Sous Vide Egg Bites in Jars: Temperature and Time

Sous vide egg bites are eggs blended with cheese and cooked in small canning jars. Set the bath to 172°F (77.8°C) and cook 4 oz (125 ml) jars for 1 hour, timed from when the bath is at temperature. The result is fully set, smooth and custardy.

Temperature and time

The calculator has one setting for egg bites.

The USDA safe minimum internal temperature for egg dishes is 160°F (71.1°C). The bath is set above that, the calculator marks the result as pasteurized, and the setting carries no warning. What the pasteurized flag means is explained in is sous vide safe.

The time is for 4 oz (125 ml) canning jars. The calculator gives no time for larger jars and no maximum, because its source gives a single time. A wider jar holds a thicker mass of egg, and the center of a thicker mass takes longer to reach the bath temperature, so the 1 hour figure does not carry over to an 8 oz jar.

If you use a different jar, check the center with a thermometer against that 160°F (71.1°C) minimum.

This temperature is higher than any setting for eggs cooked in the shell. A soft egg in the shell is meant to have a liquid yolk, and the guide to sous vide eggs covers those lower temperatures. An egg bite has to set all the way through so it holds its shape out of the jar.

A base mixture

The calculator sets the temperature and time and does not give a recipe. For proportions, here is what two published recipes use.

Anova's egg bite recipe, by Nicole Poirier, fills six 4 oz (125 ml) jars and cooks them at the same 172°F (77.8°C) for 1 hour:

That works out to one egg per jar. The eggs, cheeses and salt are blended until smooth, and the bacon goes into the bottom of each jar before the mixture is poured in.

Cook's Illustrated uses a different dairy. Its egg bite recipe is baked in a muffin tin set in a water bath, so its oven time does not apply here, but its ratio is about 1 ounce of cottage cheese per egg.

The same article explains what the cheese does. The curds get between the egg proteins and keep them from bonding tightly, which gives a tender texture.

Cook's Illustrated blends the cottage cheese with one egg and whisks in the rest by hand to limit the air in the mixture.

Add-ins

The bacon in Anova's recipe is cooked before it goes into the jar. If you cook it in the bath, the sous vide bacon guide gives a lower temperature and a much longer time, so it has to be done ahead.

Vegetables also need cooking first. The vegetable settings in the calculator use 183°F (83.9°C), which is hotter than the egg bite bath, and the vegetables chart lists the time for each one.

Jars and lids

Use 4 oz (125 ml) canning jars with two-piece lids, which is what Anova's recipe specifies and what the calculator's time is for.

Lids. The calculator's note says to close the lids only fingertip tight so air can escape, and that lids that are too tight can crack the jars. Anova's tips for cooking in canning jars describe fingertip tight as turning the band just until you feel resistance.

The National Center for Home Food Preservation describes the same trade-off for canning. In its guidance on jars and lids, bands that are too loose let liquid escape, and bands that are too tight stop air from venting, which can buckle lids and break jars.

Headspace. Glass does not stretch the way a bag does. Anova's tips call for at least 1/2 in to 1 in (1.3 to 2.5 cm) of space at the top of the jar for recipes that are not batters or grains.

Water level. The jars sit under the water. Anova's tips say to watch the water line during the cook.

Jars replace the bag for this food, so there is no air to push out as there is with the water displacement method. The air left in the headspace leaves through the lid as the jar heats.

Glass safety

Besides the lids, the calculator has one more note about the glass.

Anova's tips give the same advice: add the jars early while the bath heats, and keep the ingredients at room temperature or warmer.

The hour starts when the bath is at 172°F (77.8°C). If the jars go in while the bath heats, start timing once it reaches that temperature.

The last sentence of the note applies after the cook. Do not move hot jars into an ice bath or under a cold tap. Let them cool in the air first.

How to make egg bites in jars

1. Blend the base. Blend the eggs, cheese and salt until smooth.
2. Fill the jars. Put any cooked add-ins in the bottom of each jar and pour the mixture over them. Leave the headspace described above.
3. Close the lids fingertip tight. Turn the band until you feel resistance and stop.
4. Put the jars into the bath while it heats. Set the circulator to 172°F (77.8°C). The water should cover the jars.
5. Cook for 1 hour from the time the bath reaches temperature.
6. Lift the jars out with tongs and set them down to cool in the air.
7. Serve. Eat them from the jar, or run a butter knife around the edge to turn them out. Anova's recipe browns the turned-out bites with a torch or under the broiler.

A multicooker can stand in for a circulator if it holds this temperature. The Instant Pot sous vide guide covers which models have a Sous Vide program and their limits against a circulator.

Storing and reheating

Treat egg bites as a cooked egg dish and keep them in the refrigerator.

The FDA's egg safety page gives three rules that apply:

• Do not leave cooked egg dishes out of the refrigerator for more than 2 hours, or more than 1 hour when it is above 90°F (32°C).
• Refrigerate leftover cooked egg dishes and use them within 3 to 4 days.
• Reheat egg dishes that were refrigerated for later to 165°F (73.9°C) before serving.

For its baked version, Cook's Illustrated gives 3 days in the refrigerator or 1 month in the freezer, and reheats in the microwave.

A jar straight from the refrigerator is cold glass, so the calculator's note about sudden temperature changes applies to reheating too. Turn the egg bite out of the jar and reheat it on a plate. The sous vide meal prep guide covers cooking ahead and chilling for other foods.

Common problems

A jar cracked. The calculator's notes name two causes: a lid that is too tight, and a sudden change in temperature. Loosen the lids to fingertip tight and start the jars in a bath that is still heating.

Water got into the jar. The lid may have been too loose. Anova's tips note that a fingertip tight band lets air out and still keeps water from seeping in.

The center is soft. Check two things: whether the jar is larger than 4 oz (125 ml), and whether the timer started before the bath reached 172°F (77.8°C).

The texture is firm instead of custardy. Check the dairy. Both recipes above blend cheese into the eggs, and Cook's Illustrated attributes the tender texture to the cheese interrupting the egg proteins.