quick question about BACON

[icxcnika]

Hi mamas,
I have a package of lovely nitrate-and-preservative-free bacon. It says "use or freeze by Dec. 30, 2009" and has been in my freezer since at least a week or two before that date. I took it out tonight and it accidentally got left at room temp for longer than I had intended, and it partially thawed. I knew I shouldn't re-freeze it, so I stuck it in the fridge.

My question is: do I have to cook it tonight, or can it sit in the fridge until tomorrow morning? Is it still good?? I don't want to waste lovely bacon, but I'm big on food safety.

Thank you so much!!

[robugmum]

I'd cook it and either use it right away or freeze it cooked. The nitrite free stuff doesn't last very well because there's no preservatives. IME it goes off quite quickly. I always cook the entire pack at a time and cut it into small pieces to freeze for soups, salads, sandwiches, omelettes, fritattas, baked potatoes,.....

[tanyalynn]

It seems like you've got more refrigerator-temperature-time left--was it a lot warmer than frig temp? I'd cook it tomorrow morning, but I admit I'm not a food safety expert.

[cristeen]

If it only partially thawed when it went into the fridge it's fine. Probably for at least a week if the package is still sealed.

And you can absolutely refreeze it. Since it was not kept for excessively long at thawed temps (long enough to go bad), it wasn't thawed at room temp, etc., then refreezing it would only sacrifice a bit of texture. It wouldn't make it unfit for consumption.