Sous Vide Beef Tenderloin: Time and Temperature

Sous vide beef tenderloin cooks at 131°F (55°C) for medium-rare. A whole roast that measures 2.5 in (6.4 cm) across needs at least 3 hr in the bath and should come out by 4 hr.

The time depends on the diameter of the roast, not on its weight or length. Every time on this page comes from the calculator.

What beef tenderloin is

The tenderloin is a long, narrow muscle that sits beneath the ribs, next to the backbone. Wikipedia's entry says the muscle does very little work, which makes it the tenderest part of the beef, and that it has three main parts: the butt, the center cut and the tail.

The center cut is where filet mignon steaks and the Chateaubriand roast come from. The beef industry's cut guide lists the tenderloin roast as lean, with 6 g of fat in a 3 oz cooked serving.

The calculator sets the time to heat the roast through and adds no tenderizing time.

Whole roast or filet steaks

The calculator has separate settings for the two, because the shape changes the time.

Whole roast. This page's setting treats the tenderloin as a cylinder. You measure straight through the center at the thickest point, and a 2.5 in roast needs 3 hr at 131°F (55°C). The roast is seared once and then sliced.

Filet steaks. A steak is a flat slab timed by its thickness. On the filet mignon setting a 1.5 in (3.8 cm) steak needs 2 hr 15 min at 131°F (55°C), and a 2 in steak needs 3 hr 45 min, against 2 hr for a roast 2 in across. Every steak is seared on both faces. The filet mignon guide has those times.

A whole tenderloin can also be divided. America's Test Kitchen's roast tenderloin recipe cuts it crosswise at the base of the head to make two roasts. For sous vide, bag and measure each piece on its own.

Tying the roast

Tie the roast so it has an even diameter from end to end.

A whole tenderloin tapers from the thick butt end to the thin tail. The America's Test Kitchen recipe tucks the tail end underneath by 3 to 5 inches to make a more even shape, then ties the roast with kitchen twine at 1 inch intervals.

For sous vide, tying gives you one diameter to measure and keeps the roast round, which is the shape the roast setting assumes.

If the roast is oval, wider than it is tall, enter the smaller dimension only if the other is no more than one and a half times as large. Otherwise treat it as a flat piece and use the filet mignon setting with its thickness, the same setting as the filet steaks above.

Tenderloin temperature and doneness

The default is 131°F (55°C), medium-rare. Choose 140°F (60°C) for a medium roast that is pink throughout, firmer and still juicy. It is also the setting to use when the roast has to be pasteurized, as the safety section explains.

At 150°F (65.6°C) tenderloin is faintly pink, firm and drying out, with a grainy texture. At 160°F (71.1°C) it has no pink and is firm and dry. Douglas Baldwin's guide to sous vide cooking gives the cause: above 140 to 150°F (60 to 66°C) muscle fibers shrink along their length and lose a substantial amount of water.

Rare, at 125°F (51.7°C), is bright red and very soft. It fits inside its 2 hr 30 min limit only for a roast up to 2.25 in (5.7 cm) across and is not recommended at 2.5 in or wider. The steak temperature chart compares these levels across beef cuts.

How long to sous vide beef tenderloin, by diameter

Measure straight through the center of the roast at its thickest point. The calculator covers roasts from 1.5 to 3.75 in (3.8 to 9.5 cm).

At 131°F (55°C) the minimum is the heat-through time, which is the time for the center to come within 1°F (0.5°C) of the bath. A 1.5 in roast needs 1 hr 15 min, a 2 in roast needs 2 hr and a 2.5 in roast needs 3 hr, all with a 4 hr maximum. A 3 in (7.6 cm) roast needs 4 hr, with a maximum of 5 hr.

Aly Romero's beef tenderloin recipe for Anova cooks a 3 to 4 pound tenderloin at 134°F (56.7°C) for 2 to 3 hours. In the calculator, 2 to 3 hours is the minimum for a roast 2 to 2.5 in across. It is short for a 3 in roast, because a thicker roast takes longer for the center to reach the bath temperature.

Medium tenderloin

At 140°F (60°C) the minimums up to 2.5 in are the same as at 131°F (55°C): 2 hr at 2 in and 3 hr at 2.5 in. From 3 in up, the center takes more than 4 hr to heat through, so the minimum shown is the pasteurization time: 4 hr 45 min at 3 in, 6 hr at 3.5 in and 6 hr 45 min at 3.75 in. Do not shorten those times.

For a wider cut, the prime rib guide covers a rib roast measured the same way. Pork tenderloin is also timed by its diameter, but its minimum always covers pasteurization: a 2 in piece at 140°F (60°C) needs 2 hr 45 min, against 2 hr for beef.

How to sous vide beef tenderloin

1. Tie. Tuck the tail under and tie the roast at 1 inch intervals so the diameter is even. Measure it.
2. Heat the bath. Set it to 131°F (55°C), or to the temperature you chose above.
3. Season. Salt and pepper on all sides. The Romero recipe adds rosemary, thyme, smashed garlic and olive oil to the bag.
4. Bag it. Use a vacuum sealer, or a zipper-lock bag sealed with the water displacement method.
5. Cook for the time that matches the diameter. Keep the bags in a single layer, fully under the water, and not overlapping. Crowded or overlapping bags heat more slowly, and the times shown will be too short for them.
6. Pat dry and sear on all sides.
7. Slice. Cut the twine first. The Romero recipe slices the roast into medallions half an inch thick.

Searing the roast

The bath cannot brown the roast. Baldwin's guide puts good browning and a roasted flavor at surface temperatures around 300°F (149°C), far above any bath temperature.

The Romero recipe heats a heavy pan over high heat, dries the tenderloin thoroughly, adds olive oil and sears it for 1 to 2 minutes a side. In the last 30 seconds it adds butter with the herbs and garlic from the bag and bastes the roast. Turn the roast until the whole surface is browned.

Cooking beef tenderloin from frozen

A frozen roast goes straight into the bath and stays longer. At 131°F (55°C) a frozen 1.5 in roast needs at least 2 hr and a frozen 2 in roast needs 3 hr 15 min.

At 140°F (60°C) a frozen 2.5 in roast needs 6 hr 45 min, which is its pasteurization time. The guide to cooking from frozen explains the method for other foods.

Safety

The USDA safe minimum internal temperature for beef roasts is 145°F (62.8°C) followed by a 3 minute rest, as listed on FoodSafety.gov. The rare, medium-rare and medium settings are below that.

At 131°F (55°C) the roast is heated through at the minimum time but not pasteurized. That is normal for a whole, intact cut of beef cooked to this doneness.

Pasteurizing a 2.5 in roast at 131°F (55°C) takes 6 hr, longer than the 4 hr maximum for texture, so when cooking for pregnant women, children under 5, adults 65 and older, or anyone with a weakened immune system, choose a higher temperature. Do the same if the label says mechanically tenderized or blade tenderized, or the meat has been injected. The same applies to a 2 in roast, which takes 4 hr 45 min to pasteurize, and to a 3 in roast, which takes 7 hr 30 min against a 5 hr maximum.

At 140°F (60°C) a 2.5 in roast is pasteurized after 3 hr 45 min, inside its 4 hr maximum, and a 2 in roast after 2 hr 45 min.

An acidic sauce or marinade can make beef take up to twice as long to pasteurize. If the beef is in one, do not rely on the pasteurization time shown.

The sous vide safety guide explains why the limits change at 131°F (55°C).

Common problems

The roast is dry. The bath was too hot for a lean cut. The 150°F (65.6°C) and 160°F (71.1°C) settings are in the range where Baldwin describes substantial water loss.

The roast is soft. It stayed in past the maximum. Baldwin's guide notes that meat continues to soften in the bath and may become mushy if held for too long.