Safety for sous vide cooking
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Sous vide is a method of cooking food for commercial and home, vacuum sealed in plastic bags before heating, usually by immersion in a low temperature-controlled water bath for a set period of time. The temperature range is from 131°F to 212°F (or 55°C -100°C). The time will be 0.5 hour to 72 hous or more.
How to keep sous vide cooking safety? Let's find it out.
Bacteria makes food unsafety
As we all known, bacteria are the root of food spoilage. In order to make food satety, we have to control the bacteria in every section of cooking.
Top two bacteria of prepared meal are Salmonella, Listeria monocytogenes, other’s like Escherichia coli, Clostridium botulinum ect are threatens too.
When cooking at an internal temperature of 71°C two minutes(The FSAI recommends), it will kill listeria, and storage under vacuum at a temperature of 4°C or lower won't promote growth. Yersinia enterocolitica, Escheria coli, and Aeromonas hydrophilia are easily destroyed by pasteurization, and sous-vide eliminates risks of cross-contamination after cooking. For Clostridium Botulinum, there must be growth in order to produce toxins. No growth is detected at pH lower than 5.5 if temeprature is kept lower than 16°C. At higher pH, there is no growth at 3.5"C and lower.——From Micheline Beauchemin
Sterilization
Sterilization techonology for sous vide is similar with “Pasteurization”, the most widely usage in post-packaging pasteurization.
Let’s study sous vide sterilization by “Pasteurization”.
Example of equivalent core temperature/ time combinations for pasteurisation
|
TIME |
TEMPERATUTE |
|
64°C |
12 min 37 sec |
|
65°C |
9min 17 sec |
|
66°C |
6 min 50sec |
|
67°C |
5 min |
|
68°C |
3 min 42 sec |
|
69°C |
2 min 43 sec |
|
70°C |
2 min |
|
71°C |
1 min 28 sec |
|
72°C |
1 min 5 sec |
|
73°C |
48 sec |
|
74°C |
35 sec |
|
75°C |
26 sec |
Table 1——The data is from Food Safety Authority of Ireland
What’s more, by using sous vide cooking method, you will save cost to buy a pasteurization equipment.
Most regulators require that red meat and chicken is cooked to internal product temperatures above 55°C and above 60°C respectively, if it is to be served immediately. Cooking temperature/time combinations are designed to reduce the level of any pathogens present in the food to safe levels.
Suggestions on sous vide cooking safety
•Cooked in a proper temperature
•Choice a food grade sous vide pouch——the environment within the bag will become anoxic (little or no oxygen) which will also impact on microbial survival
•stored in the fridge immediately after cooking (≤5°C but preferably ≤3°C) or freezer (≤ -18°C).