Hi guys,
I’m new to the forum but not new to Anova sous vide. My wife and I have two and use them weekly.
My question may be the answer in itself but I just wanted clarification
I routinely have been doing chicken breast at 130° for usually 5 hours. We’ve never had a problem with it but I’ve read online that its risky.
We personally love the tenderness and juiciness of chicken breast at this temp and time and again have had no illness at all from doing it this way.
Am I setting the sous vide too low?
I just wanted to float that question out there.
(With thighs or drums or any other cut of chicken I always set it at 165°)
Hi Zip, good question and it’s always wise to investigate anything you read online, even here, and particularly with poultry. Check the data and seek to understand the reasons supporting statements you read. Data is science, and while science may be somewhat out of fashion these days, it is fact based while opinions are not data. Stick with science to be safe.
Your cooking temperature is above the thermal death point of most pathogens, thus safe if cooked long enough whatever that is. This cook has difficulty with “usually” when it’s a matter of food safety.
You have reduced the usual margin of safety minimum SV cooking temperature by a degree and not experienced any illness as a result. The human body is remarkably tough, but i wouldn’t equate the absence of illness as an absolute indicator of general safety as some people have seriously impaired immunity.
People like what they like and your wife and you are no different. Considering the evidence, you can continue to enjoy chicken breasts SV cooked your way.
This cook would find the outcome of your 5 hour cook unpleasant, but perhaps not unsafe as you may have achieved Pasteurization if the meat is an inch thick or less. Being a Baldwin disciple the minimum SV temperature this cook uses to achieve Pasteurization is 134.5°F.
Enjoy, - and keep safe.
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Hi Chatnoir,
First off, thank you for the quick reply.
You wrote…
This cook would find the outcome of your 5 hour cook unpleasant, but perhaps not unsafe as you may have achieved Pasteurization if the meat is an inch thick or less. Being a Baldwin disciple the minimum SV temperature this cook uses to achieve Pasteurization is 134.5°F.
Could you explain why you would find a 5 hour cook unpleasant. (I’m always open to different ways and just want to be great at this so opinions are always welcome, hence my reaching out with this post)
And what is a “Baldwin Disciple”?
Douglas E. Baldwin is author of A Practical Guide to Sous Vide Cooking
and Sous Vide for the Home Cook (Paradox Press 2010)
The ‘Practical Guide’ has detailed discussion and calculation of pasteurization requirements and effects.
Hey Zip, it’s not the 5-hour cook so much as the product’s resulting texture from that time and temperature. Tougher menu items can benefit from a 5 hour cook or more.
To start, this cook is not particularly fond of chicken breasts that i consider bland and too soft. I prefer a bit of chew, or texture, that’s part of my enjoyable food experiences. That doesn’t make it right, just what i like.
Thanks Doug, in 2004 Douglas Baldwin, now Dr. Baldwin, wrote his carefully researched Guide that is still completely scientifically and culinary valid. Facts remain facts even for decades. Over the past few years with our Community i have referred members to his work over 50 times. I believe that qualifies me as a disciple.
The MathematicalChef Douglas Baldwin introduced me to sous vide about a month ago. I obtained the ‘Practical Guide’ and studied it closely, printed a copy that is highlighted and heavily annotated.
Then my ‘Home Cook’ cook book came and Milady Wife and I perused it.
On New Year’s Day we were on a senior’s adventure, shopping at Costco while a friend picked up an order that had to be dated in the New Year. We bought our Precision Cooker as 16th Wedding Anniversary gift to each other.
Baldwin’s physics are similar to heat transfer physics in a nuclear reactor, where we integrate many layers of metals, and water heat transfer for an effective rate.