Sous Vide From Frozen: Times, Rules and Limits

Most meat, poultry and fish can go into a sous vide bath straight from the freezer. The food needs more time: the calculator multiplies the heat-through time by 1.55 and lengthens the pasteurization time to match. A frozen chicken breast 1.5 in (3.8 cm) thick at 145°F (62.8°C) needs at least 4 hr 15 min, against 2 hr 30 min from the refrigerator.

The calculator tells you to thaw vegetables, fully cooked ham and lobster tail first. It also marks some thick frozen pieces as not recommended at lower temperatures.

Which foods the calculator cooks from frozen

Tick "Cooking from frozen" in the calculator and it either returns a longer time or tells you to thaw the food first.

The lobster times are for thawed tail meat out of the shell, as the lobster tail guide explains. The vegetable times in the vegetables chart are for food that is not frozen.

For food that has to be thawed, FoodSafety.gov says the safest place to thaw meat, poultry and seafood is the refrigerator, and that food should never be thawed on the counter.

The extra-time rule and where it comes from

The calculator applies a different rule to each kind of time.

Heat-through time. From frozen it is 1.55 times the thawed time, and never less than the frozen heating table in Douglas Baldwin's guide to sous vide cooking. Across slabs, cylinders and spheres its values average 1.51 times the calculator's thawed times, with a range of 1.41 to 1.63.

Pasteurization time. From frozen it is the thawed pasteurization time plus 0.55 times the heat-through time. This allowance is the calculator's own rule. No published table covers pasteurizing from frozen. Baldwin's caption for the frozen heating table says not to use those times to compute pasteurization, and his pasteurization tables are for food that starts at 41°F (5°C).

Tough cuts. These cook for many hours to tenderize, and thickness is not an input. The calculator adds 0.55 times the heating time of the thickest piece it covers to the whole range. That is 3 hr 30 min for pork shoulder at 165°F (73.9°C), which moves the range from 18 to 24 hr up to 21 hr 30 min to 27 hr 30 min. For bacon it is 45 min.

Fish and shellfish. Fish settings that do not pasteurize use the thawed time multiplied by 1.55. A 1 in (2.5 cm) salmon fillet at 120°F (48.9°C) goes from 45 min to 1 hr 10 min, and its maximum from 1 hr to 1 hr 25 min. Shrimp get 10 min added.

Other sources use simpler rules. Anova's frozen meal prep post says to extend the cooking time by half. Steve Dunn at America's Test Kitchen increases a recipe's minimum time by 25 percent, after frozen 1.5 in steaks took 10 percent longer to reach 130°F (54.4°C) in his test.

The calculator's factor of 1.55 is close to Anova's and larger than Dunn's, and it applies to the heat-through time for the thickness you enter.

Sous vide frozen chicken breast

The default chicken breast setting is 145°F (62.8°C). From frozen:

A frozen 1 in breast needs at least 2 hr 30 min. A frozen 1.5 in breast needs 4 hr 15 min, with a maximum of 5 hr 15 min.

The minimum time covers pasteurization for this temperature and thickness, so do not shorten it. The USDA safe minimum internal temperature for chicken is 165°F (73.9°C), which is a single reading with no hold time. The lower bath temperature pasteurizes the chicken only because it is held for the full minimum time.

The frozen 1.5 in minimum is past the usual 4 hr texture limit for chicken breast, so the maximum is the minimum plus 1 hr. Expect a softer texture than a thinner piece would have. The chicken breast guide has the thawed times and the other doneness settings.

Sous vide frozen steak

Medium-rare steak at 131°F (55°C), from frozen:

A frozen 1 in steak needs at least 2 hr. A frozen 1.5 in steak needs 3 hr 30 min, with a maximum of 4 hr 30 min.

The three thickest rows need attention:

• 1.5 in. At the minimum time the steak is heated through but not pasteurized, which is normal for a whole, intact cut of beef cooked to this doneness. Pasteurizing it takes 4 hr 45 min, longer than the 4 hr 30 min maximum for texture. When cooking for pregnant women, children under 5, adults 65 and older, or anyone with a weakened immune system, choose a higher temperature.
• 2 in (5.1 cm) and 2.5 in (6.4 cm). Not recommended from frozen at this temperature. The section on thick pieces below explains why.

The frozen steak guide goes through the other doneness settings and the sear.

Sous vide frozen pork chops

Medium pork chops at 140°F (60°C), from frozen:

A frozen 1 in chop needs at least 2 hr 30 min, and a frozen 1.5 in chop needs 4 hr. The minimum covers pasteurization, as it does for every pork setting. The pork chops guide has the thawed times.

Thick frozen pieces the calculator does not recommend

The calculator checks how long the center takes to reach 130°F (54.4°C). The limit is 6 hours, which is the figure in Baldwin's guide: the center of the food should reach 130°F (54.4°C) within 6 hours.

A frozen piece starts colder and has to thaw before it warms, so it reaches that limit at a smaller thickness than a chilled piece. The check uses a cautious estimate that allows for a dense or unevenly shaped piece. When that estimate is over 6 hours, the result is marked "Not recommended". The warning says to thaw the food first or cut it into thinner pieces. It adds a higher temperature only when a hotter setting of the same food is recommended at that thickness from frozen. A result that is not recommended is never reported as pasteurized.

From frozen, the thickest flat piece that passes the check is 1.75 in (4.4 cm) at 131°F (55°C), 2.25 in (5.7 cm) at 135°F (57.2°C) and 2.5 in (6.4 cm) at 140°F (60°C). For a roast measured across its diameter it is 2 in at 131°F (55°C), 2.5 in at 135°F (57.2°C) and 3 in (7.6 cm) at 140°F (60°C).

Frozen results the calculator marks as not recommended include:

• A steak, tri-tip or lamb chop 2 in or thicker at 131°F (55°C). Tri-tip defaults to 2 in, so thaw it or choose a higher temperature.
• A 2.5 in pork chop at 135°F (57.2°C).
• A 3.5 in (8.9 cm) pork loin roast at 140°F (60°C) and a 3.5 in turkey breast at 145°F (62.8°C).
• Short ribs and chuck roast at 131°F (55°C), and brisket and corned beef at 135°F (57.2°C). For these tough cuts the warning says only to thaw the meat first, and the size line under the minimum time reads "Thaw first". A note gives the size the setting covers once the meat is thawed, which is 2.25 in (5.7 cm) for short ribs. At 140°F (60°C) frozen short ribs are recommended, and the short ribs guide has those settings. The corned beef guide covers its 150°F (65.6°C) setting, which can be cooked from frozen.

Rare settings have a second limit. At 130°F (54.4°C) and below, a result whose minimum is over 2 hr 30 min is not recommended. At 125°F (51.7°C) a frozen 1 in steak needs 2 hr and has a maximum of 2 hr 30 min. A frozen 1.25 in (3.2 cm) steak needs 2 hr 45 min, so it and every thicker frozen rare steak is not recommended. The warning says to choose 131°F (55°C) or higher, thaw the food first, or use a thinner piece.

The sous vide safety explainer covers why the time at 130°F (54.4°C) and below is limited.

Freezing food flat

The frozen times assume the piece has the thickness you entered. Freeze food in a single flat layer so the thickness is the same as when thawed.

1. Season and bag before freezing. Dunn's article adds the oil, butter, herbs or spices a recipe calls for when the steaks are sealed for freezing, so the bag goes from the freezer to the bath without being opened.
2. Remove the air. Use a vacuum sealer or the water displacement method. Anova's post notes that a vacuum seal makes an airtight barrier against freezer burn.
3. Keep pieces side by side. Two chops frozen on top of each other heat as one piece twice as thick. If pieces overlap, measure the whole stack.
4. Measure and label. Measure the thickness before freezing. Anova's post says to write the dish and the preparation date on the bag, and the thickness belongs there too.

FoodSafety.gov's cold storage chart says frozen food kept continuously at 0°F (-18°C) or below can be kept indefinitely, and that its freezer times are for quality only.

The meal prep guide covers freezing food that is already cooked.