How to store cooked bacon
Everyone loves bacon, which is one of the most popular foods in the world. Everybody loves perfectly cooked bacon that is crispy, salty, and incredibly tasty. A good problem to have is having too much bacon. The versatile ingredient bacon can be used in a variety of recipes. Bacon isn’t just for breakfast, after all.
Perhaps you were overly ambitious and cooked a lot of bacon just for yourself. Or perhaps you prepared a substantial family breakfast and still have lots of cooked bacon.
So, how to store cooked bacon? Cooked bacon should be placed in an airtight bag after cooling to room temperature. Put the bag in the refrigerator after removing all the air. The bacon can be stored in the fridge for 4 to 5 days.
Step 1:
Storing cooked bacon in the fridge
- Check that the bacon is fully done by cooking it to a level one below how you love to eat it. You can crisp up the bacon to the desired crispiness when you reheat it. Cook the bacon to the desired level of crispiness if you intend to consume it cold before storing it.
- Wipe away any extra grease or fat. Paper towels are the best choice for this.
- Place the bacon on a wire rack to cool.
- After cooling, put the bacon strips in a Ziploc bag or other airtight container. Make sure the airtight container you use isn’t too large.
- Make sure the airtight container you use isn’t too large.
- Put a layer of cling film over the bacon if there is a lot of space in the container to reduce air contact.
- This method of storing bacon in the fridge will extend its shelf life to 4-5 days. If you are certain when you will use the bacon next, this is the best option.
If the bacon is already cooked to your preferred level of doneness, don’t worry. To avoid overcooking, you can always reheat food with less force. For the desired flavored and texture, you can also decide not to reheat the bacon at all.
It’s recommended to cook bacon while making lesser quantities of it. However, if you’re going to fry more bacon, bake it instead. Baking bacon in large batches is significantly simpler and requires less cleanup afterwards.
Step 2:
Storing cooked bacon in oven
When you hear the word “storage,” you typically think of a longer-term effort to preserve your bacon for a few days or weeks. However, if you want to prevent the dreaded soggy effect, good short-term storage is also crucial. You can offer crispy bacon that tastes just as wonderful as freshly cooked to your family and friends by following a few easy instructions.
The oven will let you keep bacon crispy for up to a few hours whether you like to bake, pan-fry, or microwave it. Put a baking rack in the middle and raise the temperature to 200°F. When ready to eat, spread your cooked strips out on a baking sheet and keep them warm in the oven.
You can still take certain actions to keep your bacon crispy up until mealtime if you don’t want to preheat the oven. First off, don’t put a lid on your still-warm, fried bacon or cover it with a bowl or another airtight container. The covering will contain the moisture released by the steaming bacon, robbing it of its renowned crunch. Instead, use a permeable towel or completely avoid covering your bacon.
Step 3:
Storing cooked bacon in the freezer
Your greatest option for long-term storage is the freezer. Allow the meat to cool before placing it in an airtight bag, just like when you refrigerate bacon. Keep in mind that moisture is the enemy of crispy bacon! While any kind of bag will do for the refrigerator, only freezer-specific bags should be used for placing your bacon near ice. Frozen cooked bacon will remain fresh for about a month if it is properly wrapped.
Reheating cooked bacon:
The following are some suggestions for reheating bacon:
- Using a skillet although cast iron is preferred, any skillet will do. The skillet over a medium-low flame. Place the bacon slices in the pan after it has warmed up. Allow the strips to fully reheat in their own juices. Heating on both sides should only take a couple of minutes.
- Employ the oven. For large quantities of bacon, the oven works best. Lay the bacon out on a baking sheet covered with aluminum foil and preheat the oven to 350 degrees. The foil will significantly simplify cleanup. You can also cover the bacon with a foil covering to prevent it from crisping up much. You can also cover the bacon with a foil covering to prevent it from crisping up much. Heat the bacon for 8 to 10 minutes in the oven.
- Use microwave. When you’re in a rush, the microwave is the greatest option. After placing the bacon in the paper towel-lined microwave-safe dish, top with more paper towels. Per slice of bacon, microwave for about 10 seconds. Once you remove the bacon from the microwave, it will start to crisp up immediately.
Storing bacon bits:
Bacon pieces are excellent for giving a meal a little extra taste.
To make bacon bits last longer, it is preferable to store them in the freezer. Since they’re so tiny, you don’t need to bother about taking them out ahead of time because they thaw nearly quickly. When keeping the bacon bits:
- They should be spread out on a baking sheet and frozen for around 30 minutes.
- Put the flash-frozen pieces in an airtight container, label it, and keep it in a safe place.
- Take the pieces out when you require them. They can be preserved in this manner for a few months.
Bacon bits can also be kept in the refrigerator. Before the fat begins to get rancid, it can be stored in the refrigerator for about 4-6 weeks.
Storing unused bacon grease:
Not just bacon can be preserved and used again. The bacon grease can be saved and used in the same way as any other cooking oil. Fried potatoes made with bacon oil are incredibly tasty.
- While the fat is still liquid, strain it to get rid of any solid pieces.
- Into a glass jar that can be sealed, pour the liquid. Hot liquids can cause plastic containers to bend, so avoid using them.
- Place the cooled bacon grease in the refrigerator or freezer after cooling.
The fat should keep well in the refrigerator for a few weeks and the freezer for a few months.
Can cooked bacon become stale?
Cooked bacon is unlikely to mold in the refrigerator due to the low moisture and high salt content. Bacteria are unable to survive in cooked bacon because of these factors and the frigid temperatures. The rancidity of the fat is the actual worry. The bacon will taste awful even though rancid fat is not dangerous.
One of the world’s tastiest dishes is fried bacon, as we all know. We sincerely hope that these preservation suggestions will enable you to maintain the freshness of your cooked bacon for as long as possible!