Frozen Bacon. How long does it last.

[candcallen]

I found some bacon in the deep freeze. It's got a 2017 date on it. It's beautiful thick slabs of pork belly I really wanna eat since you cant really find good stuff like that without taking out a second mortgage nowadays.

Being It's cured bacon how long do you think it's good if frozen.?

Eat it or not?

 

[Texasjack]

Interestingly enough, there are a lot of different time lines on the internet.

USDA says bacon lasts 6 months in the freezer. Some food sites say 4 months.

Other people indicate that it only loses some quality in that time and may be safe to eat almost indefinitely.

Seems like people used to keep bacon for the whole year without refrigeration. Of course, they don't sell bacon "cured" to that level any more.

I'd say take a look at it and see if it's got freezer burn. If not, use it. It can't get contaminated with bacteria in the freezer.

 

[jrbfishn]

I'd try it.
Thaw it out and see if it has freezer burn. Cut it off if it does. Try what is left. Just a small piece. If it don't make you sick, try a bigger piece. No puking or diarhha, eat it.
Freezer burn is pretty much just freeze dried.

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[PinnedandRecessed]

If it looks good, eat it.

A little brown, cut it off. Green or Blue, throw it away.

ETA: Probably better to err on the side of caution though if your immunities are compromised from the chemo. That'd be a really dumb way to pass from this mortal coil.

 

[HKSig]

Eat it or not?

Just shut up and eat it.

If it's vacuum packed / well sealed, frozen the entire time, it's probably good. Thaw it out; if it smells bad, toss it. Older vacuum packed meat than that has come out of the deep freeze here and was perfectly fine.

 

[MountainGirl]

Thaw it totally and Smell it. There's a certain taint to bad meat.
If your sniffer is compromised, have someone else smell it.

 

[oldag]

Six years? I am not taking a chance. Even as frugal as I am. Can't be talking that much money.

 

[thescoutranch]

If it is still in its original vacuum packaged pack, I would have no issues cooking that up and enjoying it. I’ve had homemade summer sausage (vacuum sealed) last month that has been in the freezer for over five years, no issues.

 

[candcallen]

We usually go 2 years past the freeze by date in original packaging except some fish and stuff.

We just tossed some turkeys that were 3 years old. Cured meats like ham and bacon We go 3 years.

This looks so good. And it's bacon! It would be 12 or 15 dollars now.

Oh well. It's 6 years. I got 10 packs of bacon, just typical thinly sliced cheap stuff that's from 21 to eat up. Still I like some bacon you need to cut with a knife to eat. Lol

It's a shame, with the kids all grown were just not eating the stuff up like we were. We will probably cut down to just the one upright freezer. Stuff gets lost in the chest freezer.

We still will buy 4 or 5 pork loins and 3 or 4 hams after the holidays but we eat those up pretty quick.

FJB meat is just so expensive now. We found 1.99 hamburger and bought 20 lbs. Double what it should be on sale and almost half what it regularly is now. A 3 lbs pack is almost 15 dollars. Bastards.

 

[baboon]

If it was good when you froze it, and the freezer never dies for a length of time for it to thaw out & get in the gander zone I'd eat it. Freezer burn might be an issue, but as it cooks & releases its fat that may very well go away.

 

[baboon]

Thaw it totally and Smell it. There's a certain taint to bad meat.
If your sniffer is compromised, have someone else smell it.

Years of cutting meat I leaned the touch of rancid meat, culling a case & resetting fish cases happen early in the morning. Sniffing rancid meat, poultry & seafood just has a way of wreaking ones day.