You can never go wrong with bacon. It’s that simple. Well at least according to lovers of the cured meat which is popular as a breakfast item, sandwich filling, salad ingredient and pizza topping among many other applications. So popular is the food item that versions of it have popped up all over the world for those who do not eat pork for one reason or another. Macon (made from mutton), vegetable bacon, coconut bacon and our subject today turkey bacon are some examples of these bacon alternatives that have popped up. Any real bacon lover will dismiss the idea of having leftover cooked bacon of any kind but it might just happen. So if you have leftover turkey bacon after cooking how do you store it? Well first let’s understand how they come up with turkey bacon.
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What Is Turkey Bacon?
Turkey bacon is as the name suggests is bacon that is prepared using the meat of turkeys. The meat is cured and salted just as pork bacon and it is chopped and shaped further to resemble pork bacon as much as possible. It gained popularity as an alternative to bacon for those who did not want to consume bacon for religious, nutritional and dietary reasons. Turkey bacon on average has 25% fewer calories and a whopping 35% less saturated fat than bacon. It’s still a high-calorie food for those who are on calorie-restricted diets. Due to its lower fat content turkey bacon doesn’t shrink in cooking. It is used as a bacon substitute in applications such as sandwiches and breakfast. Now that we understand the properties of turkey bacon we can discuss how to store cooked turkey bacon.
Preparation
The cooking process has to come first as it will influence how we store our cooked turkey bacon. Just like regular bacon you have three options for how to prepare your turkey bacon. The most popular method is pan-frying. This works great and is admired for its simplicity but lean versions of turkey bacon can easily stick to the pan so it may not be the best idea. Your second option is deep-frying which works much better with turkey bacon than regular bacon. Pork bacon is very high fat and will shrivel up as it loses fat in deep frying. Turkey bacon is much leaner and will not lose much size in deep frying and this method is preferred by many. Finally grilling is another great option for preparing turkey bacon. Just remember that turkey bacon being leaner means it may come off the grill a little dryer than pork bacon. It is customary when cooking any type of bacon via any of the methods to drain the bacon on a paper towel after cooking to allow excess fat to drip from the bacon.
In The Refrigerator
Your first option for storing cooked turkey bacon is the refrigerator which you will be pleased to know can keep your cooked turkey bacon very well. Just remember that when dealing with cooked food you must make sure you refrigerate it within two hours of cooking or removing it from a heat source. The best materials to use when storing turkey bacon in the refrigerator are aluminium foil or cling wrap. It is best to wrap your turkey bacon completely around making sure it is completely covered. For best results in storage, you will want to wrap the turkey bacon twice around to ensure complete coverage. In the absence of these, you can also use any shallow airtight containers or resealable freezer bags, preferably heavy duty. Your cooked turkey bacon is expected to keep for 4 to 5 days in the refrigerator.
In The Freezer
If you’re uncertain about using your cooked turkey bacon within 5 days then you may want to consider freezing your cooked turkey bacon. You can store cooked turkey bacon in the freezer if need be. The method is similar to storing it in the refrigerator. Double wrap your bacon in either aluminium foil or cling wrap and make sure it’s airtight or as close to it as possible. Place the wrapped turkey bacon package inside a heavy-duty freezer bag, a resealable one would be best. If you have multiple servings of turkey bacon it is best to wrap the servings separately but you can place them in the same freezer bag. Be sure to mark your bag with the date of freezing. From this date, you have up to 8 weeks to use your turkey bacon with the date of freezing. When thawing your cooked and frozen turkey bacon it is best practice to thaw it in the refrigerator and this may take up to 24 hours. Thawing it on the countertop or at room temperature is a bad idea as that puts your cooked turkey bacon at risk of rapid bacterial growth. In extreme cases and if your cooked turkey bacon was wrapped with foil you can throw the frozen package into a 180 degrees Celsius oven and heat for 20 to 30 minutes. If you used cling wrap you can reheat your frozen package in the microwave. How long it will take depends more on the size of the package but it is best to use a two or three-stage heating process allowing the package to rest at intervals to spread the heat evenly.
You can safely store cooked turkey bacon the refrigerator for around 4 to 5 days if you follow instructions outlined above for its storage. If you want to keep cooked turkey bacon for longer than 5 days you have the option of freezing it. You will be able to keep the cooked turkey bacon for up to 8 weeks.
