Sous-Vide Pasteurization Time
Come-up + hold time from thickness, bath temp, and food category (poultry / pork / beef / fish / egg).
Example
You enter
- Food category poultry
- Thickness (in; full slab, not half) 1
- Bath temperature (°F) 140
- Initial food temperature (F; must be below bath; come-up time assumes a refrigerated start) 38
You get
- Come-up time (min) 7.7
- Hold time at bath temp (min) 6
- Total time (min) 13.7
Details, formula, and sources
FDA Annex 6 6.5-log Salmonella reduction. Simplified screen; not a HACCP plan.
come_up_seconds = 0.4 * L_m^2 / alpha (Heisler-chart slab approximation at Fo ~ 0.4). hold_minutes from linear interpolation of FDA Food Code Annex 6 Table A at the bath temperature. total = come_up + hold.
FDA Food Code Annex 6 Table A (6.5-log Salmonella reduction). Heisler-chart thermal-diffusion approximation.
fda.gov (Food, Retail Food Protection, FDA Food Code).
The thermometer on the food is the verdict. Local health department governs.
Field names used by the API: category, thickness_in, bath_temperature_F, initial_temperature_F, come_up_minutes, hold_minutes, total_minutes
- Diffusivity values poultry / pork 1.4e-7; beef 1.3e-7; fish 1.45e-7; egg 1.4e-7 (m^2/s)public engineering references (Baldwin)
- Slab model half-thickness L = thickness / 2 (heat from both sides)engineering practice for sous-vide bag in bath
- Hold-time interpolation linear between bundled Annex 6 break points 130-147 FFDA Food Code Annex 6 Table A
- Limitation this is a screen, not a HACCP planspec-v10 §B.3 simplified-screening invariant