Do I have to rapidly chill meat before placing in the fridge?

I did some more research on sous vide leftovers and the main consideration is whether or not it's still in the bag. The danger with sous vide food being held in the danger zone is that the bag creates and anaerobic environment where the bacteria can thrive.

Once you take the food out of the bag it removes this environment and any sous vide specific safety concerns. You then just have to worry about normal food safety with leftovers.

I hope this helps with the question about sous vide leftovers.

Then why don't I have to rapidly chill the leftover steak I cooked for 15 minutes on the grill to medium rare before putting in the fridge?

I know Baldwin says to rapidly chill, but why? Both my sous vide steak and grilled steak are cooked to the same internal temp.

The answer to the question depends on if the food is still in the bag or not. If the food is being kept under vacuum in the bag then it needs to be chilled in an ice bath to prevent anaerobic bacteria from multiplying to dangerous levels. If the food is out of the bag then it is normal leftovers and can be treated as such.

I think if they are just leftovers then placing them directly into the fridge would be fine. If you were planning on using the whole roast later after cooking it sous vide you would want to chill it in the ice bath first but for leftovers I'd assume it's fine just like it is if you cooked it any other method.

That's at least what I always do with my sous vide leftovers but someone more up on the actual bacterial specifics might know differently.

Not only must you place it in an ice bath, you must do so very shortly after you complete the cooking process. While I am certainly no pathogen expert, I have to lean on the most regarded expert on this topic. In the sous vide saftey works of Douglas Baldwin, he makes the distinction that while Sous Vide cooking often pasteurizes food, it generally does not sterilize it. As such, the active bacteria has been safely killed for near immediate consumption, though there might be some spores that are able to grow if not immediately chilled. Specifically, even after pasteurization, spores of Clostridium botulinum, C. perfringens and B. cereus can all survive such a mild heat treatment. If not swiftly chilled, those spores are able to grow - even in the near absence of oxygen.

John, that's my feeling as well. If you're specifically cooking it to eat later (and you plan to sear it later as opposed to now) then you will want to quick chill it in an ice-bath. But if you've already seared it etc, I don't think they are any different from normal leftovers. I could be wrong but I've been fine treating them that way for several years now. I guess for true safety safe we should probably quick-chill all leftovers, no matter how they are cooked. :-)

Mystery solved. Thanks for all the help!