Our Guide To Sous Vide Cooking Times | The Tool Shed

Our Guide To Sous Vide Cooking Times

As well as improving the texture, taste and experience of food, Sous Vide cooking takes away a lot of the stress that comes with traditional methods.

Whereas conventional methods can mean you risk under/over cooking, and timing mishaps between the sides and the meat, Sous Vide guarantees precise timings so you can be sure that your food is cooked to perfection.

Standard cooking times do not apply; instead you can leave your food to cook and alter the time depending on your own schedule.

Here are our recommendations for cooking times:

Poultry

When using standard techniques, poultry can take between 25-45 minutes to roast and it is prone to becoming dry or unpleasant to eat.

Sous Vide machines on the other hand guarantee wonderfully moist meat, packed full of flavour each and every time.

Standard cooking times (minimum – maximum):

Chicken Breast, Boneless: 146F/63.5C, 1 – 4 hours
Chicken Leg/Thigh: 160F/71C, 4 – 8 hours
Split Game Hen: 160F/71C, 6 – 8 hours
Turkey/Duck Leg: 176F/80C, 8 – 10 hours
Duck Breast: 134F/56.5C, 2.30 – 8 hours

Remember: if you set the temperature higher than our recommendations, the cooking time will be less.

Meat

The difference between rare and well done meat is a matter of minutes. This means traditional methods of cooking beef and lamb can be both time consuming and unreliable.

Whether you are creating succulent beef sirloin, sticky ribs or melt in your mouth leg of lamb, Sous Vide machines promise to deliver on both texture and flavour.

Standard cooking times (minimum – maximum):

Beef Tenderloin/Sirloin/Ribeye/T-bone: 134F/56.5C, 1 – 4 hours
Lamb Chops: 134F/56.5C, 1 – 4 hours
Lamb Leg: 134F/56.5C, 10 – 48 hours
Brisket: 134F/56.5C, 8 – 30 hours
Pork Chops: 134F/56.5C, 2 – 10 hours
Pork Roast/Ribs: 160-176F/71-80C, 12 – 30 hours

Remember: the time depends on the thickness of your vacuum pouches i.e. if you’re using thicker pouches, keep the meat in the bath for longer.

Fish and Seafood

We understand how tricky it is to correctly roast fish and seafood due to its delicacy. As with poultry and meat, it is a thin line between perfection and disaster. However, following our guidelines, you can guarantee great results.

We only recommend one cooking time for fish and seafood to avoid an excessively soft texture:

Lean Fish: desired serving temperature, 30-40 minutes
Fatty Fish: desired serving temperature, 30-40 minutes
Lobster: 140F/60C, 45 minutes
Scallops: 140F/60C, 40-60 minutes
Shrimp: 140F/60C, 30 minutes

Remember: we recommend using 25mm vacuum pouches for fish and seafood, though lean fish is best when sealed in a 12.5mm pouch.

Eggs

It is a common misconception that eggs can’t be cooked in a water bath. In fact, you can perfect the egg’s texture whether you want it soft boiled, hard boiled, scrambled, or pasteurised:

Soft Cooked (in shell): 167F/75C, 15 – 18 minutes
Hard Cooked (in shell): 160F/71C, 45 minutes – 1.30 hours
Scrambled: 167F/75C, 20 minutes
Pasteurized (in shell): 135F/57C, 1.15 – 2 hours

Remember: if the egg is in the shell, do not vacuum seal in sealer bags.

Fruit and Vegetables

Fruit and vegetables make the perfect accompaniment to any meal and can even be transformed into being the main event of a dish.

Whatever you are using them for, getting the right texture is just as important for these ingredients as it is for poultry, meat and fish.

Standard cooking times (minimum – maximum):

Root Vegetables: 183F/84C, 1 – 4 hours
Tender Vegetables: 183F/84C, 45 minutes – 1.30 hours
Firm Fruits: 183F/84C, 45 minutes – 2 hours
Soft Fruits: 183F/84C, 30 minutes – 1 hour

Remember: to get the best results, we suggest using 50mm pouches.

For more information on our recommended Sous Vide cooking times, download our complete guide, or why not check out some of our favourite recipes and put these guidelines to the test?

Post by Chris Holland

Our Chef Director Chris Holland worked as Head Chef at the prestigious Alderley Edge hotel before joining us. He has a passion for using the best produce and never compromises on quality. Author of our best selling book Sous Vide The Art of Precision Cooking, Chris is a expert on the sous vide technique.During the later part of my school days at Wardle High School Rochdale I always wanted to be a chef . I knew from the very start that my path to work was never going to be academic it was always going to be something practical and hands on.

As a young boy growing up I was inspired to cook with my Grandma who was and still is an inspiration to me . I have memories of helping make the cakes that she always had made for visitors and family alike . She made the most amazing cakes and I loved nothing more than eating the sweet raw cake batter straight from the bowl . We used to fight over who got to lick the bowl/spoon after the cakes were made. My grandma’s philosophy for cooking even on a shoe string budget was always to use fresh and seasonal ingredients either home grown or bought from the market.

School was somewhat of a drag for me as I was itching to learn to become a chef.

I started at Hopwood Hall college as a chef and instantly fell in love with it .To me it was the only real time I excelled in something and this inspired me to really get my head down and put in the hard work. College was the first time I really excelled in something and gave me the opportunity to laugh at the teachers who said I would never make something of my life!!!!

During the three years at college I also took on a part time position in a local hotel working the bar and restaurant first and then the kitchen. These were great days and gave me the opportunity to see how the industry ticks. I learnt a lot from those days both good and bad !! But I have to say I was itching to work only in the kitchen but it was a good insight into the catering world .

After completing college I moved away from Rochdale for a full time roll at one of Cheshire’s most talked about Hotel restaurants The Stanneylands Hotel. This was the school of hard knocks for me as I quickly realised that although excelling at college meant nothing in “The Real World”.

I loved every minute of the 18 hour days 6 days a week on minimum wage . Although difficult I feel that without this grounding I wouldn’t have achieved what I have today. After 18 months of hard graft I left Stanneylands and went with the Head chef to open a fine dining restaurant at Mere Golf and Country Club. The opportunity to work alongside Matthew Barrett was too good to turn down. I learnt so much from the ex-Ritz chef and working in a much slower paced role helped me develop a much better understanding of how to organise and run a kitchen. We were a very small team and teamwork was and still is the only way to go for me.

After 2 years at Mere I got the opportunity to go into The Alderley Edge Hotel as Junior Souschef. The Early days at the Edge were all about learning new styles of cuising which is invaluable in any role as a chef. I got the opportunity to grow and learn all aspects of every section which was inspiring . I was offered the opportunity at the age of 29 (2004) to take the role of head chef. For me this was when I really started to develop my own style of food.

After 9 years at the top winning Cheshire restaurant of the year , Chef of the Year and appearing on GBM amongst many highlights including cooking for many celebrities and famous people I decided to move on into development with Sousvidetools.

The main inspiration for this was to train and educate people . I always had a great passion for education but could never really see myself at a college . The job is super rewarding and I am proud to say we have become the leading light in sous-vide education in the UK . This is something I am very proud of . Food is my biggest passion and this is what keeps me interested the most . I love to travel and try out other countries cuisines. I am constantly inspired by ingredients and the pursuit of getting the best out of them without destroying their natural flavour .It is super important to me to continue to try and be at the forefront of the food scene this is what inspire me and the team to keep driving forward .

Technology is now widely used in the industry and I am super proud to say we have been a big part of spreading that message.

I am very lucky to be in the position I am and the drive to constantly improve our training and links to the next generation of young budding hospitality chefs.

TI feel that my experience over the last 25 years really enables me to get close and educate the “next generation” of chefs .

The industry which I love is really struggling to bring through new recruits and if I can help that process I will be immensely proud.

The food seen in the Uk has improved dramatically over the last ten years and I feel this will continue with the correct education. What happens next only fate will tell us...

...