ISO non-perishable sandwich ideas

The friendliest place on the web for anyone that enjoys cooking.
If you have answers, please help by responding to the unanswered posts.
Is bacon that shelf stable?


Hi Jet:

Without getting too technical, cooked bacon would be safe for 4 hours or so but it would have to be cooked at least "medium" for lack of a better word.

The reason is due to something in food safety called water activity or Aw. This is a measure of how much "free water" a food has, that is water that is not tied up in other food molecuels.

Bacteria need this free water to grow. The Aw scale is 0 to 1. Anything below .86 is considered safe at room temperature. Cooked bacon's Aw is less than .86, as the free water is driven out during cooking.

The other factor in determining if a food will be safe at room temperatur is ph, which is a measure of the level of acidity or alkalynity. the ph scale goes from 0 to 14 with 7 being nuetral. Foods with a ph level below 7 are acid, and foods with a ph below 4.6 are acidic enough to not support bacterial growth.

Either factor is protective. For example, many breads have a ph of around 6, but a water activity below 8.5, so it is safe at room temperature. Most fruits
have higher Aw but ph below 4.6.

Of course, if you whip out your sammy and a piece of litmus paper, people might think you're nuts. :ROFLMAO:

(by the way, nuts are safe...low Aw:rolleyes:)
 
Last edited:
Without getting too technical, cooked bacon would be safe for 4 hours or so but it would have to be cooked at least "medium" for lack of a better word....

That's great news! I make a great PB-BLT but I did not think the bacon would stay good.
 
I think I have an answer to your problem....

My sister last year bought me some "Willow" ezfreeze food storage containers with freezer gel lids. All you do is put the lids into the freezer and in the morning take them out and place food in container and put lid on top. The gel lid acts as your freezer block. It has a US patent on the box so I am assuming they are available in the US. If you need the patent number let me know.
 
My sister last year bought me some "Willow" ezfreeze food storage containers with freezer gel lids. All you do is put the lids into the freezer and in the morning take them out and place food in container and put lid on top. The gel lid acts as your freezer block. It has a US patent on the box so I am assuming they are available in the US. If you need the patent number let me know.

Unfortunately, space is an issue. I looked late last year and could not find anything small enough (I am currently using brown paper bags). I will have to check again.
 
The PB-BLT worked out. Just for extra measure, I threw it in the freezer while I was having breakfast.

I will have to look at insulated lunch bags again. I looked last year but could not find anything small enough.
 
The best time to look for insulated lunch bags is "Back to school" time. I think Walmart carries every imaginable lunch bag or box. A couple of years ago I bought my DD one that was the same size as a brown bag. I found this online. Is it something like what your looking for? http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/21lSZIEOioL.jpg

I have one that looks just like that but it is too large. The rigid plastic sandwich container on the bottom is a problem.
 

Latest posts

Back
Top Bottom