BWCA Bacon Boundary Waters BWCA Food and Recipes
Chat Rooms (0 Chatting)  |  Search  |   Login/Join
* For the benefit of the community, commercial posting is not allowed.
Boundary Waters Quetico Forum
   BWCA Food and Recipes
      Bacon     
 Forum Sponsor

Author

Text

BartTB
Guest Paddler
  
07/25/2012 12:31PM   (Thread Older Than 3 Years)
Has anyone ever bought fresh (store bought) bacon, cooked it at home and brought it in a ziplock or container to BW. How long would it last? Wondering because I usually use the pre cooked/packaged which does not need refrigeration and will last up to a few months.
 
      Print Top Bottom Previous Next
maddog2099
member (13)member
  
07/25/2012 01:25PM  
There's a lot of discussion on Bacon in the Camping recipes section, you should look there first.
 
inspector13
distinguished member(4169)distinguished memberdistinguished memberdistinguished memberdistinguished memberpower member
  
07/25/2012 01:43PM  

Without refrigeration I wouldn’t try it. Shelf stable foods are vacuum packed so there is little available oxygen for microbe growth. Some even with carbon monoxide for extra measure.

 
07/25/2012 01:57PM  
Freeze the bacon and bring it in. We use ours for the first 2 mornings. Bacon has lots of salt which makes it last.

And buy your bacon from the local butcher...

Winner
 
stielowjm
senior member (81)senior membersenior member
  
07/25/2012 05:15PM  
We do the same, freeze the bacon and bring it in, but have it the first 3 mornings...
 
07/25/2012 05:36PM  
I pre-cook bacon, to cooked, but not crisp condition. Then zip-lock and freeze till I leave. Has not gone bad on 7 day trips. Saves weight, mess, and cooking time. Eat cold out of the bag or crisp it in a pan.

butthead
 
07/25/2012 06:10PM  
Why not just buy the shelf-stable precooked bacon? It is really very good and extremely easy to transport.
 
Ingvald
distinguished member (276)distinguished memberdistinguished memberdistinguished member
  
07/25/2012 06:34PM  
quote Spartan2: "Why not just buy the shelf-stable precooked bacon? It is really very good and extremely easy to transport."

+1
 
Dbldppr1250
distinguished member(1284)distinguished memberdistinguished memberdistinguished memberdistinguished member
  
07/25/2012 07:19PM  
that pre-cooked works fine for me too!
 
07/25/2012 07:58PM  
I bought the pre-cooked this year and it worked great. I'm gonna try what Ken's talkin' about next time. Bacon's like everything else, you have the good stuff, and what everybody else eats.
 
07/25/2012 08:03PM  
Take the real thing, bacon is cured and will last a week easy. We have taken it for years and used for 2 weeks.
 
07/25/2012 08:28PM  
quote Ingvald: "
quote Spartan2: "Why not just buy the shelf-stable precooked bacon? It is really very good and extremely easy to transport."

+1"

+2 It's a no brainer in my book.
 
tinkerer
member (31)member
  
07/25/2012 11:42PM  
I made it a week by making my own shelf stable bacon. Vacuum sealed it and boiled then froze it. It lasted the whole week just fine and I got the bacon I wanted instead of the bacon I settled for. For the record I also did this with corned beef hash. The corn beef also made it all the way through and was great on the morning we left. I will not go back without corned beef.
 
BRic
distinguished member (248)distinguished memberdistinguished memberdistinguished member
  
07/26/2012 05:32AM  
We brought in regular bacon. Did not pre-cook. Ate it on the 6th day. Everything was fine.
 
billconner
distinguished member(8607)distinguished memberdistinguished memberdistinguished memberdistinguished memberpower member
  
07/26/2012 08:15AM  
quote GSP: "Take the real thing, bacon is cured and will last a week easy. We have taken it for years and used for 2 weeks."


I'm with GSP on this. Non-issue in my experience.
 
07/27/2012 08:38PM  
yes what GPS said, what ever you have it in keep it shaded
 
MeatHunter
distinguished member (424)distinguished memberdistinguished memberdistinguished member
  
07/27/2012 09:19PM  
I don't want to step on any toes here and am ONLY looking to shed some light on the matter and inform others, but shelf stable bacon is made for a reason. To be shelf stable at ROOM temp. The following is from the USDA.

"To make bacon safe to store at room temperature (shelf stable), it is precooked in the plant to have a water activity at or below 0.85 to control Staphylococcus aureus. The cooked yield is 40% of the raw weight."

Aside from this whole canoeing gig, I have a few other hobbies. One of them being the curing, smoking, pickling and fermenting of various styles of meats and sausage making. Bacon that is cured does NOT mean that it is safe to be left out at room temps. The cure used in bacon is there for a few reasons, none of which is to make it safe to store unrefrigerated.

Taken from the USDA site.

"Sodium nitrite (cure) produces the pink color (nitrosohemoglobin) in cured bacon. Nitrite also greatly delays the development of the Clostridium botulinum toxin (botulism); develops a cured-meat flavor; retards the development of rancidity, off-odors, and off-flavors during storage; and inhibits the development of a warmed-over flavor."

Maximum safe refrigerated storage time per USDA guidelines for uncooked bacon is 7 days. There is a reason that it is sold in the refrigerated section of the grocery store AND, those temps are 40 degrees or cooler.

Bacon that is safe other than shelf stable bacon would be Dry Cured. A far superior product to ANY store bought bacon and a great item to take into the back country. Something that can be obtained from higher end meat markets or ordered from a butcher.

There absolutely is no debate on this, and yes, I too know people that do it and have done so without incident, but the fact remains, taking a meat product into the back country that is meant to be kept chilled is only inviting problems. One may get away with it once, twice, 10 times or a 100 times. But eventually you or someone else will get sick from doing so. Just like smoking, you may be able to smoke for years, decades and never get cancer. But the longer you do, the greater the odds are that you will.

Throughout the year, when people come down with the flu, they mainly think that is just what they have, the flu. Many times however, that is not the case, but rather a mild case of food poisoning.

I'm just looking out for those who may not be aware of just what is considered safe practices and you certainly do not have to take my word on it. But I do invite anyone to ask their local butcher about what they think of doing it....
 
07/28/2012 06:59PM  
meathunter is right , i should have added we bring in a cooler that stays cold for 7 days. but ya i dont think i would want to eat fresh bacon that was in a pack for 7 days. :(
 
billconner
distinguished member(8607)distinguished memberdistinguished memberdistinguished memberdistinguished memberpower member
  
07/30/2012 09:23AM  
I'm sure meathunter is correct.

I wish there was an easy way to comapre the risk of not keeping bacon at 40 degrees or below for a week vs. the risk of driving 500 miles each way, but kind of suspect the driving is riskier.

Just my view.
 
09/25/2012 11:50PM  
I always eat double smoked bacon during my late fall trips. I keep it in the middle of my pack and always eat it on the first or second morning. Been doing it for over 20 years and never had an issue. That being said, if it gets hot, or it starts smelling funky, I'll discard it.

I do agree it is a risk. But so is drinking water right out of the lake.

For instance, I had a "discussion" with a very nice lady at REI last week. She was selling someone a water filter for his first trip into the BWCA.

I mentioned, in passing, that I have been drinking water right out of many (not all) of the lakes in the BWCA for over twenty years. I just make sure to get it away from shore, not by any beaver dams, in fast moving water, etc. I also mentioned that water filters have not been around all that long, and believe it or not, many pople have been drinking right out of the lakes up there for a couple years.

She got pretty ticked off and gave me the stinky eye. And looking back on it, I should have just kept my mouth shut.

The lady from REI went on to state how she and one of her friends got sick just by swimming in the water (in the BWCA) and getting a little water in their mouths...and I should know better.

The way she was describing it, the BWCA water was all toxic and you will probably die if you don't filter it, boil it, and treat it. Seriously, I think this kid thought if he did not buy the right filter, he would surely die.

So, I asked her: "Did you quit swimming in the water cause of the 1 in a 100 chance you could get sick"? I promptly apologized. I followed up the apology with stating she is correct. It is always good to take precautions, but I do think we can go overboard. Calculated risks are part of living (and not dying in paralysis). I promptly left before she lost a gasket.

 
10/08/2012 07:20AM  
quote BillConner01: "I'm sure meathunter is correct.

I wish there was an easy way to comapre the risk of not keeping bacon at 40 degrees or below for a week vs. the risk of driving 500 miles each way, but kind of suspect the driving is riskier.

Just my view. "

I'd rather play bumper cars than crap my pants on a portage

I've had really bad food poisoning and my wife got ecoli from a Subway, I do not mess around with this stuff.

 
h20
distinguished member(3006)distinguished memberdistinguished memberdistinguished memberdistinguished member
  
10/10/2012 12:13AM  
quote Ragged: "
quote BillConner01: "I'm sure meathunter is correct.

I wish there was an easy way to comapre the risk of not keeping bacon at 40 degrees or below for a week vs. the risk of driving 500 miles each way, but kind of suspect the driving is riskier.

Just my view. "

I'd rather play bumper cars than crap my pants on a portage

I've had really bad food poisoning and my wife got ecoli from a Subway, I do not mess around with this stuff.

"!$/i
 
Basspro69
distinguished member(14142)distinguished memberdistinguished memberdistinguished memberdistinguished membermaster membermaster member
  
12/28/2012 01:30PM  
quote snakecharmer: "
quote Ingvald: "
quote Spartan2: "Why not just buy the shelf-stable precooked bacon? It is really very good and extremely easy to transport."

+1"

+2 It's a no brainer in my book."
+3
 
12/28/2012 02:35PM  
I cook up my hashbrowns and then put the pre-cooked bacon in the hash browns and stir for a couple minutes = Happy Canoe Dude.

SunCatcher
 
01/13/2013 10:18AM  
We have frozen it and had it the first 3 days. This was in late May. I'd say the weather/ambient temps decide. With a little care and common sense; we've yet to have a problem.
 
HammerII
distinguished member(637)distinguished memberdistinguished memberdistinguished memberdistinguished member
  
01/15/2013 12:39AM  
quote SunCatcher: "I cook up my hashbrowns and then put the pre-cooked bacon in the hash browns and stir for a couple minutes = Happy Canoe Dude.


SunCatcher"


The real bacon packets are pretty dang good, I've used them in plenty of different stuff these days
 
01/25/2013 10:33PM  
I always take Oscar Meyer precooked non refrigerated bacon. Nothing like making blueberry pancakes with maple syrup and bacon!
 
      Print Top Bottom Previous Next
BWCA Food and Recipes Sponsor:
Visit Cook County