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Started some beef short ribs yesterday morning at 185f for 24 hours, went to bed with about 11 hours left on the sous vide but when I woke up this morning the water was only at 133f according to the sousvide, and my other thermometer in the water read 127.5f.

I put them in an ice water bath right away for about 20 minutes until they were cool and they're now in the fridge.

Are these still safe to eat? I have no idea how long they've been in the water at under 130f, but it's probably 10L of water and it's wrapped in towels and had a lid on it to keep the heat in so I assume it took a long time to get down to that temp.

SousvideSteve
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  • Not really since I have no idea how long it was at 127. The cutoff for sous vide is also listed as 130 in every place, not 140 as is mentioned in this post which also changes things in my opinion. – SousvideSteve Dec 29 '20 at 15:45
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    @SousvideSteve...it applies. Especially if you have no idea. Better safe than sorry. Your understanding of the "cutoff listed at 130" is not an accurate understanding of food safety and sous vide. I would encourage you to read Douglas Baldwin's work. https://www.douglasbaldwin.com/sous-vide.html – moscafj Dec 29 '20 at 15:53
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    I did read his work and specifically: "You were probably taught that there’s a “danger zone” between 40°F and 140°F (4.4°C and 60°C). These temperatures aren’t quite right: it’s well known that food pathogens can only multiply between 29.7°F (-1.3°C) and 126.1°F (52.3°C), while spoilage bacteria begin multiplying at 23°F (-5°C) (Snyder, 2006; Juneja et al., 1999; FDA, 2011). Moreover, contrary to popular belief, food pathogens and toxins cannot be seen, smelt, or tasted." which sounds to me like I should be fine if my thermometer read 127, no? – SousvideSteve Dec 29 '20 at 16:02
  • Is your thermometer accurate to 0.9 degrees? – user141592 Dec 29 '20 at 16:24
  • Looks like it's accurate to 1.8f so lowest possible temperature would have been 125.7 (assuming it read 127.5 but was reading 1.8f too high) but I doubt it was at that temp very long. In 9 hours it went from 185f to 127.5f... – SousvideSteve Dec 29 '20 at 16:34
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    @SousvideSteve no...you are not fine if your thermometer reads 127. Food safety is not simply about temperature. It is time and temperature. The reason sous vide CAN be safe at lower temperatures is that items are often cooked LONGER at those lower temperatures. Don't rely on temperature only. – moscafj Dec 29 '20 at 18:37

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