Does Bacon go bad?

ScottM

ScottM

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About a week and a half ago I bought a pound of bacon as I needed a few slices for a dish I was making. It was a braised fennel and white bean salad. Yummy!!!

The extra bacon was put in a baggie and stored in the refrigerator until a few moments ago when I decided it would be nice to make a BLT for lunch.

It got me thinking does bacon go bad? Bacon is a salt cured meat. That was done to preserve for sometime the meat. I guess eventually it would go bad but how long does it take? It was still good after a couple of weeks of not being frozen. That is longer than normal meat that is uncured.
 
Oh, yes, it can go bad. Really bad.

Two weeks is nothing. You're probably still within the "last sell" date.

Frozen, I'd probably give it up to a year or so, maybe more. In the fridge after opening, a month ought to be OK, if sealed in a zip-lock. If sealed tightly with the air pushed out ('foodsaver' style), I'd give it even longer than that.... up to about the last sell date.
 
Bacon, like any pork product, has a distinct odor once it starts to go bad. If it smells alright, you're good to go. At a week and a half you are still well within the OK to use period.
 
I can tell you. for sausages at least, a sure sign is when you see green stuff growing on it. Don't ask how I know.

Otherwise, I'm prone to go the cowboy way and rinse off the slimy stuff on the surface, cook it up, unless it's all slimy stuff.
 
You're probably Ok. It depends on the bacon- some is cured better than other bacon. I would guess that an artisan cured bacon would last longer than the shrink-packed material in the store but it gets eaten long before this question would arise..
 
Oh I am sure the bacon is ok. I was just wondering how long it would last. Obviously longer than regular meat since it is cured, but how long?
 
KennyFlys said:
Is that how long bacon is good for, how long it takes to cure well or how long until you're cured?
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Actually, it's how long my father was in the Marine Corps believe it or not. He told me that as a kid and that figure has stayed with me. Don't know why but it has.
 
etsisk said:
I could be a vegetarian if it wasn't for bacon... :)
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The best pizza combination...

Thick tortilla shell with double cheese, pepperoni, REAL bacon and banana peppers. Talk about sweeeeet!

I came up with that years ago while working at Dominoes. I feared the dough that was left out too long and I dang sure didn't trust the deep dish as they were never properly kept. It takes a lot to spoil a tortilla shell.
 
...ask Jesse how long potatoes last...
 
The TSOd bacon is good for a couple months. The experimental stuff....no one really knows for sure.
 
Gosh, honey, we have to eat that pound of bacon this week! The government SAYS so! :D :D :D
 
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