Posted on 02/09/2021 9:36:01 AM PST by mylife
Wasting good bacon is against the law in certain parts of the South—according to some people. So if you are reading this while sniffing or inspecting a package of bacon that's been in the back of your refrigerator for an indefinite amount of time, I'll get right to the point.
Whether you have opened the package or not, uncooked bacon will last for seven days in the fridge, according to the United States Department of Agriculture. That rule applies whether the bacon is thick-cut or thin, hickory or maple-smoked, the fancy stuff or the cheap stuff. You've got seven days.
Store it right. If you have leftover uncooked bacon, don't just put the opened package back in the refrigerator. Keep it from drying out (and making the other contents of your fridge smell like bacon) by storing it in a sealed container or resealable plastic ziplock bag, or wrap it tightly in plastic wrap and aluminum foil.
Freeze it properly. If you can't eat enough BLT Salads and Baked Macaroni and Cheese with Bacon to finish a package of bacon in a week, your best bet is to freeze it. Although foods that are properly stored in a freezer are safe to eat indefinitely, the USDA recommends using frozen bacon within one month. Prevent freezer burn by wrapping the unopened package in a layer of aluminum foil (and label it with the date). If you tend to cook bacon in smaller amounts, flash-freeze individual strips so that they don't harden into a single slab and you can easily defrost as much as you need.
Once you're sure that the bacon is safe to eat, brush up on your bacon cooking basics. And if you're in need of some recipe inspiration, I recommend these Bacon Pancakes.
Really. What is “leftover bacon?”
bacon is cured...left unopened in a sealed bag, can kept in the refrigerator, it should last forever.
I did that last year when I bought some meat market fresh bacon on discount (7 days already ticking). Cooked half of it all at once and froze the other half (since used).
Nothing wrong with it and it was CHEAP.
I’ll eat bacon but don’t normally buy it.
I always thought bacon was close to salt pork. Civil war soldiers would carry salt pork for weeks at a time. Refrigerated salt pork will keep from months.
Of course dysentery probably killed as many civil war soldiers as bullets did...
I would not eat them here or there, I would not eat them anywhere.
The sauces that come out of a strip or 2 of bacon are tops. My chicken in red wine recipe mixes in good with rice.
It is a “cured” meat, so if it’s decently sealed up, it could last quite a bit longer than 7 days.
Now salami, that you could leave sitting around for a year and it would still be edible.
Just eat the whole package and the problem is solved.
I’m slowly rotating some of my frozen meats to my fridge.
One month is pre-pandemic levels of what I held on to.
With financial uncertainty and questions of supply (plus some really good “FREE” coupons) last year, I’ve got a decent stockpile right now.
It takes 7 days just to cure bacon, curing preserves it, but its bad unopened in 7 days?
I call BS
About 30 minutes...................
LOL, someone asked me how long you can keep red wine after its opened, my mom laughed and said “he has no idea”
“This tastes too much like bacon” (said no one, ever).
The real challenge is not how long it lasts but why is it already gone.
smell it
There’s wet cured bacon, and dry cured bacon. I’m not sure I would call wet cured bacon “real bacon”. It’s nasty. Dry cured bacon can be hung for the entire winter “open” in the right conditions.
What is leftover bacon? Is that even possible?
As long as it isn’t green. If it is green, send it to the Biden Admin. They LOVE green stuff!
Indeed. I always worry about making things in the fridge taste like bacon /s
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