Sous vide now, eat later

Can I sous vide steaks but eat 3 hours later?

Hi ya @nbmartin

I think so, that you can wait three hours. Depending on the particular cut of ‘steak’ you might even leave them in the SV waiting. Changes DO happen with extended time.

Consult MathematicalChef Douglas Baldwin Practical Quide to SV for the details of holding beef.

Yes, but it will need to be properly stored in between. Either fridge or still cooking!

Please only post the question in one place in the future.

Didn’t know how to get around at first. Sorry

Can you provide a few more details?

Like are you cooking at say 4pm and want to eat 7pm, or are you (say) cooking at 2pm for 2 hours so it’s ready at 4pm, then want to eat at 7pm? What cut of meat?

Either is possible but depending on the cut you need to be careful as you can end up with “mushy” steak, event though it’s technically not overcooked (ie. by temperature).

1” ribeye. Cook mine 134 11/2 hr. Second steak 1” ribeye want to eat 3 hrs. later. Also, best way to cook 1” ribeyes to desired doness, save and eat several days later.

A Practical Guide to Sous Vide Cooking.

  1. Food Safety

Non-technical Summary

You cook food to make it safe and tasty. Sous vide cooking is no different: you just have more control over both taste and safety. In sous vide cooking, you pick the temperature that equals the doneness you want and then you cook it until it’s safe and has the right texture.

Raw food often has millions of microorganisms on or in it; most of these microorganisms are spoilage or beneficial bacteria and won’t make you sick. But some of these microorganisms are pathogens that can make you sick if you eat too many of them. Most food pathogens are bacteria, but some are viruses, funguses, and parasites. Your yogurt, aged cheese, and cured salami can have hundreds of millions of spoilage or beneficial bacteria in every serving; but they don’t make you sick because spoilage and beneficial bacteria are distinct from pathogens. Since pathogens don’t spoil food, you can’t see, smell, or taste them.

While there are many ways to kill food pathogens, cooking is the easiest. Every food pathogen has a temperature that it can’t grow above and a temperature it can’t grow below. They start to die above the temperature that they stop growing at and the higher above this temperature you go, the faster they die. Most food pathogens grow fastest a few degrees below the temperature that they start to die. Most food pathogens stop growing by 122°F (50°C), but the common food pathogen Clostridium perfringens can grow at up to 126.1°F (52.3°C). So in sous vide cooking, you usually cook at 130°F (54.4°C) or higher. (You could cook your food at slightly lower temperatures, but it would take you a lot longer to kill the food pathogens.)

Hey NB, welcome back with your rib eye challenges.

First steak, cook according to your plan.

Second steak, same plan and start SV cooking a little more than 1 1/2 hours before enjoying.

For your several-days-later steaks, cook according your same plan, chill in a 50% ice water bath for an hour, then refrigerate for up to 72 hours. This cook is never sure how many is several. When it’s a matter of food safety and quality consider being precise. If you want to safely store under refrigeration for longer than 72 hours consult Blanchard’s cooking times, Chart 5.1, to achieve Pasteurization. It’s at the above link Douglas kindly posted.

Refrigerated Pasteurized meats provide significant safety, but not unlimited. Read Blanchard’s comments and reduce those times to increase your safety.

Happy cooking.