How to Freeze Bacon
If you've ever wondered how to freeze bacon you've probably googled it by now, but if not, Megan Reardon of Not Martha shares her bacon freezing advice—she rolls it in parchment paper—along with a few pretty photos. About.com says you can keep bacon in the freezer for a month before the fat goes rancid.
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17 Comments:
I think maybe about.com is way off on their warning that frozen bacon goes rancid after one month in the freezer. Every year when I'm in Pennsylvania for a month, I buy 20 pounds of a local, deliciously smoked bacon. I bring it home to Florida and portion it out into 2 pound packages and freeze them. I've found that when I thaw the last package, sometimes more than a year later, it tastes and smells just like it did when I initially froze it.
1stmakearoux at 9:21AM on 06/24/09
@1stmakearoux: Thanks for the anectodal evidence; I have obviously never frozen bacon before! I googled some more and mostly found people who said it lasts indefinitely (well, how long will bacon go unused for anyway?) but then there's this chart from the FDA that says 1 month. I suppose that if you really, reallllly want to be safe. God knows I've eaten food that's considerably older than what that chart says and I've lived to tell the tale...
Robyn Lee at 9:33AM on 06/24/09
One month? Crazy. Also, there's a much better way to freeze it that my friends call my "patented bacon freezing method." Cut a long piece of plastic wrap and lay down a slice of bacon 2 inches from edge. Wrap the edge up and over the slice then lay down a slice on top of that. Roll it over and lay another slice down. Keep laying down slices and rolling until you need more plastic wrap. The whole thing will be like a bacon accordian. Seal up the ends and place the packets in a plastic freezer bag. When you need bacon just pull the plastic wrap open and pull the slices away one at a time. Really, it works great and works for chicken cutlets, as well!
Deb07 at 9:37AM on 06/24/09
oh! And don't cut it in half....NO reason, too and plastic wrap keeps it much better than parchment ever would.
Deb07 at 9:39AM on 06/24/09
Yeah, this one month business is insanity.
Celeriac at 9:57AM on 06/24/09
Why do they make everything so complicated? I just shove the shrink wrapped packet in my freezer. Lasts for months. Rancid fat after one month? Doesn't make sense.
jenh718 at 10:00AM on 06/24/09
I do this, but I use wax paper rather than parchment (cheaper). Since it's just me, I rarely want more than a couple of slices, so this allows me to only take what I need. And having it separated before freezing makes it SO much easier to pull off only a few slices at a time. But I don't cut them in half.
And yes, it lasts longer than a month...sometimes. ;)
slmcdanold at 10:05AM on 06/24/09
When I was working in a butcher shop, the general advice we had for customers that had any pork product, was no keep it no more than 6 months. Some pieces do turn faster than others, packages get torn, and so on
From personal experience, though, I've found that bacon has lasted up to two years in the freezer and was still mighty tasty.
cerus at 10:06AM on 06/24/09
I have never "wondered how." I just throw mine in the freezer. It never goes bad but it never stays in there very long.
Trilby at 10:07AM on 06/24/09
The one true best way to freeze bacon is to roll up each strip into a spiral and freeze them. Then you can just take out however many strips you need without having to thaw the whole pound (or whatever) so you can separate the strips. And it doesn't require the use of plastic wrap, parchment, etc.
Buckethead at 10:29AM on 06/24/09
yeah...that one month in the freezer business is ridiculous. curing and smoking are both preserving methods...bacon was invented to keep the belly meat good before refrigeration was around. i've eaten bacon that was in the fridge for more than a month with no ill effects.
eliemalone at 10:46AM on 06/24/09
good to hear that you're all debunking the one month thing.
i nearly wept, since i've had bacon frozen in my fridge for close to 2 months now.
i'm gonna make it all tonight anyway, cuz' now i'm hungry for bacon.
(granted, i'm always hungry for bacon, but still.)
gastronomeg at 11:00AM on 06/24/09
Bacon accordion FTW! Sometimes you need a little, and sometimes you need a lot and peeling off 1 slice or 10 allows you to feed the need accordingly. I've kept bacon for 6 months to no ill effect (flavor or gastrointestinal), but it's always used up by then so I'm not sure about longer.
waits4thebus at 11:24AM on 06/24/09
i like to freeze it accordian style, using one long piece of plastic wrap to fold each slice so that it freezes seperately. this allows me to pull out single slices or a few at a time. it's just me and that's all i may need at the moment.
_greenbean at 1:29PM on 06/24/09
oops. just read the article. let my above statement serve as a "hell yeah" to her suggestions.
_greenbean at 1:32PM on 06/24/09
I use a similar technique but don't cut the plastic off the roll - just unroll more as needed - and wrap 2 strips at a time (who needs just one strip of bacon?). I used to use waxed paper, but stretch-tite is far superior.
toptoad at 9:20PM on 06/24/09
Yea, I just wanted to say 1 month is bull. I think I've kept it up to a year (not because it lasted, but because it was the end of a couple of pounds I bought in bulk)... but that's in the package, un-touched, un-doctored. I either thaw it and cook or just yesterday I needed some lardons in a hurry so I took out my trusty cleaver and cut some off the end. *shrug
feistyfoodie at 12:15PM on 06/25/09