It turns out that freeze dried bacon makes for a great snack but for best results, you’ll want to cook it first. You can pre-fry or pre-cook your bacon prior to freeze drying and it will make for a great snack whenever you’re ready to eat it.
Does Freeze Dried Meat Go Bad?
Like any other freeze dried item, meat can technically go bad, eventually, but with proper storage away from light, moisture, and oxygen, it will still have a shelf life of at least 25 years just like any other freeze dried food that is stored properly. Just remember, freeze dried bacon is not dehydrated bacon. Dehydrated bacon is partially cooked during the dehydrating process and will make a mess during the process and will go rancid on you in a short amount of time.
Can You Freeze Dry Uncooked Bacon?
Technically, you can freeze dry uncooked bacon but we don’t recommend it. Freeze dried, uncooked bacon, like any other meat, still needs to be cooked at some point.
Because bacon is so fatty, it will have not rehydrate well for cooking later and it’s never a good idea to try to cook any sort of bacon in water because of the splattering of hot oils.
If you try to cook the freeze-dried bacon in an oil bath instead of water, you’ll find that it still doesn’t rehydrate well at all and therefore you won’t get the taste or texture that you’re looking for in bacon.
For these reasons, we recommend either baking or frying the bacon BEFORE it goes in the freeze dryer. You’ll cut down on mess and your freeze dried bacon will make for a perfectly crispy snack whenever yo
What is the Shelf life of Freeze Dried Bacon?
Like any other freeze dried foods, freeze dried bacon will last 25 or more years if stored properly. Proper storage includes the 3 following rules:
- Keeping the bacon away from light (we like to store it and all other freeze dried food in sealed Mylar bags)
- Store the bacon in a cool, dry place (basements are good or a closet if you don’t have a basement).
- Keep oxygen out of the package (we like to use 300cc oxygen scavengers). Make sure no matter the container you use that you verify it is tightly sealed before you add the oxygen scavenger.
Following these 3 rules for storage will ensure that you get the maximum amount of shelf life for your bacon.
Conclusion
Freeze dried bacon makes a great snack. Because bacon is extremely fatty, you’ll want to pre-cook it since it won’t rehydrate well for later cooking. For maximal shelf-life, follow our 3 rules for storage for maximal shelf-life. Enjoy!