How Long Can Cooked Bacon Sit Out? - Let's Chew The World

Bacon is every meat lover’s delight. Be it on a breakfast plate, in a bowl full of creamy pasta, or on top of a delicious cupcake - bacon simply rules.

People love to fry it to different levels of crispiness. It hardly matters how you cook bacon. It tastes incredible in every possible way. But how long does it sit out?

You see, agencies that set the standards for food safety, like the Food Safety and Inspection Service in the US, are of the opinion that bacteria can grow on cooked food between 40 F and 140 F. So, food items should not be left at room temperature for more than 2 hours, after which it should be discarded.

It’s one thing when cooked bacon doesn’t stay uneaten for more than a few minutes. But leaving aside all hungry bacon devourers, the general advise is that you follow the same rules for bacon, too, and either refrigerate or eat cooked bacon within two hours instead of letting it sit out at room temperature.

Yet, it is important to remember that bacon belongs to cured meat category of food.

Uncooked bacon is preserved with salt and sodium nitrites. That is a method of curing bacon. Cured bacon prevents the growth of bacteria. Also, when cured bacon is fried, all the moisture is removed from the meat strips.

So, most of the time, cooked bacon does not go bad if left out on the counter overnight. Some users even vouch that cooked bacon can sit out of the fridge for a couple of days, as long as it is not contaminated. However, this does not apply to “uncured” or unpreserved bacon without nitrites.

It is better to keep an eye on your cooked bacon once it has been left out at room temperature for more than two hours. If it starts to smell off or develops a slimy layer on top, that’s not a good sign. You should also look for signs of mold. If any of these happen, discard the bacon with a heavy heart.

But the fresher your cooked bacon is, the better it will taste. Cooked bacon left outside will eventually get cold and change in texture. It can become chewy. If you reheat bacon in the microwave, it can turn leathery. So, even if it’s not unsafe, cooked bacon that’s left out for too long won’t be tasty enough.

Also, note that you can buy cooked bacon from the market. This is either shelf-stable or refrigerated when you buy it. Both of them can last in the pantry until the "use by" date set by the manufacturer if the pack is left unopened. But the shelf-stable version of cooked bacon should be stored below 85 F.