First adventure with Sous Vide.....

Since the meat is well below what is considered a safe storage or cooking temperature, it's just sitting there for hours growing bacteria. Why would I want to eat that?

I took the meats temperature and it was 145 which was suppose to be safe . I tasted it and it was fine just a little underseasoned/ I'm going to up the temp and leave it in another hour and fridge it for tomorrow. I'm planning to use it for sandwiches...I think it will be fine.

First, 140F is the minimum safe holding temperature for food, as per the FDA.

Second, and far more important when talking about low-temperature cooking/immersion circulation, food safety is a function of both temperature and time.

Above about 125F bacteria don't grow but begin to die off; the higher the temperature the faster they perish. The issue with cooking, say, chicken breast (the "dirtiest" meat and the one that needs the most cooking) at a temp below 165F is the time the food is held at the target temperature. At 165F, harmful bacteria are instantly killed - that's why the FDA recommends it for chicken, there's no further thought or effort required. Hit temp, boom, instant pasteurization.

When I sous vide chicken breast, I do it at 142F; after 90 minutes in the bath to make sure it's spent a half hour at temp it's as safe as cooked to 165F. The meat is definitely quite different than cooked hotter, it has lost all the pink but it's barely firmed up and has kept almost all it's moisture. A lot of people are thoroughly squicked out by it; it definitely seems undercooked if you're used to well-done meat, the same with pork - and that's a perfectly fine reason not to like sous vide, but safety is absolutely no reason to not try it.

https://www.seriouseats.com/2015/07/the-food-lab-complete-guide-to-sous-vide-chicken-breast.html

https://www.fsis.usda.gov/wps/wcm/connect/bf3f01a1-a0b7-4902-a2df-a87c73d1b633/Salmonella-Compliance-Guideline-SVSP-RTE-Appendix-A.pdf (chicken guidelines on page 34)

That 145 sounds right, but the 8 hrs. sounds like it's too much. Sous Vide is very forgiving about the time - I would double check pork loin on the internet in regard to cooking time. You are going to have to brown or sear the meat after taking it out of the water bath.

BTW - An instant pot with a sous vide setting? News to me.

I've cooked steaks, pork, turkey, chicken strips, various veggies and have yet to be disappointed.

flavor and also get it hot before starting. any bacteria would be on the outside, so safer, too.

Sealing it with various herbs, if desired, and then water-bathing it at temp/time will kill any bacteria. Recommend meat be at room temp before cooking also - never but frozen meat in the bag.

If seared before hand, expect the surface to be moist and damp - cook and then sear .

145º? I have used a remote temp probe in the water to verify. YMMV
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Assuming you leave the meat in long enough, it'll be the temperature of the water. There are fairly elaborate probe thermometer setups that can be used with sealed bags, but that's more for commerical operations where you need to be able to formally record and certify the internal temperature of the meat.

of an electrical project than I wanted. Plus it did not circulate the water. I got a top rated device for about $100 that fits my bill. I also use it to make yoghurt. I use it infrequently. Again more of a pain. I mainly experimented with fish. NOw I just steam it in 4-5 min with herbs and spices. Job done, happy days... YMMV
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I wouldn’t do a steak any other way. I’ve seen that InstantPot now has a sous vide option, but I use a circulator, which cost well under $100.

I'm doing them next week. I think I will shoot for rare as I'll be searing them afterwards...or do you sear first? I've seen both options.

I set the temperature at 135 and plunk the steaks in zipper bags into the bath. Then I ignore them for a couple of hours or three or four. When we’re ready to eat, I take them out of the bath and give them a quick sear in a hot cast-iron pan. Perfect every time.

It brings the water to the set temp and holds it at that temp for whatever time you set. It does not have a circulate function so I just turned the bag a few times in the process. I started out with warm water and then temped with my instant read thermometer before and during the cooking. The instant pot held the temp perfectly.

I will be trying steaks next week. The pork I cooked came out just fine though I did add too big of a branch of rosemary which threw the seasoning off a bit. But that's on me, not the pot

I will be playing more with this in the future.

I am still mulling over whether to get one. I'm tired of overcooked, dry meat.

We use the sous-vide function on the Instant Pot to do the main cooking, then sear it either in the oven or in a hot pan after to get that brown color on the outside. I suspect what's happening is that the sous-vide process doesn't involve any sort of Maillard reaction, which is where the outside browning comes from.