How long for unrefrigerated bacon?

[cssmd27]

My wife accidentally left out 5 lbs. of frozen Nueske's smoked bacon yesterday for about 24 hrs.  It thawed and was up to 60 degrees when I found it.  It's still in the original vacuum packaging.  Ok to eat or toss it?

 

I've read the official sites, but I was looking for opinions here.  10 years ago, I would have tossed it without thinking.  However, Benton's ships their bacon unrefrigerated and they have told me that it's fine for about 4 days or so.

Edited March 13, 2014 by cssmd27 (log)

[liuzhou]

Bacon was invented to preserve pork in the days before artificial refrigeration.

 

Eat it.

Edited March 14, 2014 by liuzhou (log)

[Arey]

One problem nowadays is that  a lot of food is processed in a manner unlike the old ways that actually preserved food. A good example of this is Sauerkraut, much of which was r slowly fermented and keeps for ever. Now it's produced using chemicals that mimic the fermenting.  I learned about sauerkraut when I called the manufacturer of my favorite, and was told it would only keep a couple of weeks in the fridge once opened. I also had an unopened bag of the same brand sauerkraut which I had kept beyond its best by date, and it turned brown.    If it was a supermarket brand , of bacon I wouldn't hesitate to toss it, 

[dcarch]

Salt and nitrites in bacon preserves it.

 

dcarch 

[Mjx]

The vacuum packing suggests a botulism risk.

[Shel_B]

The vacuum packing suggests a botulism risk.

 

I have read that elsewhere ... I'd be real cautious about eating the bacon.  That's not to say I wouldn't, but caution is the key word here.

[Robenco15]

Put it in your mouth slowly

[rotuts]

excellent idea

 

also cook it.

[dcarch]

The vacuum packing suggests a botulism risk.

 

Plastic bagging can only give you an airless environment, no different than say, the bottom of a bowl of soup..

 

You need a solid container such as a glass bottle or a metal can to create an environment that is less than atmosphere pressure. 

 

dcarch

[gfweb]

Plastic bagging can only give you an airless environment, no different than say, the bottom of a bowl of soup..

 

You need a solid container such as a glass bottle or a metal can to create an environment that is less than atmosphere pressure. 

 

dcarch

It's not quite that straightforward. In a sealed vessel of any sort that has a limited volume of air , it is possible for aerobic bacteria to use up the limited oxygen which then makes it possible for anaerobes eg C botulinum to grow. Don't know how fastidious that particular bug is re oxygen, but many anaerobes will tolerate a surprising amount of O2.

[dcarch]

It's not quite that straightforward. In a sealed vessel of any sort that has a limited volume of air , it is possible for aerobic bacteria to use up the limited oxygen which then makes it possible for anaerobes eg C botulinum to grow. Don't know how fastidious that particular bug is re oxygen, but many anaerobes will tolerate a surprising amount of O2.

 

By airless, I meant the absence of oxygen as well. Such as in the bottom part of a bowl of soup, which essentially has most of the dissolved air and oxygen boiled away.

 

dcarch  

Edited March 14, 2014 by dcarch (log)

[gfweb]

A sealed vessel and a bowl of soup are different. We are talking about a presumably sealed bacon container of some sort.

But let's not quibble.