About the Sous Vide Time Calculator
This sous vide time calculator estimates how long food needs in the water bath to be both cooked through and pasteurized. Choose beef, lamb or pork, lean chicken breast or fattier chicken thighs, enter the thickness and the bath temperature, and it returns the time for the centre to reach temperature, the extra holding time needed to kill Salmonella, and the total minimum time before you take it out.
Heating time is modelled with the physics of heat conduction through a flat slab, so doubling the thickness roughly quadruples the time. Holding time comes straight from the USDA Food Safety and Inspection Service lethality tables (Appendix A, 2021): for example, beef held at 130°F needs 112 minutes for a 6.5-log reduction of Salmonella, while chicken breast held at 145°F needs 8.4 minutes for a 7-log reduction. Those are the same time–temperature tables inspected meat plants use.
The result is a minimum, not a recipe: steaks and chops are usually fine for an hour or two beyond it, while chicken breast goes soft after about four hours. If the bath is below the bottom of the USDA table (130°F for meat, 136°F for chicken) the food is not pasteurized and should be eaten straight away by healthy adults only. Pasteurization reduces bacteria but does not sterilize — chill anything you are not serving immediately in ice water and refrigerate it.
With the default inputs, the minimum time in the bath is 2h 50m 50s. Change any value above to recalculate instantly.
How to use the sous vide time calculator
- 1Choose the food — meat, lean chicken breast or fattier chicken.
- 2Measure the thickest part and enter it in inches or millimetres.
- 3Enter your water bath temperature in °F or °C.
- 4Cook for at least the total time shown, then sear and serve.
- 5Chill in ice water and refrigerate anything you are not eating right away.
Formula and method
Heating time uses the first term of the exact solution for heat conduction into a flat slab of thickness L whose surface is held at the bath temperature, with a thermal diffusivity α of 1.1 × 10⁻⁷ m²/s typical of lean meat. It gives the time for the centre to come within 1°F of the bath. A 25% allowance covers the bag and the water film at the surface, which slow heat transfer slightly. Cylinders and irregular pieces heat faster, so a slab is the conservative case.
The pasteurization hold is read from USDA FSIS Appendix A (2021) at the whole degree below the bath temperature: Table 2 (6.5-log Salmonella reduction) for beef, lamb and pork and Table 3 (7-log reduction) for chicken, using the 1% fat column for skinless breast and the 12% fat column for thighs, skin-on pieces or unknown fat, as FSIS advises.
- L
- Thickness of the food in metres
- α
- Thermal diffusivity, 1.1 × 10⁻⁷ m²/s
- T_bath
- Water bath temperature (°F)
- T_start
- Food temperature when it goes in (40°F from the fridge)
Worked examples
1-inch steak at 131°F (55°C) from the fridge
The centre of a 1-inch steak takes about 59 minutes to come within 1°F of a 131°F bath. The FSIS meat table then requires 112 minutes at 130°F, so the steak needs about 2 hours 51 minutes in total to be pasteurized.
1.5-inch chicken breast at 145°F
A 1.5-inch breast needs about 2 hours 16 minutes for its centre to reach temperature. FSIS then calls for 10.4 minutes at 144°F (1% fat), for a total of about 2 hours 27 minutes.
25 mm pork chop at 60°C
60°C is 140°F. A 25 mm chop heats through in about 58 minutes, and the FSIS meat table requires 15 minutes at 139°F, so plan on at least 73 minutes.
Frequently asked questions
How long does it take to sous vide a steak?+
A 1-inch steak from the fridge needs about an hour for its centre to reach the bath temperature. That is enough to eat for healthy adults; to fully pasteurize at 131°F it needs about 3 hours in total, while at 140°F it needs about 75 minutes.
Is sous vide chicken at 145°F safe?+
Yes, if it is held long enough. USDA FSIS tables show a 7-log Salmonella reduction in lean chicken after 8.4 minutes at 145°F and 13 minutes for fattier chicken — the same safety as 165°F, which is instant. The holding time starts only once the centre reaches temperature.
Does thickness or weight matter for sous vide time?+
Thickness matters far more than weight. Heat travels inward from both faces, so time grows with the square of thickness: a 2-inch steak takes about four times as long to heat as a 1-inch steak, regardless of how wide it is.
Can you overcook food with sous vide?+
Not in temperature, but texture changes with time. Tender steaks and chicken breasts turn soft or mushy after roughly 4 hours, while tough cuts like chuck or short ribs benefit from 24–72 hours.
What is the lowest safe sous vide temperature?+
USDA lethality tables start at 130°F (54.4°C) for beef and pork and 136°F (57.8°C) for chicken. Below that, food is not pasteurized; FSIS recommends limiting the total time between 50°F and 130°F to about 6 hours.
This tool gives general estimates and is not medical advice. Talk to a doctor or qualified professional about your health, diet or training.