How long will bacon keep in the fridge

[mattyoc20]

I make bacon fairly regularly using pops brine and cold smoking for roughly 24h. 14 days in the brine, 5 days, drying out in the fridge, smoke for 24 hours, then rest 5 more days in the fridge to let the smoke mellow out. All in all it spends roughly a month in the fridge. How much longer can it realistically stay in the fridge before going bad. Thanks for the help

 

[SmokinAl]

When the whole process is done, I vac pack & freeze mine.

I don't think you would want to leave it in the fridge more than a few days.

I'll PM Chef Jimmy J & he will give you an exact answer, when he gets on.

Al

 

[atomicsmoke]

Is it hot smoked or cold smoked?

I have vacuum packed sliced bacon (cold smoked) in the fridge all the time. Dry cured. I would use it even after 4 weeks at fridge temps. Never makes it that long, though.

Wet cured, cold smoked would probably need to be cooked sooner due to higher water content. 1-2 weeks?

 

[daveomak]

I have had bacon in the refer for a month...  sliced, in an open package so it keeps drying... dry brined and cold smoked...   It was baked in the oven and ready to eat type thing..    it was fairly crisp and had basically no water in it....  like beef jerky....    

I don't zip bag bacon in the refer... 

 

[wade]

Hi Matt. Here is a document from the USDA that you may find useful

http://www.fsis.usda.gov/wps/portal...at-preparation/bacon-and-food-safety/ct_index

The recommended storage time will depend on how the bacon is produced. You are using a brined bacon and so has a shorter shelf life than dry cured. The maximum recommended storage time for immersion cured bacon is 7 days in the fridge whereas the maximum for dry cured bacon is 4 weeks sliced and 6 weeks as a slab. The difference is mainly down to the final Water Activity in the bacon from the different curing methods

PRODUCT	PANTRY	REFRIGERATOR 40 °F or below	FREEZER 0 °F or below
Salt pork	Not applicable (N/A)	1 month	4 to 6 months
Bacon	N/A	7 days	4 months
Beef bacon	N/A	7 days	4 months
Canadian bacon, sliced	N/A	3 to 4 days	4 to 8 weeks
Poultry bacon	N/A	7 days	4 months
Pancetta	N/A	7 days	4 months
Dry-cured sliced bacon	10 days without refrigeration	4 weeks in the refrigerator	3 months
Dry-cured slab bacon	3 weeks without refrigeration	4 to 6 weeks in the refrigerator	3 months
Bacon cured without nitrites	N/A	3 weeks in the refrigerator	6 months
Leftover cooked bacon, cooked by consumer	N/A	4 to 5 days	1 month
Baby food with fresh bacon	Observe “use-by” date.	2 to 3 days after opening (leftovers not heated)	1 month
Cooked bacon, purchased shelf stable	Unopened in the pantry (stored below 85 °F) until the “use-by” date on the package	After opening, refrigerate and use within 5 to 14 days. See product package for specific recommendations.	3 months
Cooked bacon, purchased refrigerated	Observe manufacturer's "use-by" date.	Observe manufacturer's "use-by" date.	3 months for best quality
Canned bacon in pantry	2 to 5 years in pantry	3 to 4 days after opening	2 to 3 months after opening
Bacon bits, made with real bacon	Unopened in pantry, good until “sell-by” date	After opening, refrigerate up to 6 weeks.	1 to 2 months
Imitation bacon bits (made with soy)	4 months in pantry	Refer to jar for refrigerator storage.	Not necessary for safety.

Another good guide is to look at the use by dates for chilled bacon at your local store. These dates will be conservative however it will give you a good indication of the times that you should expect. The store bacon will almost certainly have been injected/pumped rather than immersion cured and is likely to contain more water, however both commercial brined and pumped bacon will have similar Aw values.

Home brining and smoking though will result in a product that is somewhere in between commercial bacon and home dry cured bacon. The drying time in the fridge and the 24 hour smoke will help to reduce the water content of the final bacon - however it will have already picked up between 5-10% extra weight in water from being immersed in the curing brine. Unfortunately, without an expensive water activity meter, this makes assessing it more of an art than a science. It is therefore safest to consider the shelf life of your home immersion brined bacon as if it were the same as store bought bacon.

Yes, I know that there will be many on here who will say that they have stored their immersion cured bacon for longer than 7 days and have not been ill - I have done that too. This is where common sense needs to play a big factor. Botulinum isn't a problem as the Nitrite is taking care of that, it is the other spoilage bacteria that you are looking out for. Here the sight and sniff test is a good guide. If it looks fine and smells fine then it is very likely to be safe to eat.

 

[chef jimmyj]

Your procedure gives more time than than the average brine and smoke bacon. By the book, a week. Realistically, kept at the back bottom and cold, 2-3 more weeks. But with all that wait to goodness...Why mess around, vac-pac and freeze what you won't eat in 7 days...JJ