chef jimmyj
Gone but not forgotten. RIP
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- May 12, 2011
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I ran into into an interesting situation regarding Use By Dates. I had planned on making a batch of ABTs today. My wife got the Peppers and Cream Cheese this passed weekend. When I enquired about the Bacon, she told me she already had 2 packs. When I went to assemble the ABTs, Bev asked which bacon I wanted. To my dismay, the choices were the Bacon that expired in September or the Bacon that expired in April. Nervous about either one, I cut open the the pack from September and as expected it had spoiled. I then opened the pack from April, expecting far worse, I sniffed cautiously. I was befuddled so I took a deeper smell of the Bacon. It smelled GREAT! Since I was still skeptical, Bev cooked a slice. It tasted great too. I had to wonder how Bacon 2 weeks out of code was spoiled but Bacon 6 Months out of code was fine? They both were refrigerated the whole time. So what was the difference? I discovered the Bacon from Sept, was Cheap bacon and injected with Cure and Smoke Favoring. The April Bacon was a Premium Brand, Farmington Signiture, although injected with Cure this Bacon was actually Hickory Smoked! That had to be the difference. The Real Smoke on the Bacon added to the preservation allowing it to still be good 6 Months after the Use By Date.
While I would not intentionally not Freeze Bacon, it would seem Hardwood Smoked Bacon, has a longer Shelf Life. But I guess WE already knew that...JJ
While I would not intentionally not Freeze Bacon, it would seem Hardwood Smoked Bacon, has a longer Shelf Life. But I guess WE already knew that...JJ