i cooked a 1.6 kg prime rib cut in 55 degrees c for 4 hours
then i put it in running water for about 3 minutes (still in the vacuum nylon)
then i put it in the refrigerator (veggies drawer)
i know i should have put it in an ice bath
am i safe to use it tomorrow or is there risk of botulism?
Roleco, you appear to have some basic SV cooking and food safety knowledge. Why not use it?
With beef, botulism is the least likely food pathogen for you to be concerned with today. For the sake of your health please don’t take up canning fruit and vegetables until you gain more knowledge. The Ready - Fire - Aim technique can be deadly.
For advanced food cooking , or Cook - Chill, think about what was going on with your roast. It cooked for 4 hours and chilled for about 3 minutes. That’s hardly balanced energy management in your food.
And then you put it in your refrigerator where there is the least amount of circulating cold air!
If you are planning to continue to cook using the SV technique please start thinking differently about what you are cooking. Weight doesn’t matter once you have paid for your meat. Thickness is critical to SV cooking times and achieving Pasteurization if you are planning on storing for future reheating and service.
If your roast is less than about 2-inches or 50mm thick it likely attained Pasteurization and it’s safe.
Maybe.
It depends on how long it took for the centre of the roast to be below 5C. We’ll never know. For safety’s sake your sealed roast should go directly from the refrigerator into 55C water. Never leave meat destined for reheating sitting out on the counter.
Many cooks here have found the following resource most useful in learning the fundamental elements of food safety and SV cooking.
So, what you’re saying is that this meat is not safe (it is a one piece 1.6 kg, so quite thick) and i should throw it away. Did i read it correctly?
Hi Roieco, - i regret misspelling your name.
It also appears i was unclear in my prior message.
In what part of stating meat’s thickness being critical to achieving Pasteurization and safety was i unclear?
I understand the weight of your roast. It’s not useful information.
Quite thick is also unhelpful information.
Consider providing details to obtain helpful guidance.
And please don’t expect an absolute statement about the safety of your roast and that you should discard it without providing enough information on which to base that judgement.
That’s potentially wasteful.
If you continue to persist in stating your roast’s weight do as you please.
Thank you for your patience and willingness to help.
Thickness at the center - ~11 cm
Length 28 cm
Width 15 cm
I also included below an image of the cut before cooking
What do you think?
Could anyone please comment on this?
Hi Roieco, thank you for revealing the thickness of your roast. The other dimensions don’t matter.
Only thickness.
Now we can assess your safety.
By now you have had time to review Baldwin’s Table 5.1 and realize you had grievously undercooked your roast. I won’t ask for the basis of your cook time decision. It would be a worthwhile action to review the details you employed in making your last decision before you SV cook again.
Neglecting to ice-bath deep chill your roast compounded your challenge. If you had thoroughly chilled the meat a rescue mission could have been activated to save your roast. It’s too late for that.
Incorrectly holding the meat in the Food Danger Zone for an unknown length of time and without ample cold air circulation created increased opportunity for the growth of pathogens, except maybe your dreaded Botulism toxin.
Your roast might be safe if it was uncontaminated. However, you have no way of knowing that without the support of a microbiologist. Starting now, make the assumption that all the meat and poultry you buy is highly contaminated because it probably is. Offset that hazard by properly cooking your food using your newly gained SV cooking knowledge.
Do the work and you will be safe and avoid costly mistakes.
Thank you for your reply.
