# holding times

**URL:** <https://community.anovaculinary.com/t/holding-times/12262>\
**Category:** Anova Precision® Cooker\
**Created:** [January 7, 2018, 8:28pm UTC](https://community.anovaculinary.com/t/holding-times/12262 "2018-01-07T20:28:40Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 4\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![DaveBlake](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/f14d63/32.png) [@DaveBlake](https://community.anovaculinary.com/u/DaveBlake)\
**Post date:** [January 7, 2018, 8:28pm UTC](https://community.anovaculinary.com/t/holding-times/12262/1 "2018-01-07T20:28:41Z")

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Just cooked 2 1” strips to 129\*f \*_have plunged into ice bath toIcool befre moving to refrigeration.  
Question: is this fine and if so how long can they be held @ 34_ f?

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**Author:** ![fischersd](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/flex016/user_avatar/community.anovaculinary.com/fischersd/32/5594_2.png) [@fischersd](https://community.anovaculinary.com/u/fischersd)\
**Post date:** [January 7, 2018, 8:44pm UTC](https://community.anovaculinary.com/t/holding-times/12262/2 "2018-01-07T20:44:07Z")

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Well, you didn’t say how long you actually cooked them for. If you check the charts over on douglas baldwin’s page ([A Practical Guide to Sous Vide Cooking](http://www.douglasbaldwin.com/sous-vide.html)), he has pasteurization times. If you pasteurize the meat and leave it in the bag (without opening it), then it should last longer than meat just fresh from the butcher.

There’s a good table here for refrigeration lifespan of pasteurized foods: [絶望だけを愛して | この世界に絶望した俺のAVレビューサイト](http://www.hi-tm.com/Documents/Chillfd.html)

Fresh from the butcher, steaks are good for about 5 days. Once you cook them, you’re usually looking at about 4 days. But, if you didn’t open the bag after taking it out of the bath, then I’d say you’re good for a week.

If you did open the bag, then I’d say 4 days to play it safe…though that is a very cold fridge! 🙂

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**Author:** ![Ember](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/flex016/user_avatar/community.anovaculinary.com/ember/32/729_2.png) [@Ember](https://community.anovaculinary.com/u/Ember)\
**Post date:** [January 7, 2018, 9:23pm UTC](https://community.anovaculinary.com/t/holding-times/12262/3 "2018-01-07T21:23:37Z")

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If the meat was not cooked long enough to pasteurise it, it’s best to treat it like leftovers.

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**Author:** ![chatnoir](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/ecd19e/32.png) [@chatnoir](https://community.anovaculinary.com/u/chatnoir)\
**Post date:** [January 8, 2018, 1:33pm UTC](https://community.anovaculinary.com/t/holding-times/12262/4 "2018-01-08T13:33:10Z")

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Dave, 129F is below the temperature of long-cook Pasteurization (131F), which means total bacteriological death. If you plan to do much cook-chill production i recommend you print Dr. Doug’s Pasteurization tables and fasten them to the inside of a kitchen cupboard door. They are that useful.

My personal holding rule for refrigerating unpasteurized meats is 72 hours maximum. That’s consistent with Public Health regulations and has always prevented me from having arguments i couldn’t win. If in doubt, label and freeze.

Before you begin cooking consider the use, and the when, of the product. Then you don’t have to wonder what to do with it after cooking.