Sous Vide Chicken Temp and Time Chart

The sous vide chicken temp is 145°F (62.8°C) for breast and 165°F (73.9°C) for thighs, drumsticks and wings. Those are the calculator's defaults. A breast 1.5 in (3.8 cm) thick needs at least 2 hr 30 min at 145°F (62.8°C).

Every recommended time below is pasteurized at the minimum, and every number comes from the calculator.

Chicken breast temp and time

At 145°F (62.8°C) a breast 1 in (2.5 cm) thick needs at least 1 hr 30 min, and a 2 in (5.1 cm) breast needs 3 hr 45 min. The maximum is 4 hr for breasts up to 1.5 in thick.

A lower temperature takes longer, because pasteurization is slower.

At 140°F (60°C) a 1 in breast needs 2 hr and a 1.5 in breast needs 3 hr 15 min. At 150°F (65.6°C) and 160°F (71.1°C) a 1 in breast needs 1 hr 15 min and a 1.5 in breast needs 2 hr 30 min.

Douglas Baldwin's guide to sous vide cooking notes that light poultry meat is traditionally cooked to 160 to 175°F (71 to 79°C), and that sous vide breasts can be cooked to 140 to 150°F (60 to 66°C) and still be pasteurized. The chicken breast guide has the cooking steps and the frozen times for breast.

Chicken thigh temp and time

Dark meat needs a higher temperature than breast meat to become tender. Iowa State University Extension's article on tender and less tender cuts gives the general reason for meat: muscles that bear weight or are in constant use contain more collagen, and collagen turns to gelatin when it is cooked slowly with moist heat. The legs are the weight-bearing muscles of a chicken.

At 165°F (73.9°C) a thigh 1 in thick needs at least 1 hr 30 min on the short cook, and the meat still holds on the bone. The long cook at the same temperature is for meat that pulls easily from the bone and is a little less juicy than the short cook. Its minimum is 4 hr and its maximum is 8 hr for thighs up to 2 in (5.1 cm) thick.

The 150°F (65.6°C) setting gives a firm, very juicy, slightly chewy thigh. A 1 in thigh needs 1 hr 15 min there. The chicken thigh guide compares boneless and bone-in thighs and has the steps for crisping the skin.

Chicken drumstick temp and time

Drumsticks use the same temperatures as thighs. The calculator's default thickness is 1.5 in, against 1 in for thighs. Measure through the thickest part, including any bone. A drumstick 1.5 in thick needs at least 2 hr 30 min at 165°F (73.9°C), a 2 in drumstick needs 4 hr and a 2.5 in (6.4 cm) drumstick needs 5 hr 45 min.

On the long cook the minimum is 4 hr for drumsticks up to 2 in thick, 4 hr 45 min at 2.25 in (5.7 cm) and 5 hr 45 min at 2.5 in. The calculator's note for drumsticks says dark meat is too chewy below 150°F (65.6°C) and turns mushy after more than 8 hours at 165°F (73.9°C).

From frozen, thick drumsticks reach that 8 hour point. At 165°F (73.9°C) a frozen 2.25 in drumstick needs 7 hr 15 min and has a maximum of 8 hr. A frozen 2.5 in drumstick needs 8 hr 45 min, and the calculator shows no later maximum for it. Its note is that the texture will be softer than that of a thinner or thawed piece, and that thawing first gives a shorter cook.

Chicken wing temp and time

Wings are thin, so the default cook is short: at least 1 hr at 165°F (73.9°C) for a wing 0.75 in (1.9 cm) thick, with a maximum of 2 hr. The longer cook at 160°F (71.1°C) is for soft meat that comes away from the bone. Its minimum is 2 hr and its maximum is 3 hr for wings up to 1.25 in (3.2 cm) thick.

Dry the wings very well after the bath, then deep-fry them to crisp the skin. The chicken wing guide also covers grilling and broiling.

Turkey breast and duck breast

This setting is for a boneless turkey breast rolled and tied into an even cylinder. Measure straight through the center of the roast at its thickest point. A 3 in (7.6 cm) roast at 145°F (62.8°C) needs at least 5 hr 15 min. For a single flat breast half, use the chicken breast setting with its thickness.

That minimum is longer than in recipes that only heat the meat through, because it is the time for the center of a piece this thick to pasteurize. The turkey breast guide covers the 140°F (60°C) and 152°F (66.7°C) settings.

The duck breast default is below 136°F (57.8°C). That is the lowest temperature in the USDA poultry time and temperature tables, so there is no USDA equivalent for 135°F (57.2°C). The time comes from Baldwin's poultry pasteurization table alone.

Pasteurizing is slow at that temperature. A duck breast 1 in thick needs at least 3 hr 15 min at 135°F (57.2°C), against 2 hr at 140°F (60°C). The duck breast guide covers rendering and crisping the skin.

Why temperatures below 165°F need the full time

FoodSafety.gov lists 165°F (73.9°C) as the safe minimum internal temperature for all poultry: whole birds, breasts, legs, thighs and wings.

That figure is a single reading with no hold time. A lower temperature pasteurizes the food only because it is held for the full minimum time shown, so do not shorten it.

Pasteurization depends on time as well as temperature. America's Test Kitchen's article Is Sous Vide Safe? gives the pattern for Salmonella in chicken: 14 seconds once the meat is at 160°F (71.1°C), 50 seconds at 155°F (68.3°C), 3 minutes at 150°F (65.6°C) and 69 minutes at 136°F (57.8°C).

Those figures start when the center of the meat is already at temperature, and the calculator does not use them. The holds it uses, from the two sources below, are longer at each of those four temperatures. The calculator's minimum also includes the time for the center of the piece to get there, which is why it depends on thickness. For a breast 1 in thick the minimum is 2 hr at 140°F (60°C), 1 hr 30 min at 145°F (62.8°C) and 1 hr 15 min at 150°F (65.6°C).

The poultry times come from two sources: Table 4.1 in Baldwin's guide and, from 136°F (57.8°C) up, the USDA FSIS poultry tables for 12 percent fat. Baldwin's table is built for at least a one million to one reduction in Listeria and a ten million to one reduction in Salmonella. The FSIS tables are part of the agency's cooking guideline for meat and poultry products.

Color does not show whether chicken is safe. USDA FSIS says in Chicken from Farm to Table that the color of cooked chicken is not a sign of its safety, and that safely cooked chicken can still be pink.

How to read the charts

Measure the thickest piece through its thickest part, including any bone. Arrange the pieces in a single layer. If they overlap, measure the whole stack.

Minimum time is never shorter than the time needed to pasteurize that thickness. On thighs and wings up to 0.75 in (1.9 cm) thick it is a 1 hr floor for texture, and the meat is pasteurized sooner. Best window runs from the minimum to one hour later, except on the long thigh and drumstick setting. Do not exceed is a texture limit: on every recommended row the chicken is pasteurized at the minimum time, and extra time at 131°F (55°C) and above makes it softer but does not make it unsafe.

From frozen is the minimum for pieces that go into the bath frozen. The frozen pasteurization allowance is the calculator's own rule, because no published table covers pasteurizing from frozen. The guide to cooking from frozen explains the method.

In the doneness tables for thighs and drumsticks, a time marked by thickness is the shortest and the longest minimum time across the thicknesses in the time table. A time with no mark is the minimum and the maximum for that setting. The times in those tables are for pieces straight from the refrigerator, not frozen. From frozen the long cook of a thick piece takes longer.

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.

Pasteurization in general is the subject of the sous vide safety guide. Pork chops, loin and tenderloin follow the same rule of holding a lower temperature for the full time, and they are in the pork temperature chart.