Sous Vide Vegetables Chart: Times and Temperatures

Sous vide vegetables cook at 183°F (83.9°C). Every vegetable in the calculator uses that one bath temperature. Asparagus is ready in 10 to 30 minutes, and potato pieces of 1 to 2 in (2.5 to 5.1 cm) take 1 to 2 hours.

The chart lists the minimum time and the best window for each vegetable. Every number is the calculator's own output.

Sous vide vegetables chart

Thickness is not an input for vegetables in the calculator. Each vegetable has a time range for the size shown, and smaller pieces finish toward the short end.

The calculator sets no maximum for vegetables. Its note is that the upper time is a texture guide, not a limit, and that longer cooking only makes the food softer.

The tables below add the texture each setting produces.

Root vegetables

Potatoes have two settings by size: pieces up to 1 in (2.5 cm), and pieces of 1 to 2 in or small whole potatoes. Sweet potatoes use the same two sizes. The calculator labels them small pieces, and large pieces or small whole. Its note on the smaller setting of both vegetables is to cut them into even pieces so they cook at the same rate.

The potato guide covers waxy and starchy varieties and how to roast, smash or mash them after the bath. The carrot guide covers glazing carrots in the liquid left in the bag.

The carrot time is for whole baby carrots or 1 in chunks. The beet time is for small whole beets or even wedges, and the calculator's note is to peel large beets and cut them into wedges before bagging.

Green vegetables

Asparagus has the shortest time on the chart. Thin spears are done at the short end of the range and thick spears need the long end. The asparagus guide covers thin and thick spears and how to keep the color.

Cut broccoli into even florets. Trim the ends of green beans and lay them in a single layer.

Green vegetables lose their color if they are cooked too long or with acid. The University of Illinois Extension's handout on cooking vegetables says acids and prolonged heat turn chlorophyll into pheophytin, which is olive green instead of bright green. Take green vegetables out within the best window, and add lemon juice or vinegar after the bath.

Corn on the cob

The time is for whole ears. The calculator's note is that corn turns soft after about an hour at this temperature. The corn on the cob guide covers butter in the bag and finishing on a grill.

Why vegetables need a much hotter bath than meat

A medium-rare steak cooks at 131°F (55°C) and a chicken breast at 145°F (62.8°C). Vegetables cook at 183°F (83.9°C). The gap comes from what holds a vegetable together.

Douglas Baldwin's review of sous vide cooking explains that sous vide leaves the cell walls of a vegetable mostly intact. The vegetable turns tender because heat dissolves some of the material that cements the cells together, and that material starts to dissolve around 180 to 185°F (82 to 85°C). In starchy vegetables the starch granules also gelatinize, which changes the texture further.

Anova's vegetable guide names the cementing material as pectin and describes it as "a kind of glue that holds its cells together." It gives 183°F (83.9°C) as the temperature below which pectin does not break down.

More time at a lower temperature does not make up the difference. Jason Logsdon of Amazing Food Made Easy held carrots at 150°F (65.6°C) for 7 hours and reports that they were still very crunchy and tasted almost raw.

For the same reason, vegetables and meat cannot share a bath. Baldwin's guide to sous vide cooking says carrots, onions and celery sealed in a bag with meat do not soften as they do in conventional cooking, because the temperature is too low to soften their starches and cell walls. Cook the vegetables separately. Apart from the temperature, the steps are the same as for meat, and how to sous vide goes through them. The time and temperature chart lists the meat settings next to the vegetable settings.

Cut size

The time ranges assume pieces of a similar size. Heat travels from the surface of each piece to its center, so a large piece takes longer than a small one, and a bag of mixed sizes finishes unevenly.

Anova's guide states the rule directly: the smaller the vegetables, the faster they cook. It suggests cooking vegetables in the shape you plan to serve, which means dicing root vegetables and cutting broccoli into florets before they go in the bag.

Logsdon typically cuts vegetables into cubes or rounds of 1/2 to 1 in (1.3 to 2.5 cm) and bags them in a single layer.

Use the chart this way:

• Small pieces and thin vegetables: start checking at the minimum time.
• Thick pieces: plan on the long end of the best window.
• Potato and sweet potato pieces over 1 in, and small whole ones: use the second setting, which runs longer.

Keep the pieces in a single layer in the bag. Anova's guide says the more tightly the vegetables fit in one layer, the better.

Keeping bags submerged

The calculator's note for every vegetable is that bags tend to float at this temperature and need to be weighed down.

Baldwin's guide gives the cause. At higher cooking temperatures the pouches often balloon with water vapor, and he holds them under the water with a wire rack. He also says pouches must be completely submerged, and not tightly arranged or overlapping, to prevent undercooking.

America's Test Kitchen's butter-poached corn recipe notes that corn tends to float in a water bath, which leads to uneven cooking. The recipe weights the bag and double bags the corn to protect against a failed seam.

Three things keep a bag under the water:

1. Remove as much air as possible. A vacuum sealer does this. With a zipper-lock bag, use the water displacement method.
2. Add a weight. Anova's guide suggests a weight inside the bag or clipped to the outside, or a pot lid rack placed on top.
3. Check the seal. Anova's guide warns that zipper-lock seals can break at these temperatures and recommends vacuum-seal bags, which are rated for higher heat.

Finishing

Vegetables can be served straight from the bag. Logsdon takes them out of the pouch, pats them dry and uses them as he would any cooked vegetable.

Anova's guide adds fat to the bag with vegetables, either butter or oil, along with salt. For browning after the bath it uses a heavy skillet with 1 tablespoon of oil or butter over medium-high heat and cooks the vegetables for 3 to 5 minutes, stirring often. On a grill it gives 45 seconds to 1 minute per side over the hot side.

The calculator's note for carrots is to glaze them in a skillet with the bag juices after the bath.

Frozen vegetables and safety

The calculator's vegetable times are for food that is not frozen. Its instruction is to thaw the vegetables first. The guide to cooking from frozen covers the foods that can go into the bath straight from the freezer.

The calculator lists no safety warnings for these eight vegetables. It does not apply a pasteurization table to them, and it shows the pasteurization status as not applicable. The limits that apply to meat, poultry and fish are explained in is sous vide safe.