As you are not proposing to hold the product (chilled) for more than 10 days, I don't think Clostridium botulinum would be an issue, however, products which are cooked sous vide and kept for more than 10 days are cooked in a manner to reach 90 degrees core for 10 minutes to kill of Clostridium spores. Unless you have a retort, I wouldn't bother trying!
As it's for a sensitive group, I would definitely make some microbiological testing part of your design process. I also disagree that sous vide is the safest way. I would suggest the safest method of cooking would be to cook from scratch, reach a high temperature and serve immediately. Any cook / cool process can introduce a risk as you go through the micro "danger zone" more times.
Sous vide is a method of cooking that is intended to maintain and improve the integrity of ingredients by heating them for an extended period at relatively low temperatures. Some cuts of meat do benefit greatly from very long (48 to 72 hours) sous vide cooking at 55 °C. Food is cooked for a long time, sometimes well over 24 hours.
Sous-vide cooking uses airtight plastic bags placed in hot water well below boiling point (usually around 60°C).
Clostridium botulinum bacteria can grow in food in the absence of oxygen and produce the deadly botulinum toxin, so sous-vide cooking must be performed under carefully controlled conditions to avoid botulism poisoning.
Generally speaking, food that is heated and served within four hours is considered safe, while meat that is cooked for a longer period of time to tenderise it must reach a temperature of at least 55° C within four hours, and then kept there, in order to pasteurize the meat. Once pasteurized, the botulism bacteria is killed, but the possibility of botulism spores remains a concern. Which is why one would normally specify precise chilling requirements for "cook-chill", so that the botulism spores do not have the opportunity to grow or propagate.
Sous vide is used for cooking when food
quality is of the utmost importance. If food safety is of the utmost importance then pasteurisation (legal requirement of 72 ° C for 15 seconds or equivalent) should be used as a minimum with rapid or blast cooling as GMO has indicated.
Regards,
Tony
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