How long does bacon keep?

Question

I have some really good bacon we bought about a month ago. We used some but have most of a package left. How long does bacon keep? I've never been clear on that. It seems like it should keep a good long while because it's smoked (months?) but I don't think it does. 

What do you think?

Answer

Bacon will last a long time in the fridge -- eventually mold will develop, but until then, it's fine. Basically, if it looks good and smells good, it's good.

Answer

cook it up.
if it smells funky, toss it.
future reference: freeze usable-size portions when you get a new package; wrapped in freezer paper, then foil, then put in freezer bag ziplock.

Answer

I agree with pete, once a package is opened it doesn't keep very long. I always wrap it carefully, squeezing out all the air I can manage, wrap it twice, and still find that opened packages may last only 5 to 10 days, 10 is really pushing it. It turns grey, develops an off, funky, unpleasant porky odor, and once that happens it gets tossed.

Unopened pakcages of bacon should be good till the sell-by date or a bit later. If you're wanting to keep bacon that you've opened, freeze the rest. It thaws out very quickly.

Answer

There's a Farm Market and Smokehouse near Shamokin, PA that has the most wonderful bacon on Earth! We have a summer cottage near there (Elysburg) and spend several weeks there each summer. I always bring home at least 20 pounds of their smoky bacon.When I get it home, I wrap it in one pound packages and use my FoodSaver to vacuum pack and then freeze it. I use most of it myself, but always pass some around to my friends. It lasts all year in the freezer, and a one pound package will last for weeks in the fridge. By the way, the name of the market is Masser's.

Answer

I'd lean toward discarding this lot and think about 'granny bacon' for the future. This is a technique I adapted from Elizabeth Hodgeman's "Beat This!' book (I think...it was a very long time ago that we integrated this idea into our kitchen).

Take a pound of bacon and divide it into the lots your family uses most often (full strips for breakfast, halves for sandwiches, 'bits' for salads). Place on and under papertowels and microwave until PARTIALLY cooked (limp). Cool on fresh paper towels to eliminate grease. Seperate into indiviudal freezer bags. When you need some, just microwave to desired state of crispness.

This not only makes adding a bit of smokey deliciousness easy, it eliminates a lot of the fat without sacrificing taste and it keeps a LONG time!

Answer

Thanks for all these ideas. I never like to take chances with food so I think the bacon I have will go into the garbage and I'll start over. (Making a lentil soup with chestnuts that has some bacon or prosciutto so I will need to pick some up for that.) Freezing is a great idea. I think we waste more than we should, largely because sweetheart and I aren't coordinated. So he buys things that I don't have an immediate use for and vice versea. Time to get coordinated!

Answer

I cook a whole pound of bacon at once by baking it. Lay the slices out on a cookie sheet with edges (bun pan) and bake it until it is about 3/4 done. Drain it on a stack of newspaper with paper towel on top and sop off as much fat as possible. Store this in a plastic bag in the refrigerator for a couple of weeks. When you want a couple of pieces of bacon, wrap them in a paper towel and zap for 30-60 seconds. Very handy.

Answer

In my house, bacon lasts about an hour... 

Then I have to cure some more.

Answer

I know this is an older question, but I could not find a definitive answer here, so I called Kraft Foods regarding my Oscar Mayer Bacon and was advised that once open it is good for 7 days.

Answer

It can keep for months if it's kept cool and dry. (unsliced; not talking about Oscar Meyer bacon here, but I would be willing to experiment with it)

Wet, in the fridge, and/or wrapped in plastic, it gets moldy.

If there's just some superficial mold, you can scrape it off.

Answer

P.S. Don't waste bacon fat by sopping it up with paper towels and throwing it away. If you don't want to use it for cooking, give it to a pet or to the birds, or put it in your compost (small amounts is fine).

Answer

Next time you might want to try this: open the new pound of bacon, lay all of it on a big pan with edges (not a cookie sheet because fat would spill all over your oven), and bake it until it is nearly done. Lay it on paper towel with several thicknesses of newspaper underneath to catch extra fat that may drain off. Now when you want to use it, you just have to microwave it for 30-60 seconds. You can put it in the freezer where it will keep for months. Baking bacon is also the easiest way to cook it for a crowd.

Answer

when you are baking bacon, roll it in brown sugar first then bake.


OMG. Pig Candy. OMG

Answer

Turkey bacon - one week, wrapped tightly in plastic wrap & then placed in a Ziploc bag in the fridge.
Regular pork bacon - 2-3 weeks, wrapped tightly in plastic wrap & then placed in a Ziploc bag in the fridge.

Answer

For the future, when I buy a pack of bacon, I roll out a loooooong piece of parchment paper, lay one piece of bacon across on the "short" end of it, fold the bacon-ed part of the paper over on itself to cover that slice, and continue, until I run out of bacon or parchment paper. I pop the whole thing in a gallon zip-lock bag and into the freezer. Then when I just need one or two pieces for a recipe or breakfast for one, I can unroll it a bit at a time and take off just what I need, roll it back up and put it in the freezer again.

Answer

I discovered about a week ago that bacon will definitely NOT last six months in the refrigerator after it has been opened.

Answer

Since this thread is still going- how about high quality, but artisan ( no use-by date) bacon, unopened in the fridge? I bought it on sale, and it was shipped frozen, but thawed when I got it, and I didn't want to refreeze. Any thoughts?

Answer

If the colour is good (unchanged) and the smell is right and if it has been kept in the fridge, I cook it and have never had a problem.

Answer

Bacon seems to last forever in the fridge or at least as long as I usually keep a package which isn't long since we use it a lot. I have noticed that it depends on the bacon, the regular stuff I buy at Wegmans keeps a while but anything that's uncured or cured with nitrates from celery salt starts to smell weird after probably 3 weeks or so.

Answer

This is why God invented freezers.

Answer

I regularly keep open packages a week or more without any problem. 

Not grocery store bacon but I once had a mess of triple smoked bacon (much dryer and much more smoked than normal) and I had that in the fridge for several months

Answer

I've kept bacon in the fridge for over a month and used it successfully. Use the senses that you developed through evolution to identify something unfit for consumption - does it still look like bacon? Does it smell like bacon? If the answer is yes, then go ahead with confidence. 

I do usually freeze unused portions of bacon, but I also usually have 2-3 packages open at any one time - different types and qualities for different purposes. Some make it into the freezer, some don't. I've rarely pitched bacon, and when I did, it was because it was green.

Between the salt, the nitrate, and the smoking, bacon has a pretty long shelf life.

Answer

Regular store bacon – and this includes that fancy Nueske's – is wet-cured and prone to spoilage. So-called "country" bacon is dry-cured, and needs at most just wrapping in butcher paper and refrigeration. Any mold can simply be wiped off; the traditional method is a napkin or paper towel and a bit of vinegar. There used to be several brands of this available in Southern grocery stores, but I was depressed on my last visit to Nashville to find they've all been driven out by Smithfield. Here in SoCal I order mine online from Broadbents; a 4-5 lb slab unsliced, which is my preferred style, is under $30 including shipping. There are other suppliers, too, but this is my favorite. It lasts several months, no problem.

Answer

It is not the smoke that allows bacon to last. It is the salt cure. The salt is what allowed pioneers to keep meat w/o refrigeration. We age our beef in the name of better tasting steaks.

Answer

Bacon freezes very well. I pulled a package out of mine last week and cooked some for breakfast, and chopped & cooked the rest for coq au vin. Everything tasted fine. When I looked at the package just before tossing it in the trash, I noticed that I had put it IN the freezer 2+ years ago. Not necessarily recommending this "aging" process, but no harm done here.

Answer

I put my bacon in a ziplock bag. Squeeze the air out. It keeps longer that way.
My sister also bought a plastic bacon container that works the best.

Answer

If you buy packaged bacon, sometimes it is on the package. I have bought two different brands before and the "shelf life" listed varied significantly. One said 1.5 weeks while the other said over a month.

Answer

I have a foodsaver and split up a 1.5 lb package of really good, thick bacon from whole foods into separate foodsaver bags with just enough bacon for the two of us in each bag. It has been about two months and the bacon is as good as new. If a foodsaver is not an option then you can always cook up the bacon and reheat it as needed. I read online that once it is cooked it lasts longer.

Answer

All depends on the quality of the bacon. Some brands are very wet & some are dry, my preference. I have seen no problem with dry bacon lasting a month or more. Also, it depends of the temp of the fridge... 34F or 40F will make a BIG difference with self life. I go by look, feel & smell. If it looks funky, feels funky or smells funky... out it goes. Not worth getting calluses on your knees.


p.s.#1 Bacon freezes very well. When on sale I'll but several pounds and freeze most of it.

p.s. #2 Waiting on delivery of digital scales. Then going to start curing my own bacon at home. Wish me luck!

Answer

We were worried about a pkg of unopened baccon & my husband decided to tease me by saying he was cooking it anyway. (3 months past its use by date!!) I kept refusing his idea that it would be fine telling him he would make everyone sick & not to mention stink up the kitchen! So he continually harrased me to "just try it, it's fine!" 
And what does he bring to me on a plate? SPAM! Lol, when in dought fellow chow-hounders, go with SPAM. 
I completely agree about freezing & double wrap in usable portions, and also the baking sheet method. I have even baked it and then froze the leftover cooked baccon. We go in spurts in our house with favorite foods depending on the season.
And yes the the smell & color test is tried and true.

Answer

Changing color is simply oxidation, it doesn't mean it is spoiled.
As to how long the bacon will keep, if it is uncured then not very long. Typical cured bacon should be good for two or three weeks if kept at temperature.

Answer

You can store bacon in the freezer. Uncooked, unopened bacon will last up to eight months in the freezer, while leftover raw bacon that's properly stored will last up to six months in the freezer. Cooked bacon, stored properly, will last up to one month in the freezer.

Answer

You can freeze it and keep it longer. I have a family member who buys Neuske bacon by the five-pound deal, separates it, freezes it for months.

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