How To Understand Does Bacon Go Bad? 3 Easy Ways to Find Out
When you buy one or two extra packs of bacon, you want to know: how long does bacon go bad? The answer is Yes, of course, bacon has a shelf life. It might be for consuming or sale purpose, you should know whether bacon become bad or not. As you’re a bacon enthusiast, you typically consume before it becomes or starts to deteriorate.
That’s why you don’t need to find out how to keep it for a long time without any issue. Or, you might have seen bacon on the shelf that was packed with precooked in the stores. Also, you were caught off the protector that it was not refrigerated. Possibly you have tried it out because it sounds very convenient.
But, if shelf-steady bacon is genuinely a thing, you needed first to make sure. Either way, when you have this question in your mind about going bad with bacon with storage and shelf life, this is the content that will answer your all queries. As a result, let’s drive into the deep of the content!
How To Understand The Bacon Has Gone Bad
Indeed, lots of ways are out there to identify rancid bacon. But, the three signs are the most common to understand when bacon goes bad. Let’s know how do you know when bacon is bad.
1. Look
It’s vital to keep in mind that you have to pack and unpack the bacon with your clean hands. You should notice if any discoloration is out there. These include gray, green, brown, and blue tinge.
If you find any sign of these, you should consider that the bacon is rotten. What’s more, try to find small mold spots. As a result, you’ll easily understand these indicate that the bacon is going rancid.
2. Smell
Get a good whiff of the bacon. If you find the smell of something like fishy, sour, rotting odors, you should toss it at once. If you notice that the bacon’s aroma has started to change, it happens due to the deterioration process. So, it’s not good for us. And it’s best to avoid using it in your food.
3. Touch
Touch is the final checking if you still are not satisfied with the previous methods. Clean your hand before touching the bacon and feel its sticky or slimy layer outside of the package. This is a no-go if its texture is not typically slimy. No matter it depends on the bacon’s type, you’ll get the difference. This is not delicate.
Tips To Store Bacon In Your Fridge
We’ll start the point by speaking about raw bacon. Raw or some other thing like raw meat, you have to store them in your fridge. For the optimum output, you have to find out a corner of your freezer. You have to get away to cover the bacon when you uncover the package.
As a result, this doesn’t tumble dry and leak its smell to some other foods in your fridge. Feel free and use it in its original parcel is resealable. Otherwise, you have some different options. Our favorite one is to keep the box in the freezer bags.
It’s because this is handy and it doesn’t produce any wastage. However, you have other options to wrap it, such as plastic wrap and aluminum foil. So, it’s your preference which one you’ll go with.
The freezer is the method to choose when you have cooked your bacon, so you have to store its leftovers. Here, your obvious choice is the freezer bag or an airtight container. Again, don’t forget to put the bacon preserved strongly.
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Tips For Pre-Cooked Bacon
Now, it’s time to speak about precooked and store-bought bacon. This one has two variations, and we already know it’s a shelf-steady one that wants a refrigerator to store. And you stock it up the same way it has accumulated in the superstore because you may have most likely figured it out.
The shelf-steady one might sit at average/room temperature in your kitchen or pantry. You ensure one thing that this is not near then sources of direct sunlight or heat. You have to refrigerate its leftovers when you release the pack.
The variety that has refrigerated should, for eternity, sit in the freezer. Like raw bacon, precook bacon also needs well covered to keep its quality for a long time.
Do You Have Option To Freeze Bacon?
You already know, and this is not any surprise that you have the option to freeze your bacon. It’s because it freezes very well. Don’t forget one thing that you can freeze up cooked bacon better than those that are raw. As a result, it allows cooking the bacon first if you are not in a rush.
It gives you the extra of the bacon, getting ready to set out after thawing. Now, it’s okay that you have found the bacon ready. So, it’s time to consider the way you have planned to utilize it. Probably this is better to hack it into some smaller ones if this is a larger chunk.
Or maybe cubing or slicing the bacon can make sense. That’s why it’s ready for you when it needs. This is an optional step. But, you’ll find it’s previously prepared if you keep it in your freezer. You have time to choose it rather than what is available in your fridge.
This is time to store in freeze your bacon when you have finished with its additional prep. Transfer its slices, chunks, or cubes into airtight containers or your freezer bags. It’s better to keep in every container the amount of bacon you’ll be able to consume in some days.
Also, you can keep it for a single meal if it’s convenient for you. Finally, you have to add labels mentioning the date and name of every bag. Chuck all into your freezer when the whole thing is all set.
When it’s time to defrost, freezing is the best choice. But, some other ways are out there to do it in less time. Here you learned: can bacon go bad in the fridge or not.
What Is Length Of Lifetime of Bacon?
For one more time, we’re going, beginning with raw bacon. This is not just vacuum sealed; it’s also has a best before or use-by date. As a result, this date is a reasonable estimate of the bacon’s lifetime that will keep quality.
Yes, you may get off with storing this for some days past its given date. But it’s about that. The bacon needs to keep excellent for a week when you have opened the package. Otherwise, it’s less when you open it after the date assigned on its label.
When you have cooked it, you can keep it in the fridge for four to five days. You also can freeze it if you’re unable to use that one at the due date. Now, this is time to talk about precooked bacon. The shelf-steady variety of bacon has a best before or best-by date.
You can keep pork meat until the date; after that, it may be one or two weeks. But, come to an end the bacon within 4 to 7 days when you have opened its package. It’s the same guidelines when it comes to pre-cooked bacon. So, in brief, the lifetime of the bacon is as below:
- Unopened raw bacon: Use within 5 to 7 days
- Opened raw bacon: 5 to 7 days
- Cooked bacon: From 4 to 5 days
- Unopened Precooked bacon (sold refrigerated): From 5 to 7 days
- Opened Precooked bacon (sold refrigerated): from 4 to 5 days
- Unopened Precooked bacon (sold unrefrigerated): From 1 to 2 weeks
- Opened Precooked bacon (sold unrefrigerated): from 4 – 5 days
So, you learned how long before bacon goes bad when you keep it in the fridge.
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Frequently Asked Question
How Can You Tell If Bacon Is Bad?
It’s the thing that your intuition will not allow you to get down. When your bacon is not in a good state, you’ll undoubtedly know that. It’ll smell awful, and it’s quite impossible to miss. Moreover, it’ll not just be slimy; it also will change its color into gray, brown, or green.
It’s most likely good to toss it out immediately if you find any of them has started to happen. Even if this looks okay, it should discard if it has passed the estimated day or best to use the date outlined above.
And if you don’t find a date and you become confused, you should follow the old rule – throw it in the garbage. This is how do you know when bacon goes bad.
What Happens If You Eat Expired Bacon?
Every year, over 48 million people suffer from food poisoning in the USA. Its key reason is raw or rotten meat. It means that consuming expired bacon is hugely harmful to your body. That’s why you need to know can you eat expired bacon.
The problems may happen if you eat expired bacon, including Tapeworms, Toxoplasmosis, and Trichinosis. Bad bacon may have bacteria like Staphylococcus, Salmonella, Escherichia coli, Clostridium, and Campylobacter.
The presence of bacteria will make a sore bacon test. If you eat infected bacon you may fall into health issues like:
- Fever.
- Dehydration.
- Nausea.
- Vomiting.
- Diarrhea.
- Abdominal pain.
- Abdominal cramps.
- Chest pain.
- Headache.
How Long Is Raw Bacon Good For In The Fridge?
If you store your bacon in the fridge, it’ll extend the shelf life of the bacon. As a result, you can eat your bacon for up to a few months. But, every time you cook your bacon, you must check if it’s in good condition or not. This is all about how long can you freeze bacon before it goes bad.
The Bottom Line
Hopefully, you have found the answer to the question: does bacon go bad? If you find it has passed a week from the purchase date, you should toss it.
It’s because rotten bacon gets infected by bacterial and the bacteria is the root cause of many health issues. So, we always recommend that it’s best to buy a new bacon package to cook that does not doubt its quality.
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