Although most supermarket bacon is cured, you can now opt for uncured bacon that doesn’t use any nitrates to preserve it. But can this type of bacon be stored in the freezer like traditionally cured bacon?
Can You Freeze Uncured Bacon?
Yes, you can freeze uncured bacon for up to 6 months. The best way to do this is to wrap it first in a loose layer of baking paper, and then in a layer of cling film, ensuring that the film forms a good seal. Then, place it in the centre of your freezer.
Do Does Uncured Bacon freeze well? Yes
Can you refreeze Uncured Bacon? No
How to Freeze Uncured Bacon
Freezing uncured bacon isnāt quite as simple as you might think. As with freezing any high-protein item, you need to follow a few specific steps to ensure success.
- Remove Packaging and Portion Out: The packaging that bacon comes in isn’t the best for freezing, especially if you have opened it. So, remove the bacon and then place it in portions. Consider how much bacon you normally consume in one sitting.
- Wrap in Baking Paper: Wrap the bacon portions in a layer of loose baking paper or butcher paper. This will form a permeable layer that will allow moisture to escape, which will lead to a level of freezer burn being prevented.
- Wrap in Cling Film: Wrap the parcel in a tight layer of cling film, with the ends of the cling film forming a total seal around the bacon. This will trap escaping condensation, forming a barrier that will frost around the bacon without leading to freezer burn setting it.
- Freeze: Write a label on the bacon (which you can no longer see) and then pop each package into the freezer. If you have multiple parcels, then you could also pop these into a freezer bag.
3 Tips for Freezing Uncured Bacon
Now you know how to freeze it, we’ve got our 3 top tips which we strongly recommend following when freezing uncured bacon to have the best results:
Check the Cling Film Seal
Ensuring that the cling film is sealed is vital to avoid any spillage or cross-contamination within your freezer. We also recommend sealing the cling film to avoid any level of smell contamination in the freezer.
Add a Second Container
When meat is stored for a long time, cooked or uncooked, it can begin to release myoglobin, a liquid that was originally part of the blood of the animal. To avoid cross-contamination (and a mess), you could also pop the bacon parcels into a freezer bag or Tupperware container.
Keep Away From Cooked Meat
As uncured meat is uncooked, it cannot be stored with cooked meat. Storing the two together will lead to cross-contamination, which is hugely food unsafe, meaning that all of the meat will have to be thrown out.
How Long Can You Freeze Uncured Bacon?
You can freeze uncured bacon quite well for around 6 months. The reason that it freezes this well is that itās a dense item to freeze, and denser items tend to freeze well – less water and air throughout the food leads to less freezer burn in the freezer.
To ensure that your uncured bacon does last for 6 months in the freezer, make sure to follow the instructions that we laid out above – they will help it to freeze very well.
Uncured bacon will usually last for around 1 week in the fridge. It will need to be kept wrapped in cling film or stored in an airtight reseable container.
How Do You Defrost Uncured Bacon?
The simplest way to defrost uncured bacon is to place it in the fridge overnight. This will allow any ice within and throughout the product to thaw without having the bacon stored at an unsafe temperature.
Do not store your bacon at room temperature, as a level of bacterial growth will rapidly set in. If this takes place, youāll have to throw the bacon out rather than cure and eat it. Trying to speed up the defrosting process is also not a good idea.
Can You Refreeze Uncured Bacon?
No, you cannot refreeze uncured bacon.
The reason for this is that itās a form of meat, and meat tends to get contaminated rapidly and dangerously while itās out of the freezer.
When thawed, bacteria and other microorganisms can establish a colony on the bacon. If the bacon is placed back into the freezer, it will contaminate other freezer items.
Does Uncured Bacon Freeze Well?
Yes, uncured bacon does freeze well, especially when you follow the steps that we lay out above.
The main concern when dealing with uncured bacon is that the bacon will become freezer burned in the freezer. Following our steps will ensure you avoid this.
Also, ensuring that the bacon is placed at a location in the freezer where the temperature doesnāt fluctuate will allow you to avoid much freezer degradation at all.
Related FAQs
If youāve still got questions about freezing uncured bacon or bacon in general, then these may help:
Yes, lardons that are uncured can be frozen. If they’re in a packet, just pop this in the freezer and use them up within 6 months. Otherwise, portion them out into small airtight containers with tight-fitting lids.
Yes! In fact, vacuum packing meat, such as bacon, before freezing it is a great way to ensure it freeze airtight which will prevent freezer burn from setting in.
