Monday, August 31, 2009

Bacon is Good Except When It's Bad

I found two packages of bacon in my fridge on Saturday (August 29). One was marked as "best used by" Sept 1 2009 and the other Aug 30. In my finite wisdom I decided to cook both of them, since they were both about to "expire", and planned on using the leftovers for BLTs or in a salad or something. Anything. I just didn't want the bacon to go to waste.

The Sept 1 package was cooked first and intended for immediate consumption for dinner (yes, all you redneckophobes we were having breakfast for dinner). And I should disclose that I did in fact smell the bacon before cooking to make sure it wasn't funky before I cooked it. After the first package was all cooked and the scrambled eggs were still simmering, I did steal a piece from the paper towel lined plate. It tasted disappointingly "not fresh". Not bad enough to prevent it being eaten at dinner though, but enough to know that this bacon was not smoked yesterday.

I opened up the second package, the Aug 30 one, and took a whiff. And tossed it into the trash. It had definitely taken a turn for the worse.

Whats the point of expiration dates? I drank some milk last week that was a good 3 or 4 days past its date and it was great, but I had to throw away some of God's bounty because it was rotten a full day before it was supposed to be.

13 comments:

Big A said...

if it goes bad before the expiration date, why wouldn't you return it to the store for a refund?

gagknee said...

good point. i didn't think of that.

gagknee said...

eh. even if i had thought of it, i wouldn't have. not worth it for a $4 package of bacon.

Pete said...

you should complain to the packager that their testing environment isn't up to par.

Rob said...

Expiration dates are one of the more heated topics around our dinner table. I consider them to be more guideline than deadline.

L-DUB said...

Nonsense. Bacon is the perfect food.

There is NO bad bacon... Only bad people who let their bacon get old.

gagknee said...

Larry's right. I am a bad bad person. I'm sorry to everybody I have let down.

Nathan Gagne said...

I cant wait till chocolate covered bacon makes it up north. http://blogs.themorningblend.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/08/chocolate-covered-bacon.jpg

gagknee said...

Ooo. chocolate covered... i think that might beat the chicken fried bacon i saw on the food network the other day.

Trish said...

Andy have you tried Baconnaise? I bet it NEVER goes bad!

Big A said...

That's because there's not even any bacon in it!

Big A said...

I generally consider the expiration date to be a "sell by" date. If that date is the last day an item can be sold by a store, surely it should be good for at least a FEW days beyond it.

My wife does not agree.

gagknee said...

i've never tried baconnaise.