The folks who recommend the smell test are playing Russian roulette and should stop. It is well known that the kinds of bacteria that cause food poisoning do not affect the look, smell, or taste of food. Just do a Google search on "smell and food safety" and educate yourselves. Not everything our mothers taught us is true.
There are many food items that are worth worrying about but the ones i worry about the least are unopened heavily salted/preserved items. Commercial bacon is sooooo salt heavy, I would comfortably use it a month and maybe even two months, after its expiration date (after i assured it smelled right.)Same thing with unopened yoghurt/sour cream/buttermilk/pickles/vinegar containing condiments where there is a good amount of acid present.
You might want to cut your bacon block in half, wrap each half in saran and then freezer bag them. If i'm in a rush to use frozen bacon, i nuke it 30-60 seconds to soften it so it can be separated and cooked. Once cooked, bacon lasts in the frig at least a month for us. I've done all this the past 40 yrs, w/no known troubles, but ymmv.
(Now go worry about something worthwhile, like scrubbing/bleaching your cutting board after cutting fish , poultry or meat!)Just jibin' you, melissa ;-)
No insult intended!
If you are going to freeze it, I would toss it. If you were going to use it, I would give it the smell test and if it looked and smelled fine, I would probably use it.
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You might want to cut your bacon block in half, wrap each half in saran and then freezer bag them. If i'm in a rush to use frozen bacon, i nuke it 30-60 seconds to soften it so it can be separated and cooked. Once cooked, bacon lasts in the frig at least a month for us. I've done all this the past 40 yrs, w/no known troubles, but ymmv.
(Now go worry about something worthwhile, like scrubbing/bleaching your cutting board after cutting fish , poultry or meat!)Just jibin' you, melissa ;-)
No insult intended!
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