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CalcChef

Sous Vide Calculator

Sous vide bath temperature and minimum time by thickness and doneness for beef, pork, chicken, salmon and eggs, from Baldwin's tables. How it works

Use the Sous Vide Calculator

Protein Type
Doneness
Minimum Time
1h 16m
Water bath 130°F · or 54°C

Minimum time is how long thawed food of this thickness takes to heat through, or to pasteurize where a note says so. Start timing once the bath is up to temperature. Frozen food takes longer, and the tool does not say how long food can stay in the bath after that.

About the Sous Vide Calculator

A 1-inch steak cooked sous vide to medium rare goes in a 130°F (54°C) bath for at least 1h 16m; a 2-inch steak needs 3h 35m. The heating times come from Table 2.2 of Douglas Baldwin's A Practical Guide to Sous Vide Cooking. For beef, pork and salmon, where his pasteurization tables cover the bath temperature and ask for longer, the sous vide calculator shows that time instead: a 1-inch salmon fillet at 140°F gets 1h 32m. Times are for thawed food and start once the bath is up to temperature.

Sous vide minimum times by thickness

Food and donenessBath½ inch1 inch1½ inches2 inches
Beef, rare125°F (52°C)28m1h 16m2h 19m3h 35m
Beef, medium rare130°F (54°C)28m1h 16m2h 19m3h 35m
Beef, medium140°F (60°C)48m *1h 30m *2h 19m3h 35m
Beef, medium well150°F (66°C)30m *1h 16m2h 19m3h 35m
Beef, well done160°F (71°C)28m1h 16m2h 19m3h 35m
Pork chop, medium140°F (60°C)48m *1h 54m3h 28m5h 22m
Pork chop, well done160°F (71°C)41m1h 54m3h 28m5h 22m
Chicken breast, medium155°F (68°C)41m1h 54m3h 28m5h 22m
Chicken breast, well done165°F (74°C)41m1h 54m3h 28m5h 22m
Salmon, lowest setting110°F (43°C)28m1h 16m2h 19m3h 35m
Salmon, middle setting125°F (52°C)28m1h 16m2h 19m3h 35m
Salmon, highest setting140°F (60°C)55m *1h 32m *2h 24m *3h 35m

* Baldwin's pasteurization time, which is longer than the heating time at that thickness. Every other cell is heating time: Baldwin's slab table, times 1.5 for pork and chicken. For salmon, the Medium Rare, Medium and Well Done buttons pick the lowest, middle and highest setting. Celsius is rounded to the nearest degree, as the tool shows it.

How to use this tool

  1. Pick the protein: beef steak, pork chop, chicken breast, salmon or eggs.
  2. Pick the doneness. Each protein has its own fixed bath temperatures, and the buttons pick one of them.
  3. Type the thickness in inches. The tool shows the bath temperature in °F and °C and the minimum time in hours and minutes.

Frequently asked questions

How long do you sous vide a steak?
At least 1h 16m for a 1-inch steak, 2h 19m at 1½ inches and 3h 35m at 2 inches, at any doneness from rare to well done. The one exception at 1 inch is medium at 140°F, which shows 1h 30m because Baldwin's pasteurization table asks for longer than heating alone.
What temperature is medium rare steak sous vide?
130°F (54°C) in this tool. Rare is 125°F (52°C), medium 140°F (60°C), medium well 150°F (66°C) and well done 160°F (71°C).
Is a 130°F sous vide steak safe to eat?
It is heated through, not pasteurized. Baldwin names 130°F (54.4°C) as the lowest temperature he recommends for sous vide, and his red meat pasteurization table starts at 131°F, so at 125 and 130°F the tool shows heating time only. Baldwin says raw or unpasteurized food should never be served to highly susceptible or immune-compromised people.
How long to sous vide chicken breast?
1h 54m for a 1-inch breast at 155°F (68°C), and 3h 28m at 1½ inches. Chicken gets 1.5 times Baldwin's heating time, a margin this tool adds. His poultry pasteurization table covers 134.5 to 149°F, below both chicken settings here, so it is not used.
Does sous vide salmon at 110°F or 125°F kill bacteria?
No. Baldwin's lowest fish pasteurization temperature is 131°F, so the tool marks the 110°F and 125°F settings as not pasteurized: they are for texture, eaten at your own risk. At 140°F a 1-inch fillet gets his pasteurization time, 1h 32m.
Does a frozen steak take longer?
Yes. Baldwin's table is for thawed food starting at 41°F (5°C), and the tool does not add time for frozen food or for the bath warming up. It also does not say how long food can stay in the bath after the minimum.

Choosing a bath temperature and time

Choose the protein, its thickness in inches and a doneness, and the tool shows the water-bath temperature in °F (with °C) and a minimum time in the bath. A 1-inch beef steak at medium rare is 130°F (54°C) for 1h 16m; at 1.5 inches the time rises to 2h 19m and at 2 inches to 3h 35m. A 1-inch chicken breast is 155°F (68°C) for 1h 54m. A 1-inch salmon fillet at 140°F shows 1h 32m and a half-inch pork chop at 140°F 48 minutes, because Baldwin's pasteurization tables ask for more than heating alone (heating alone would give 1h 16m and 41 minutes).

The temperatures are fixed per protein: beef 125 to 160°F, pork 140 or 160, chicken 155 or 165, salmon 110, 125 or 140, eggs 145 or 165. For salmon and eggs the doneness buttons (Medium Rare, Medium, Well Done) only pick the low, middle or high setting; they are not fish or egg terms.

Where the time comes from

time in minutes = max(slab heating time × factor, pasteurization time), the second term only where Baldwin's tables cover the food and bath temperature.

Heating time is Table 2.2 of Douglas Baldwin's A Practical Guide to Sous Vide Cooking (thawed slab-like food from 41°F to within 1°F of the bath): 5 minutes at 5 mm, 1¼ hours at 25 mm, 3½ hours at 50 mm and 5½ hours at 65 mm. The tool interpolates between his rows and scales with thickness squared below 5 mm and above 65 mm. The factor is 1 for beef, salmon and eggs and 1.5 for pork and chicken, a margin this tool adds. The total is rounded to whole minutes. Eggs go through the same slab table by the thickness you type, which is a rough stand-in: Baldwin's table is for slab-like food, not whole eggs in the shell, so check egg times against an egg-specific recipe.

Pasteurization time comes from his tables for beef and pork (red meat, 131 to 151°F) and salmon (fatty fish, 131 to 140°F), interpolated between his thicknesses and temperatures; food under 5 mm uses his 5 mm row. When it is the longer figure, a note says so. Beef at 125 and 130°F, beef and pork at 160°F and chicken (his poultry table stops at 149°F) show heating time alone. The 110 and 125°F salmon settings are below his lowest fish temperature, 131°F, and do not pasteurize; the tool says so beside them, and they are for texture only, eaten at your own risk. Frozen food and bath warm-up are not accounted for.

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