How long can you keep Sous Vide cooked foods in the refrigerator safely? 

Any fresh food that is cooked properly and quick-chilled can be kept safely in its pouch in the refrigerator for up to 48 hours. After 48 hours, it depends on what type of food it is. Delicate proteins like fish and seafood should be consumed or frozen after that period. Vegetables and meats that have been cooked for longer than 6 hours at 140°F/60°C can be held for 1 week before they have to be consumed.

How do you quick-chill Sous Vide cooked foods?

Completely submerge food in its pouch in an ice bath (50/50 ice cubes and water) to allow the temperature to drop quickly through the danger zone (40°F/4°C to 130°F/54°C). How long the food should stay submerged in the ice water should mirror the minimum cooking time for that food, in most cases 30 minutes to 1 hour.

Do not place the hot or warm pouches in the refrigerator. They will not cool down quickly enough and will heat up your refrigerator and other foods in it.

Is it possible to reheat or cook frozen foods?

Yes. This is very practical for two situations:

• When cooking with raw frozen ingredients, the cooking time needs to be extended for the time it needs to thaw. That is usually double the regular cooking time or longer.

• When reheating previously Sous Vide cooked and frozen foods, the time in the Sous Vide Professional™ water bath depends only on how quickly the serving temperature is reached.

What should not be cooked Sous Vide?  

Whole chicken, duck or game hen in one piece. The issue with that, for any method, is that white and dark meats require different cooking times. For Sous Vide specifically, a whole bird cannot be vacuum sealed without there remaining a cavity, resulting in uneven cooking. We recommend breaking down the parts and cooking the legs and thighs separate from breasts.

Green vegetables, such as green asparagus, broccoli and spinach. Based on our experience and the feedback of the best chefs in the world, green vegetables don’t benefit from longer and low-temperature cooking times. Traditional methods like blanching or sautéing achieve much better results. 
Hamburgers or any ground meats or fish. From a food safety perspective, we don’t recommend cooking hamburger patties Sous Vide. Due to their increased surface, bacteria grow on the surface of ground meats at a much higher level, with increased risk of bacterial contamination than portioned meat cuts – unless they are cooked at higher temperatures and for extended time. In that case we’d rather use a traditional grill.

How long can I hold food in the Sous Vide Professional™?

With the Sous Vide Professional™, food can be held at the desired cooking temperature for much longer than with traditional cooking techniques. However, at some point, food will become mushy and overcooked in its texture. To ensure perfect results we recommend the following rules of thumb:

• For best results, don’t hold foods longer at cooking temperature than double their minimum cooking time (see PolyScience temperature reference guide for time and temperatures).

• Maximum cooking time is 72 hours.