Sous Vide Ribeye: Temperature and Time by Thickness

Sous vide ribeye cooks at 131°F (55°C) for medium-rare. A ribeye 1.5 in (3.8 cm) thick needs at least 2 hr 15 min in the bath, is at its best between 2 hr 15 min and 3 hr 15 min, and should come out by 4 hr.

Ribeye has more fat than other steaks, which affects the temperature you choose and how you sear it. Every time on this page comes from the calculator.

What sets ribeye apart

Ribeye is cut from the rib primal. Wikipedia's entry on the rib eye steak says it is mostly the longissimus dorsi muscle, called the eye, with the spinalis, called the ribeye cap, and the complexus alongside.

The beef industry's cut guide describes ribeye steak as having generous marbling throughout. Its nutrition figures list 10 g of fat in a 3 oz cooked, trimmed serving. The same guide lists 7 g for the tenderloin steak in the filet mignon guide and 6 g for strip steak. The strip is the same longissimus muscle cut from the short loin, and the New York strip guide covers it.

Jason Logsdon of Amazing Food Made Easy describes a good ribeye as full of marbling with no more than one or two large chunks of fat inside.

Ribeye temperature and doneness

The default is 131°F (55°C), medium-rare. The fat softens more at medium-rare and medium than at rare, so the two settings to choose between are 131°F (55°C) and 140°F (60°C).

Why some cooks go higher for ribeye

J. Kenji López-Alt's ribeye recipe for Anova says highly marbled cuts such as a grain-finished Prime ribeye should be cooked a few degrees Fahrenheit higher than leaner steaks, because the fat inside the muscle helps keep them moist. He prefers ribeye medium-rare to medium, around 129 to 135°F (53.9 to 57.2°C).

Logsdon reports the same habit in his ribeye guide: some cooks set the bath 3 to 5 degrees higher for ribeye than for other steaks. He keeps his usual 131°F (55°C) and treats a strong sear as the way to render the fat.

The calculator's settings do not include 135°F (57.2°C). If you want more than 131°F (55°C), the next setting is 140°F (60°C), which gives a ribeye that is pink throughout, firmer and still juicy.

Rare, at 125°F (51.7°C), is bright red and very soft, and it is not pasteurized. At 150°F (65.6°C) the steak is faintly pink, firm and drying out, and at 160°F (71.1°C) it has no pink and is firm and dry. The steak temperature chart shows all five next to the other cuts.

How long to sous vide ribeye, by thickness

Measure through the thickest part of the steak, including the bone if there is one. The calculator covers ribeyes from 0.5 to 2.5 in (1.3 to 6.4 cm).

At 131°F (55°C) the minimum is the heat-through time. A 1 in (2.5 cm) ribeye needs 1 hr 15 min, a 1.5 in ribeye needs 2 hr 15 min and a 2 in (5.1 cm) ribeye needs 3 hr 45 min.

The López-Alt recipe gives 1 to 4 hours for medium-rare steaks 1.5 to 2 in thick. The calculator's minimums at those thicknesses are well above the 1 hour low end because they are built on Douglas Baldwin's heating tables: the center of a thicker steak takes longer to reach the bath temperature. The general steak guide covers how the minimum and maximum are set.

The same recipe says fattier steaks have natural insulation and take slightly longer to reach temperature. The calculator does not add time for fat. Ribeye gets the same times as the general steak setting, so do not cut the minimum short.

Medium ribeye

At 140°F (60°C) a 1 in ribeye needs 1 hr 30 min and a 1.5 in ribeye needs 2 hr 30 min. Both are pasteurized at those times.

Bone-in ribeye

Wikipedia defines the ribeye as a boneless rib steak and describes a tomahawk as a ribeye trimmed to leave at least five inches of rib bone. The López-Alt recipe is written for bone-in or boneless steaks.

The calculator's ribeye setting covers both. Measure through the thickest part, including the bone if there is one, and use that row of the table. Logsdon says a bone or fat cap on one end of a ribeye will not affect the timing of the cook.

Thickness does change the time. A 2 in ribeye at 131°F (55°C) has a minimum of 3 hr 45 min, which is close to the usual 4 hr texture limit, so the maximum shown is the minimum plus 1 hr: 4 hr 45 min. Expect a softer texture than a thinner steak would have.

The minimum for that 2.5 in steak is 6 hr, which is its pasteurization time. For a whole rib roast, use the prime rib guide.

How to sous vide ribeye

1. Heat the bath. Set it to 131°F (55°C), or to 140°F (60°C) for medium.
2. Season and bag. Salt and pepper on all sides, then seal in a single layer with a vacuum sealer or the water displacement method.
3. 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.
4. Dry and sear. Pat the steak dry after the bath and sear it in a very hot skillet or on a hot grill.

Searing a fatty steak

The bath softens the fat but cannot brown it. Baldwin's guide puts good browning at surface temperatures around 300°F (149°C).

The López-Alt recipe sears in a smoking-hot skillet, flipping every 15 to 30 seconds for about a minute and a half, then holds the steak on its edge with tongs for about 45 seconds to brown the edges. Butter is optional. The recipe notes that its milk solids blacken and char.

Logsdon takes a different route for ribeye. He chills the steak in an ice bath for 5 to 10 minutes after the bath, then puts it on a very hot grill. In his account the chilled steak gets a better crust and has more of its fat rendered.

Cooking ribeye from frozen

At 131°F (55°C) a frozen 1 in ribeye needs at least 2 hr. A frozen 1.5 in ribeye needs 3 hr 30 min, with a maximum of 4 hr 30 min. The frozen heat-through time is 1.55 times the thawed time, and the frozen steak guide explains the rule.

Safety

The USDA safe minimum internal temperature for steak 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) a ribeye is heated through at the minimum time but not pasteurized. That is normal for a whole, intact cut of beef cooked to this doneness. To pasteurize a 1.5 in ribeye at this temperature, cook it for at least 3 hr 45 min. A 1 in ribeye needs 3 hr.

Use that longer time, or a higher temperature, when cooking for pregnant women, children under 5, adults 65 and older, or anyone with a weakened immune system. Use it as well if the label says mechanically tenderized or blade tenderized, or the meat has been injected.

At 140°F (60°C) the minimum time already pasteurizes a ribeye 1 in thick or more. That lower temperature pasteurizes the steak only because it is held for the full minimum time shown, so do not shorten it.

Rare is recommended only for a ribeye up to 1.5 in (3.8 cm) thick, and from frozen only up to 1 in. At 1.75 in the center needs 3 hr to warm through, which is longer than the 2 hr 30 min limit for food cooked at 130°F (54.4°C) and below. For a thicker ribeye, choose a temperature of 131°F (55°C) or higher, or use a thinner piece. The sous vide safety guide explains how time and temperature work together.

If the fat is still firm

The fat softens more at medium-rare and medium than at rare. If the fat in a 131°F (55°C) ribeye is firmer than you like, move to 140°F (60°C), brown the edges as well as the faces, or chill the steak before searing as Logsdon does.