Sous Vide Pork Tenderloin: Temperature and Time

Sous vide pork tenderloin cooks at 140°F (60°C) for medium: firm but still tender, and moderately juicy. A tenderloin 2 in (5.1 cm) thick needs at least 2 hr 45 min in the bath, is at its best between 2 hr 45 min and 3 hr 45 min, and should come out by 4 hr.

The time depends on how thick the tenderloin is at its thickest point, not on its weight. Every time on this page comes from the calculator.

Pork tenderloin temperature and doneness

The bath temperature sets the doneness. The tenderloin heats to the temperature of the water and stops there.

The default is 140°F (60°C). Choose 135°F (57.2°C) for a rosy pink, softer and juicier result. Choose 150°F (65.6°C) for a fully firm, moderately juicy texture. At 160°F (71.1°C) the tenderloin is dry, with a firm and tacky texture.

Tenderloin is very lean, so the lower temperatures stay juicier. The National Pork Board describes the cut as just as lean as boneless, skinless chicken breast.

The reason heat dries it out is water loss from the muscle. Douglas Baldwin's guide to sous vide cooking explains that above 140 to 150°F (60 to 66°C) muscle fibers shrink along their length and lose a substantial amount of water.

J. Kenji López-Alt's pork tenderloin recipe for Anova starts its chart at 130°F (54.4°C). That is below 131°F (55°C), the lowest temperature in the pasteurization tables this calculator uses, so a 130°F (54.4°C) bath is not pasteurizing. The calculator requires pork to be pasteurized, and its lowest tenderloin setting is 135°F (57.2°C). The pork temperature chart shows how tenderloin compares with the other pork cuts.

How long to sous vide pork tenderloin, by thickness

A tenderloin is close to a cylinder, and the calculator times it as one. Measure straight through the center of the tenderloin at its thickest point. The thin tail reaches the bath temperature sooner and holds there, so the thick end sets the time.

If the tenderloin 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 pork chops setting with its thickness. The beef tenderloin guide uses the same measurement through the center for the beef cut of the same name.

The minimum is the longer of two times: the time for the center to come within 1°F (0.5°C) of the bath, and the time to pasteurize a piece of that thickness. At 140°F (60°C) the center of a 2 in tenderloin reaches the bath temperature at 2 hr, and the meat is pasteurized after 2 hr 45 min, so the minimum is 2 hr 45 min.

Published recipe times differ. The López-Alt recipe says at least 45 minutes and up to 4 hours. Jason Logsdon of Amazing Food Made Easy uses 3 to 4 hours at 140°F (60°C). The calculator gives one minimum for each thickness because a thicker tenderloin takes longer for its center to heat and pasteurize.

Medium-rare tenderloin

Pasteurization is slower at 135°F (57.2°C). A 2 in tenderloin needs at least 3 hr 30 min, and the maximum moves to 4 hr 30 min.

At 150°F (65.6°C) and 160°F (71.1°C) the minimums are shorter: 1 hr 30 min for 1.5 in (3.8 cm) and 2 hr 15 min for 2 in.

Thick tenderloins

At 140°F (60°C) a 2.5 in (6.4 cm) tenderloin needs 3 hr 45 min and a 3 in (7.6 cm) tenderloin needs 4 hr 45 min.

Those minimums are close to or past the usual 4 hr texture limit, so the calculator sets the maximum at the minimum plus 1 hr: 4 hr 45 min and 5 hr 45 min. Expect a softer texture than a thinner tenderloin would have.

The calculator covers tenderloins from 1 to 3 in (2.5 to 7.6 cm) thick. A thin tenderloin of 1 in (2.5 cm) needs 1 hr 30 min at 140°F (60°C).

Pork tenderloin vs pork loin

These are two different cuts with similar names.

Food Network's comparison describes the tenderloin as a long, lean cut that runs along the backbone and usually weighs about 1 pound. It describes the loin as a wide cut from the pig's back that weighs 2 to 5 pounds, is covered in a layer of fat and is sold with or without bones. It also states that the two cannot be swapped in a recipe.

For sous vide the difference that matters is thickness. At 140°F (60°C) a 2 in tenderloin needs 2 hr 45 min. A loin roast 3.5 in (8.9 cm) across needs 6 hr, as the pork loin guide explains.

Pork chops are slices of the loin, not the tenderloin. They cook as flat slabs, and the pork chops guide has their times by thickness.

How to sous vide pork tenderloin

1. Heat the bath. Set it to 140°F (60°C), or to the temperature you chose above.
2. Trim the silverskin. This is the thin membrane on the surface. Food Network says it should be trimmed, and Logsdon notes it will not break down at these temperatures.
3. Season. Salt and pepper on all sides. The López-Alt recipe adds herbs, garlic or shallots to the bag as an option.
4. Bag it. Use a vacuum sealer, or a zipper-lock bag sealed with the water displacement method. If the tenderloin is too long for the bag, cut it in half across. The thickness is unchanged, so the time is too.
5. Cook for the time that matches the thickness. 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. Two tenderloins go side by side, not stacked, and the thicker one sets the time.
6. Dry it. Take the tenderloin out of the bag and pat it dry with paper towels.
7. Sear. The López-Alt recipe heats 1 tablespoon of oil in a skillet over high heat and browns the tenderloin for about 2 minutes in total, turning it occasionally. It then adds 1 tablespoon of butter and spoons it over the meat for about 45 seconds.
8. Slice and serve.

The sear is there because the bath cannot brown anything. Baldwin's guide says the browning reaction becomes noticeable around 265°F (129°C) and gives good browning around 300°F (149°C), far above any bath temperature.

Cooking pork tenderloin from frozen

A frozen tenderloin goes straight into the bath and stays longer. At 140°F (60°C) the minimums are 3 hr 15 min for 1.5 in, 4 hr 45 min for 2 in, 6 hr 45 min for 2.5 in and 9 hr for 3 in. The right-hand column of the tables above has the frozen minimum for each thickness.

The frozen heat-through time is 1.55 times the thawed time, and the pasteurization time is longer by a matching allowance. That allowance is this calculator's own rule, because no published table covers pasteurizing from frozen. The guide to cooking from frozen explains the method for other foods.

Is pork tenderloin safe at 140°F?

The USDA safe minimum internal temperature for pork is 145°F (62.8°C) followed by a 3 minute rest, as listed on FoodSafety.gov.

The 135°F (57.2°C) and 140°F (60°C) settings are below that. These lower temperatures pasteurize the tenderloin only because it is held for the full minimum time shown, so do not shorten it.

The maximum is a texture limit. The tenderloin 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. The sous vide safety guide explains how time and temperature work together.

Common problems

The tenderloin is dry. The bath was too hot for the texture you wanted. At 160°F (71.1°C) the result is dry with a firm, tacky texture. Drop to 140°F (60°C) or 135°F (57.2°C).

The tenderloin is soft or mushy. It stayed in too long. Baldwin's guide notes that meat continues to soften in the bath and may become mushy if held for too long. Logsdon describes the change as a gradual slope and not a sudden failure at a set time.

There is a chewy strip on the outside. That is silverskin that was left on. Trim it before bagging.

If you cook tenderloin ahead for the week, the meal prep guide covers chilling and reheating it in the bag.