Can You Eat Cured Bacon Raw
Bacon is very popular to eat for breakfast. It should not be eaten raw because it can cause health problems. It is unsafe to eat it raw because it can increase the risk of food poisoning. Eating raw bacon can parasitic infection. It can also cause gastrointestinal symptoms.
When it comes to the safety of eating cured bacon raw, we will start off simply saying that this is highly unreliable. If you trust that the bacon you are getting is handled correctly, you should be fine eating raw bacon, there are few risks. Because bacon goes through the smoke-drying process, it is not nearly as dangerous to eat raw as other cuts of pork that are uncured. Even if bacon goes through a curing and smoking process, it is typically done briefly on a low heat, which does not completely cook the bacon.
Smoked bacon is nearly just as dangerous to eat as uncooked, unsmoked bacon, since the smoking process does not completely cook the bacon. Smoking does indeed include a heat process, but the heat is not hot enough, nor is the heat exposure long enough, for you to safely eat uncooked smoked bacon. The smoke process does kill some bacteria, which may allow bacon to keep in the refrigerator for a little longer, but it does not smoke as long as other meats, which are ready to eat once they are finished with this process. Smoked bacon does last longer in the fridge, as the smoke helps reduce bacteria in the meat, as well as cooking it a little.
Some people will say the process of smoking bacon makes it safer for eating, right from the packaging. It is true that smoking, or cooking the meat slowly on indirect heat to infuse the woody flavour, can make bacon safe for eating, sans the need for roasting.
Even when cured, bacon still has the potential to go bad if not handled properly, and you cannot ensure your smoke-flavored bacon has indeed been smoked up to a safe internal temperature. Even after being cured and otherwise processed, Canadian bacon still has the potential to give rise to well-known diseases when it is not handled properly. Because curing, smoking, or brining is not sufficient to rid raw bacon of all of the diseases that come with its product. Cured or not, raw bacon is not cooked, and eating raw or uncooked meat increases your risk for food-borne illnesses.
This does not mean that you should eat raw bacon, as cooked meat still grows bacteria when handled improperly. Although bacon goes through a curing process that keeps it for a longer period of time, eating raw bacon increases the chances that you will be the victim of food poisoning. We accept there is some temptation to eat raw bacon straight from the packaging, but this is not safe or recommended.
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In a freezer, bacon keeps far longer than uncooked meat, and is definitely fine for eating unroasted. Because black bacon is salted, it will keep far longer than raw bacon when stored correctly in a refrigerator. Keep turkey bacon sealed in a package in the refrigerator, exposing it to only a minimum of warmer temperatures and oxygen, and you will find turkey bacon will keep for several weeks. Unopened bacon can last for 2 weeks or longer in the freezer, ALWAYS check the expiration date on the package.
Bacon that has been processed is 100% safe to eat once cooked, and it will keep longer when stored correctly in sealed bags in a fridge. If you want to avoid any risk of Salmonella poisoning, you should always cook dried-cured bacon until it is at least 165 degrees F, or 74 degrees C.
| Prevention | Cooking Temperature |
| To Prevent poisoning | Cook dried-cured bacon at 165 deg F. |
| To Prevent Bacteria | Cooking it to 145 degrees F usually eliminates the bacteria and pests. |
Bacteria on bacon surfaces can grow, even if you keep your bacon in the fridge; cooking it to 145 degrees F usually eliminates the bacteria and pests. Depending on your precise setting, you may be able to leave the bacon outside at room temperature overnight and eat it safely the next day, but it may be difficult to tell if the bacterial growth has started. If bacon is contaminated by bacteria at a plant in the packing process, it is possible that bacterial infections could occur if you eat it raw. Really, the only way to ensure the bacon you are eating is free of bacteria is to prepare it yourself thoroughly, either in a skillet, in an oven, or even in a microwave.
No, we cannot just eat a piece of bacon straight from the box, with no cooking, and we cannot make even one meal out of it, with no cleanup or cleanup.
If you would like to enjoy a little bit of bacony goodness without risking causing food poisoning, heres what you can do. I hope you understood the low points about why not eating portions of raw or uncooked bacon.
To understand why my colleagues believe that eating bacon raw is perfectly OK, you need to know how bacon is made and what cures are. This is where a lot of home cooks go wrong, by assuming raw bacon is smoked, cured, and thus just as safe to handle as Italian prosciutto. It is best not to overly rely on smokiness when talking about the safety of uncooked bacon.
Follow the cooking instructions on smoked bacon packages so that you can safely prepare and store for later, should you wish. When you store your bacon in the refrigerator, wrap it tightly with butchers paper and separate it from your other foods, particularly the ones that you would consume raw, such as cooked meats, cheeses, vegetables, and greens. Be sure to store raw bacon separately from other foods, and clean surfaces, hands, and utensils after handling it. Second, it is rare that you will find dry bacon in a supermarket; even when the curing process does not involve salting, the bacon is typically aged far less than in the old days, then packed into a vacuum, so it does not get truly dried out at all.
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As you might guess, some producers like to cut corners, sprinkling strips of bacon with liquid smoke, and packaging it minutes rather than hours after slaughtering pigs. The bacon needs to cook to crisp, or to achieve the safe internal temperature of 145degF (62.8degC). You can have bacon that is a little undercooked as long as you cooked it to 145degF. The 145degF is needed to remove all germs from bacteria.
Is cured bacon ready to eat?
It’s okay to consume it! If it were uncooked, it would appear to be raw pork, similar to a pork chop before it is fried. Both fried and butchered bacon are suitable for consumption. The term “raw” is misused when used about bacon before it is fried.
Can you get sick from eating cured bacon?
Cured bacon can be contaminated with Clostridium botulinum. Botulism is a disease that is caused by the C. botulinum toxins, and was originally named “sausage poisoning” when discovered in Germany, because this bacteria used to grow in oxygen-deprived environments such as sausage casings. Cured bacon is equally susceptible to botulinum, and you should follow precaution when consuming it.
Does cured bacon need to be cooked?
You need to cook your dry, cured bacon as it is unsafe to consume it raw. Though other types of meat like salami, smoked hams, biltong, and pastrami do not require cooking, cured bacon does as it can be contaminated with botulinum toxins, and thus, can be quite dangerous to consume raw.