Sous Vide Temperature Guide: Steak, Chicken, Eggs & More

How to read this guide

Sous vide works by holding food at the exact temperature you want the finished result to be, so the temperature you set is the doneness. That is the whole appeal — but it also means the number matters, and it means food safety depends on time as well as temperature. The ranges below are the doneness temperatures home cooks commonly use; treat them as a starting reference, set your circulator precisely, and read the safety note before you cook poultry or anything at the lower end. When in doubt, cook hotter or hold longer.

Steak and red meat (beef, lamb)

Common doneness targets, held until heated through (roughly an hour for a steak, longer for a thick roast), then seared hard in a hot pan or with a torch:

Rare: about 120–128°F (49–53°C)
Medium-rare: about 129–134°F (54–57°C) — the most popular target
Medium: about 135–144°F (57–62°C)
Medium-well to well: about 145–155°F (63–68°C)

The USDA's recommended safe minimum for whole beef and lamb steaks and roasts is 145°F with a rest; below that, safety comes from holding the food long enough at temperature to pasteurize it, which is the principle sous vide is built on — see the safety note below.

Chicken and poultry

Sous vide is transformative for chicken breast because you can hold it juicy at a temperature well below the oven-roast result — but poultry is exactly where the time-and-temperature safety rule matters most:

Very juicy, tender breast: about 140–146°F (60–63°C), held long enough to pasteurize
Traditional firm texture: about 150–160°F (65–71°C)
Dark meat / thighs: about 165–175°F (74–79°C) for a fall-apart result

The USDA's recommended safe minimum internal temperature for poultry is 165°F when measured instantly. Cooking below that is safe only if the food is held at temperature long enough to pasteurize; if you are unsure, cook at 165°F.

Pork, fish and eggs

Pork chops / loin: about 135–145°F (57–63°C) for tender and slightly pink; USDA safe minimum is 145°F with a rest
Fish (salmon, etc.): about 120–130°F (49–54°C) for silky to firm — a wide texture range that pan-cooking cannot hit reliably
Eggs: about 145°F (63°C) for a soft, custardy “onsen” egg; higher for firmer — the classic sous vide showpiece, and where tight accuracy pays off most

The safety note: time matters, not just temperature

This is the part a temperature chart alone leaves out. At the lower doneness temperatures above, food is made safe by being held at that temperature long enoughto pasteurize — a function of both temperature and time — not by hitting a number for an instant. The USDA has specific guidance on cooking safely with time and temperature; read it before cooking poultry or anything at the low end, and if you are ever unsure, cook to the USDA instant-read minimums (165°F poultry, 145°F beef/pork/fish with a rest). Accurate temperature control is what makes the low-and-slow approach reliable, which is why a machine with a tight, honest accuracy spec — like the Anova or Inkbirdat ±0.1°C — matters more here than anywhere else.

The hardware

The cookers this page is about

The cookers referred to above, with prices pulled live from Amazon and dated on every card. Full rankings live in the roundups linked from this page.

1,100 W
Anova Precision Cooker 3.0 (WiFi), 1100 W
The sous vide circulator most people should buy. Anova publishes the full specification — 1,100 W, a 0–92°C range, ±0.1°C accuracy, an 8 L/min pump — and backs it with a two-year warranty, the longest here. It has an on-device screen so it works without the app, which the Joule does not.
$169.99on Amazon
1,000 W
Inkbird ISV-100W WiFi Sous Vide, 1000 W
The value pick that does not feel like one. Under $100, and Inkbird still publishes the full specification: 1,000 W, a 25–99°C range, ±0.1°C accuracy, 15 L capacity, WiFi and an on-device dot-matrix screen. It undercuts the Anova by more than half and gives up remarkably little on paper.
$76.78on Amazon

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Questions

Frequently asked

What temperature do you sous vide a steak?

For the most popular result, medium-rare, cooks commonly set about 129 to 134°F (54 to 57°C) and hold the steak about an hour before searing. Rare is a few degrees lower, medium a few degrees higher. Set the temperature to the exact doneness you want, since sous vide holds the food at that temperature edge to edge.

Is sous vide chicken at 140°F safe?

It can be, but only if the chicken is held at that temperature long enough to pasteurize — safety at lower temperatures is a function of time and temperature together, not the number alone. The USDA's instant-read safe minimum for poultry is 165°F. If you are unsure how to apply the time-and-temperature approach, cook chicken at 165°F.

Does sous vide accuracy really matter?

More than in any other method, especially for eggs and long low cooks where a degree or two changes the texture and the safety margin. A machine with a tight, published accuracy figure — the Anova and Inkbird both quote ±0.1°C — is worth prioritizing for exactly this reason. Anova vs Inkbird, compared.

Keep reading

Receipts

Sources

We have not tested these machines in a lab and we do not pretend to have. Specifications come from the manufacturer's own published documents; electricity rates come from the US Energy Information Administration; prices come from the live Amazon API. Where a figure is not published, the page says “not published” rather than guessing. Read the full method.