Since the 'dope is full of bacon experts, I thought I would ask! The bacon in question has been continuously refrigerated for the last two weeks, but the package is open. Would you eat it?
Imho, as a self-professed bacon expert with an 8th degree black belt in Bacon Fu, I go by color and smell.
Obviously, if it’s green, grey, fuzzy, breathing, or moving, throw it out.
If it looks OK, smell it. Old bacon that is still good should have a relatively clean smell, and if it’s starting to go bad, it has a definite “piggy” odor. I would, if you are still working on a yellow belt, leave a piece in there to see what that smell smells like.
In my experience, two weeks would be pushing it for sliced bacon, especially if it’s not been in a sealed container (just put it in a tupperware box or something after you’ve opened the package). Unopened, it’ll certainly last longer.
As Superhal said, just smell it if it doesn’t look suspicious.
So what exactly are the risks of eating old bacon?
Well, I’d cook it first…
I usually have smoked bacon. It’s perfectly fine to eat uncooked.
You develop swine flu.
Yeah, uncooked you don’t want to push it, but if you fry the crap out of it there’s really not much it can do to you.
I have a mold allergy, so I can’t eat it once it starts changing color, but theoretically, the bacon should be safe to eat if cooked properly.
With all of the salt most bacon is treated with, I’d guess quite some time. I’ve had some in the fridge for several (3-4) weeks before I cooked it, but it was sealed so dunno.
It’s fine, as long as it’s not moldy or slimy and doesn’t smell rotten.
I usually find the problem with bacon that’s been left in an open package is that it dries out around the edges and goes hard. When that happens I just snip off the dried-out part with kitchen scissors.
Get someone else to smell it.
Keep in mind that bacon was first developed as a method of preserving food without refrigeration.
That would have been shortly after “Let there be light” and just before a few less important bits.
Does modern, processed bacon (the run-of-the-mill supermarket package) resemble smoked or salted bacon? What’s in it? I don’t eat much of the Oscar Wilde kind, but it doesn’t really compare to the bacon that comes from a good butcher – I always assumed the flavors were more food science than food. Do they act to preserve it too?
I agree with the other dopers,( having lived in an age without refridgeration). Now I freeze bacon I know I am not going to use far awhile,If you are the only person eating it, freeze it in serving sizes. I defrost it in the Microwave but a couple of slices if frozen separated flat will defrost in a few minuets on their own.
Emphasis added.
But… IT’S BACON!!! :eek:
An epigram with every BLT!
Bacon is cured in a brine with a lot of salt and a small amount of nitrite. It’s then dried for an extended period. Some bacon is smoked.
“How long does bacon stay good?”
Always my friend, bacon is always good.