Cooked pork at 60°C for 2 hours in sous vide, then seared it. Ate some and put the leftovers in the fridge. How long can I safely store them?
Safe by whose standards?
If we’re not going to eat leftovers (“leftovers are better”) in a day or two then they’re frozen.
As I understand, 71 degrees Celsius is a safe temperature to eat pork. Most of the time, I cook pork on the pan or in the oven, so it is always at least 71 degrees. I then serve it on the table, eat, and put leftovers into the fridge. I have never used an ice bath to chill leftovers.
With sous vide, the situation is different; pork is cooked to 61 degrees Celsius for at least 1 hour, and the meat is pasteurized. However, I have read that pasteurization is not the same as cooking pork to the safe temperature of 71 degrees Celsius. Pasteurization doesn’t kill bacteria; it merely puts them to sleep.
In that case, I don’t understand what to do with leftovers.
I suggest you read the safety information on Douglas Baldwin’s site. If you cook above 130 degrees F for the correct time based on thickness and food you will kill the harmful bacteria. They do not do dormant at this temperature or above if you observe proper cooking times. Below 130 you do run the risk of them going dormant and starting to grow again. Pork is cooked at a higher temperature for texture of the finished meat.
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So, if I want to cook pork tenderloin at 60 degrees Celsius (medium), sear it, and take it to the office tomorrow, do I need to cool it using ice after searing?
This is why I tend not to rush to answer this repetitively asked, info for this littering sv forums littering like a sack of broken bottles on a kitchen floor with bare feet aplenty.
Useful cooking times link in both c/f
And likely the 3rd time in 7 days just here…
Grab a cuppa, 30 mins basic reading across all 3 links, massively helpful starting point to understand SV, allay concerns & get the best out of it with minimal beginner errors…
(& never have the reputation of “the office poisoner” whispered) 
I appreciate you sharing the information. I have taken the time to study it, but unfortunately, I couldn’t find an answer to my question: How long can I store meats, like pork and chicken, that are cooked at 140-150 degrees Fahrenheit in sous vide and then seared?
The acceptable storage times would be the same as any cooked food you keep in the refrigerator. For me I will keep meat that have been cooked up to 4 days. I try and use in 2-3 days. Proper handling before refrigeration is also important.
Unless it is reverse searing (sear THEN cook) you cook, chill, keep, bring up to temp then sear as if bringing it to the table.
If presenting cold cuts at work then sear whilst cold but cooked to avoid too much penetration beyond the meats exterior, then chill it as you would anything else that you have consumed from a fridge to date.
The only element of your question not immediately apparent in the DB link is the fact that you want to sear it having cooked it then slam it in the fridge which is not atypical of anyone sous viding, otherwise “keeping meat” is well explained there, and every meat is different.
IF you were batch cooking via SV then cook , sear, eat, & the untouched left overs would be finished (or not) & fast chilled for likely freezing, depends on what you classify as leftovers, additional untouched portions or literal plate left overs, for me it would be batch cooked, portioned & the spare portions immediately chilled & frozen to maintain quality & limit spoilage potential, cold freezer air around a hot bag o meat is different thermally to ice bath plunge in contact with cooked & warm meat then frozen.
Logically the fridge temp contributes to longevity of edible or otherwise.
Anything NOT being served immediately logically needs preservation right!? …that means a fridge.
RAPID COOL DOWN VIA ICE BATH is to nip further cooking in the bud (temp & time being the precise art) and make bug growth negligible in the bag / container it is then dispensed into.
As per others, good food handling practise is essential towards achieving that goal which is why I monitor my foodstuffs be it sous vide or cold smoking & have cooling measures in place you don’t want a bacterial load getting a jumpstart on your food.
That means, fast chill (ice bath) if not being patted dry & hitting the sear to plate & consume immediately, ditto Ice stock for my cold smoker, a top & bottom lcd temp display & a bluetooth probe with temp safety parameter alarm & real time graph display, because getting it wrong is food thrown out & time wasted at bast, tragic pressures upon bodily health at worst.
Sous vide does not make for a cryogenic preservation miracle in a fridge, it can help, but you also need confidence in your own fridges temp holding accuracy, where you store, how you store everything else & to check that the temp is holding true.
My fridges are 3c or lower which does contribute to negating spoilage when items are stored properly.
if I think my smoke is getting too hot I make it travel through ice blocks as a cooling measure & open the top vent a bit more, monitor it & check for environmental factors that may pop up which is why cold smoking is seasonal here in the uk especially for a cheese that has had its rind developed for better smoke absorb, & is then subjected to 30 hours smoke over several days with resting & chilling in-between to allow the harsh notes to disappear & not screw the taste buds over as well as general food safety.
For your office lunch, how do you prevent it getting warm whilst travelling? ice bag / ineffectual cooler bag that doesn’t cool because most people don’t chill things properly / add ice blocks & measure the thermal ability over hours?
Not being sarcastic, it’s amazing how many people buy a dual plastic lined “cooler” &expect it to work on the basis of fridge chilled food keeping it all safe, It also summises peoples inability to pre-temper a thermos type container to max out its capability.
They do sell freezable gel pack lunch bags (the quality of the freezing liquid being really dubious in some) which is what I sometimes placed in the freezer the night before then wrapped pre-chilled food in an insulated bento box for my daughters packed lunch.
If you use ice-blocks to top up the cooling of a lunch bag then, CampingGAZ brand freezer ice blocks are oft better than generic cheapo thin crud, density of the frozen material being a major factor of how long a solid cooling core is maintained to a safe standard)
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