How long can you "hold" something cooked sous vide?

[TdeV]

My husband just came home with fresh fish, so I'm wondering if I can keep my sous vide bone-in lamb for 24 hours? I cooked it at 144F, but I'm thinking of lowering the temp to 130F. Or, will it all just be rubber?

 

Thanks.

[pastrygirl]

You mean keep it warm for a full extra day?  Wouldn't you be better off cooking it as originally planned then chilling until needed?

[Robenco15]

If I am reading this correctly, chill it after it is done (meaning pull it as if you were going to eat it at that moment, but chill it instead). Then reheat it in the bath one degree celcius under temperature (will probably take a few hours for it to come up to temp). If you just cook it another 24 hours the texture will probably get screwed up.

[TdeV]

Duh. Easy to do!

[Honkman]

Just a follow up question - I wouldn't hold something for an extra 24 hours in the water bath but are there any rule of thumb how long you can hold something once it is fully cooked. As an example i am planning to cook a pork tenderloin (135F, 3h) but due to timing it would be better if i could leave it an additional 2-3 hours in the water bath at that temperature. Will this affect the texture of the meat ?

[KennethT]

Personally, I think 3 hours at 135 is too long for pork tenderloin... I haven't done it in a while, but I remember doing PT just until it hits core temp.

2-3 hours shouldn't affect the texture much... but, in my experience, it will lose some of its juiciness.

[paulraphael]

You can safely hold it that long at that temperature, but not deliciously. It will be losing moisture to the bag the whole time ... a slow leak. Pink and pasteurized, but dry.

 

For tender cuts, in general, I try not to hold more than an hour or so beyond cooking time. Less if I can get away with it. The drying process is continuous.

 

If your cooking temperature is below 55C / 131F, you also have to be concerned about pathogen growth, because you're below the range where pasteurization is guaranteed. General guidelines are to keep the refrigerator to table (or fridge to fridge) times under four hours if you're cooking below pasteurization, but this is quite conservative. If you include another step that pre-pasteurizes the surface of an intact piece of meat (dipping the bag in boiling water for 2 minutes, etc.) you can go longer safely. But you still need to be concerned about dryness.

[Leigh Jones]

Personally, I think 3 hours at 135 is too long for pork tenderloin... I haven't done it in a while, but I remember doing PT just until it hits core temp.2-3 hours shouldn't affect the texture much... but, in my experience, it will lose some of its juiciness.

Interesting. I have a habit of cooking dinner entrees sous vide for about 12 hours, putting it into the water bath before leaving to work in the morning. I have cooked hundreds of pork loin roasts and tenderloins in my sous vide cooker (and at least a thousand other meals) on my home made sous vide cooker without ever realizing that someone might have the opinion that 12 hours was too long. The results have been astoundingly good, except when I'm browning it on the barbecue, to finish it, a pork product will sometimes flame up and cook hotter than I had intended with the expectable results. But most of my 12-hour pork tenderloins are slightly pink and as juicy and tender as you could wish for.

[EnriqueB]

Interesting. I have a habit of cooking dinner entrees sous vide for about 12 hours, putting it into the water bath before leaving to work in the morning. I have cooked hundreds of pork loin roasts and tenderloins in my sous vide cooker (and at least a thousand other meals) on my home made sous vide cooker without ever realizing that someone might have the opinion that 12 hours was too long. The results have been astoundingly good, except when I'm browning it on the barbecue, to finish it, a pork product will sometimes flame up and cook hotter than I had intended with the expectable results. But most of my 12-hour pork tenderloins are slightly pink and as juicy and tender as you could wish for.

 

Have you ever made a side-by-side comparison? I have, with 1 hour, 3 hours, and 6 hours pork tenderloins in 56ºC water, and the change is clearly noticeable. Was the 6 hours tenderloin still pink, tender and juicy (can't judge 12 hours as I have never tried)? Yes, but not as good as the 3 hour version. Was the 3 hours tenderloin still pink, tender and juicy? Yes, but not as good as the 1 hour version.

[nickrey]

Interesting. I have a habit of cooking dinner entrees sous vide for about 12 hours, putting it into the water bath before leaving to work in the morning. I have cooked hundreds of pork loin roasts and tenderloins in my sous vide cooker (and at least a thousand other meals) on my home made sous vide cooker without ever realizing that someone might have the opinion that 12 hours was too long. The results have been astoundingly good, except when I'm browning it on the barbecue, to finish it, a pork product will sometimes flame up and cook hotter than I had intended with the expectable results. But most of my 12-hour pork tenderloins are slightly pink and as juicy and tender as you could wish for.

I don't find that tender meat cooked for longer than times needed for pasteurisation lose liquid and flavour; what they do lose to my palate is texture in that they can become somewhat mushy. However, whatever works for you is good.

[torolover]

I often sous vide individual portions of chicken or meat, pasteurize to the core, chill in ice bath, and leave it in my fridge.

 

How long can I leave the meat safely in the fridge?  I don't vacuum seal my meat and use a zip lock.  I don't use marinades.

 

I've read it could last anywhere from a few days to many weeks?

Edited December 18, 2014 by torolover (log)

[btbyrd]

You don't get the extended storage benefits with Ziplocs alone. To store something for weeks on end, you need a stronger vacuum and to pasteurize to core. With Ziplocs I wouldn't push it longer than a week, and I wouldn't cook-chill beef (which, in my experience, develops "warmed over flavor" if stored in a Ziploc). If you're going to store, be sure that you follow the proper chilling procedures (use an ice bath) and pasteurize. And only store individual portions - or enough that you'd use in a single meal if you're cooking for more than one - so that you're not opening and closing a Ziploc to get food out all week long.

[KennethT]

Also, I'd like to add that storage time is greatly affected by your refrigerator temperature. If you can guarantee that your refrigerator is ALWAYS colder than 34F, that's a totally different situation than if your refrigerator averages 35-38F. Most household refrigerators are on the warm side (read too warm) for extended holding of SV products. Especially if you open the door a few times a day.

ETA: once you open the bag, you have to treat it as unpasteurized - and hold it for no longer than you would hold any other type of "leftover" cooked by traditional methods (unless you reseal and repasteurize!)

Edited December 18, 2014 by KennethT (log)

[torolover]

So Baldwin's guide below is not accurate?  30 days at 38F and 90 days at 36F is a long time!

 

 

1. below 36.5°F (2.5°C) for up to 90 days,
2. below 38°F (3.3°C) for less than 31 days,
3. below 41°F (5°C) for less than 10 days, or
4. below 44.5°F (7°C) for less than 5 days

Edited December 18, 2014 by torolover (log)

[btbyrd]

No, Baldwin is right. Storage temperature matters, but not that much for practical purposes. Obviously, you'll want to keep your fridge temp low, but so long as it's reasonably cold in there you can pull off a month of storage on a pasteurized meat product with no worries. Again, that's only under vacuum. Improvised Ziploc methods don't get you that sort of holding time, but I haven't seen any studies trying to test it. However, many of the sous vide studies I've seen mention that bags sealed under lighter vacuums (which might be used to preserve the appearance of the product) were prone to spoil much faster.

[paulraphael]

I use ziplocs and routinely keep stuff 2 weeks. I haven't encountered evidence that ziplocs are less safe for cook / store than vacuum bags, although they're not as good at preventing spoilage (ziploc bags are more oxygen-permeable, but they don't let pathogens sneak in).

 

I kept some chicken once for 3 weeks and it spoiled. Which is to say, it smelled nasty when I opened the bag and we threw it out. Spoilage bacteria are much less well studied than pathogens. You're much more likely to have spoilage surprises with SV than pathogen surprises.

 

It's a good idea to keep your fridge as close to 32F/0C as you can without stuff freezing. Most fridges have a pretty big gradient from the coldest to the warmest spots. It's helpful to figure these out and store your SVd food where it's really cold.

Edited December 18, 2014 by paulraphael (log)