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Sous Vide Time & Safety Calculator illustration

Sous Vide Time & Safety Calculator

Works out how long food really needs in a sous vide bath. Two things matter: the come-up time for the cold core to reach the bath temperature, and the pasteurization hold that actually makes it safe. The come-up time uses the standard heat-conduction model from Douglas Baldwin’s sous vide guide — the lowest-eigenvalue solution for a slab, cylinder or sphere — scaled by the food’s thickness and thermal diffusivity. The pasteurization hold uses the log-linear thermal-death model for Salmonella (a 6.5-log₁₀ reduction), with beef and pork holding longer than poultry because of their fat. Add the two together for the minimum safe time, and heed the warning below 54.4 °C where pasteurization is too slow to rely on.

Read the full guide to this tool

Sets the thermal diffusivity and which pathogen governs the hold.
The full thickness of a fillet, or the diameter of a roast — the dimension heat travels through.
A steak or fillet is a slab; a loin a cylinder; a meatball a sphere.
5 °C is straight from the fridge.
The target core temperature; the food heats to within 0.5 °C of it.

Notes

  • Model: come-up time is the one-term (lowest-eigenvalue) transient conduction solution — t = (R²/α)·ln(A₁/θ)/λ₁² with the shape constants for a slab, cylinder or sphere in a stirred (isothermal-surface) bath. Source: Douglas Baldwin, "A Practical Guide to Sous Vide Cooking".
  • The pasteurization hold is a 6.5-log₁₀ reduction of Salmonella using the log-linear death model, hold = n·D₆₀·10^((60−T)/z) with z = 6 °C; beef and pork use a higher D-value than poultry. Below 54.4 °C (130 °F) the reduction is impractically slow and flagged as unsafe.
  • This is educational guidance, not a substitute for food-safety judgment: actual times depend on the exact geometry, fat and salt content and your equipment. When in doubt, hold longer and follow a trusted recipe.
  • Thickness dominates come-up time (it scales with the square), while the bath temperature sets the hold — a hotter bath pasteurizes far faster but changes texture.

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