a higher temperature gives you a gradient on the product (more cooked on the outside layer, less in the middle). This means for a steak that you might wind up with medium well on the outside and medium rare in the middle. Good for conventional cooking, perhaps less so for sous vide.

 

If you want a good, practical, way of looking at cooking temperatures and time, check out the sous vide dash iphone app. 

Short ribs and baby backs come out divine at 62C.

 

But I'm with you on most others.

[pbear]

Different temps produce different textures.  Especially for long cooks - what conventionally would be braises - preferences vary widely.  Personally, I'm mostly using 60C/140F for those these days.  In the past, I've used 65.5C/150F to good effect,, so 62C/144F doesn't seem unreasonable to me.  OTOH, 50C/122F seems low for a holding temp, as it leaves lots of room for thermophilic spoilage but non-pathogenic bacteria.   I'd use 55C/131F (not bullet-proof, but better).  That's also the temp I generally use for short cooks, lower for seafood (albeit only product I'm confident doesn't need pasteurization and is parasite safe).

[EnriqueB]

Wondering what temperature most kitchens cook there food at sous vide? Most places I've worked cook at 62c and hold at 50c wondering what everyone else does? And why?

Also is there a difference if u cook at 60c or 70c apart from speed. We probe all the food so would it make a difference?

 

Holding at 50ºC is unsafe unless it is done only for a very short period and consumed inmediately. Generally considered safe would be to hold at a minimum of 54,5ºC (which, considering potential measure errors and the like, should be increased to water at 55,5 or 56ºC)

[nickrey]

Short ribs and baby backs come out divine at 62C.

 

But I'm with you on most others.

Having said that, I did some oxtails at 72C and do duck confit at the same temperature. I was thinking more of less cartilaginous and fibrous cuts.