# Sous vide and food safety **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [January 5, 2020, 2:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sous-vide-and-food-safety/845961 "2020-01-05T02:46:13Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 9\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![CookingWithGas](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cookingwithgas/32/485_2.png) [@CookingWithGas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CookingWithGas)\ **Post date:** [January 5, 2020, 2:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sous-vide-and-food-safety/845961/1 "2020-01-05T02:46:13Z")
I just got a sous vide machine and so far love the results. But right now I am using a [recipe](https://recipes.anovaculinary.com/recipe/sous-vide-short-ribs-8) for short ribs that call for a 48-hour cook time at 131°F. According to food safety sources, that temperature is in the “danger zone.” How can it be safe to hold beef at 131° for 48 hours? ---
**Author:** ![Athena](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/35a633/32.png) [@Athena](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Athena)\ **Post date:** [January 5, 2020, 3:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sous-vide-and-food-safety/845961/2 "2020-01-05T03:22:08Z")
It comes down to time; traditional safety guidelines assume just a minute or two at the target temperature, which then has to be quite high in order to be safe. But you can achieve the same level of safety at a lower temperature for a longer time. [This guide](https://www.douglasbaldwin.com/sous-vide.html) talks about the science behind it. The pasteurization charts in particular are useful; they show how long you have to keep each type of protein at what temperature to safely pasteurize it. ---
**Author:** ![lingyi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/d2c977/32.png) [@lingyi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lingyi)\ **Post date:** [January 5, 2020, 4:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sous-vide-and-food-safety/845961/3 "2020-01-05T04:50:38Z")
I may be wrong, but I believe I’ve read that one of the keys to pasteurization is that the entire product is at the same temp throughout. The bad stuff doesn’t have anywhere to hide and grow. ---
**Author:** ![lingyi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/d2c977/32.png) [@lingyi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lingyi)\ **Post date:** [January 5, 2020, 4:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sous-vide-and-food-safety/845961/4 "2020-01-05T04:54:53Z")
Just remembered, here’s a thread from last year about sous-vide: [https://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=885642&highlight=sous+vide](https://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=885642&highlight=sous+vide) Should probably ask a mod to move this to Cafe Society. ---
**Author:** ![Kyrie\_Eleison](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kyrie_eleison/32/7682_2.png) [@Kyrie\_Eleison](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kyrie_Eleison)\ **Post date:** [January 5, 2020, 6:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sous-vide-and-food-safety/845961/5 "2020-01-05T06:32:50Z")
[This](https://www.foodsafetymagazine.com/magazine-archive1/februarymarch-2004/the-danger-zone-reevaluated/) detailed article from Food Safety Magazine asks and claims to answer that same question: > [@](#): > > Without an awareness of these and similar data, it must be difficult to understand why certain time-temperature criteria for cooking, such as those for roast beef, are within the “danger zone.” We must wonder how a temperature can be approved for cooking that is within the “danger zone?” Apparently the upper end of the official danger zone isn’t all that dangerous: > [@](#): > > There are several fallacies in the presentation of the so-called “danger zone” as traditionally used. Two of these relate to the upper part of the “zone.” Holding foods in the upper portion of the zone (e.g., upward from 50C [122F], with the possible exception of one or a few strains of Bacillus cereus (although the results were from laboratory media and conditions, not foods) and enterococci (if pathogenic) is not dangerous because all other foodborne pathogens cease multiplication between temperatures of 42C (108F) to 50C (122F). The second is as the temperature increases from approximately 51.7C (125F) (precise temperatures vary with substrate and microorganism), microbial death increases progressively. ---
**Author:** ![Ruken](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/f475e1/32.png) [@Ruken](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ruken)\ **Post date:** [January 5, 2020, 3:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sous-vide-and-food-safety/845961/6 "2020-01-05T15:16:13Z")
I believe Clostridium perfringens will grow on the hotter end. But not at the OP’s temperature. ---
**Author:** ![jnglmassiv](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/f07891/32.png) [@jnglmassiv](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jnglmassiv)\ **Post date:** [January 5, 2020, 3:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sous-vide-and-food-safety/845961/7 "2020-01-05T15:19:45Z")
Here’s an analogy: You could run through a room that was 150 degrees & humid. This is about the same as climbing into a hot car. The brief exposure isn’t pleasant but also isn’t fatal. However, if that temperature was maintained and you had to sit there, you’d soon be dead. This is sous vide cooking temps for people. Not hot enough to kill instantly but plenty hot enough over time. Similarly, scalding of skin occurs at different temps and times. From [wikipedia, scalding](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Scalding): > [@](#): > > Water at 60 °C can induce scalding injuries in less than 3 seconds, while it takes 10 seconds to get an injury at 57 °C and 1.5 to 2 minutes in 52 °C hot water. ---
**Author:** ![Northern\_Piper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/northern_piper/32/5304_2.png) [@Northern\_Piper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Northern_Piper)\ **Post date:** [January 5, 2020, 7:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sous-vide-and-food-safety/845961/8 "2020-01-05T19:01:13Z")
No idea, but excellent thread name / poster combo! ---
**Author:** ![engineer\_comp\_geek](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/engineer_comp_geek/32/504_2.png) [@engineer\_comp\_geek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/engineer_comp_geek)\ **Post date:** [January 5, 2020, 11:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sous-vide-and-food-safety/845961/9 "2020-01-05T23:36:48Z")
**Moderator Action** Moving thread from GQ to Cafe Society.