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pre-cooked bacon, my favorite no-cook food.


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Home Forums General Forums Food, Hydration, and Nutrition pre-cooked bacon, my favorite no-cook food.

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Viewing 15 posts - 1 through 15 (of 15 total)
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  • #1302938
    Justin Baker
    BPL Member

    @justin_baker

    Locale: Santa Rosa, CA

    Most of you probably know about this stuff. I have been using the Oscar Mayer pre-cooked bacon packages. It's sealed and doesn't need to be refrigerated.

    They have 127 calories per ounce and taste awesome cold or fried up a bit.

    I have also cooked some up myself before a trip which is cheaper but I don't know how long it would last.

    Anyone else like bacon?

    #1986291
    Heather Hohnholz
    BPL Member

    @hawke

    Bacon is.

    'Nuff said.

    #1986299
    Gary Dunckel
    BPL Member

    @zia-grill-guy

    Locale: Boulder

    I love bacon. I also buy the pre-cooked stuff, vacuum seal individual portions, and store them in the fridge. They don't spoil when on the trail, but I usually eat them in the first couple of days. I feel the need to burn the packaging in a campfire, as the smell is certain to attract critters.

    #1986303
    Jim H
    BPL Member

    @jraiderguy

    Locale: Bay Area

    I actually saw this stuff the other day at the store and it didn't even dawn on me to take it backpacking. You're a GENIUS!

    I tried the PackIt Gourmet no cook chicken salad recently and it was a great lunch on crackers. Adding some bacon and a tortilla will make it an excellent dinner wrap.

    #1986490
    Justin Baker
    BPL Member

    @justin_baker

    Locale: Santa Rosa, CA

    Bacon bits are good too.

    #1986765
    Tim Haynes
    Member

    @timalan

    Locale: Mid Atlantic

    If you can find Wild Bill's Bacon Jerky, it's easily the best trail bacon I've found. Sometimes places like World Market will carry it, or you can order online. Thick cuts of bacon, great texture (more tender than normal beef jerky, but not flaccid like undercooked bacon). Truly incredible stuff.

    My advice is to make freezer bag couscous with butter flavor, cheese, garlic, pepper, onion powder and other spices… add the bacon and it tastes like a mashed version of the best baked potato you've ever eaten. My favorite breakfast for the trail.

    #1986778
    Heather Hohnholz
    BPL Member

    @hawke

    I've made my own bacon jerky in the dehydrator. Turned out pretty freaking awesome.

    #1986863
    Elliott Wolin
    BPL Member

    @ewolin

    Locale: Hampton Roads, Virginia

    Do you cook the bacon first, or just dehydrate it raw? Usually they say not to dehydrate raw pork (or chicken or other shellfish or…). Bacon is smoked a bit, not sure if it's smoked enough, though.

    #1986864
    Tim Drescher
    BPL Member

    @timdcy

    Locale: Gore Range

    I usually add jalapenos spiced bacon to my Idahoan mashed potatoes… along with Cholula and olive oil. Delicious and easy!

    #1986962
    Sarah Kirkconnell
    BPL Member

    @sarbar

    Locale: Homesteading On An Island In The PNW

    Oh yeah, I bought a bag of the bacon jerky to review. Teen saw it. I never saw the bag again. He ate it all in maybe 3 minutes? ;-P

    #1986991
    James Marco
    BPL Member

    @jamesdmarco

    Locale: Finger Lakes

    Luv the stuff. I never eat it at home, though.

    Anyway, a pound of bacon is really excelent on the trail. The downside is the smell and greasy hands. I carry it raw, packed in extra salt. I have been out with it a couple weeks with no spoilage. A couple strips added to rice, macaroni, potatoes or other "starch" food will really spice a meal it up.

    Precooking is OK. But this will often try out any fats/oils. Dehydrating is good but will make a mess in the dehydrator. There are way too many fats in most bacon to dehydrate well.

    Generally I use two or three strips per supper, often added to a rice side or soup/stew. This should be packaged at home in small "snack" sized zip-locks with a little salt. Otherwise, it makes a mess with all the fats. I use it the same as salt pork. This is fairly traditional, since salt pork has been used on longer expeditions/wooden ships for a few hundred years. Very high in calories and keeps very well. The problem with modern pork is that adding salts will semi-dehydrate the meat, driving off excess water into solution with the salt. You can safely pour off the water brine after a couple days without effecting storage. Keeping the water in the meat is more a commercial way to get you to pay more for the meat, typical of most stores.

    Due to the possible tape worms, it should always be cooked fairly well done. Preserving with salt will NOT kill eggs/cycts in the meat. It should be cooked to 160-170F for about 15 seconds to kill the worm. In most western countries, there is virtually no problem with pork, but I really don't want worms.

    #1986992
    Justin Baker
    BPL Member

    @justin_baker

    Locale: Santa Rosa, CA

    I have carried it raw in the past for shorter trips. I would cook it on a stick over a campfire or fry it. But it's really heavy that way. The great thing about the precooked stuff is it has a lot of calories per ounce so it's not a heavy luxury food.
    It's good to know that raw bacon can keep well. That means that the pre-cooked stuff should stay good for a long time.
    How dry is bacon jerkey? Bacon is so thin that it gets pretty dry when cooked. It almost seems like dehydrating and cooking would achieve the same result unless you made it 100% dry.

    #2014687
    Valerie E
    Spectator

    @wildtowner

    Locale: Grand Canyon State

    Oberto brand now has "bacon jerky" — they're a mass market brand. I got it as a 3-pack at Sam's Club. Already tried it, and it (not surprisingly) tastes just like regular bacon, plus it's not TOO hard (softer than jerky, which is a good thing IMHO). Will be taking it on my upcoming Sierras trip.

    #2014739
    Stephen Barber
    BPL Member

    @grampa

    Locale: SoCal

    Another nice thing about Oberto's bacon jerky is that, compared to other pre-cooked and raw bacon, they reduce the fat a good bit. Still tastes great!

    #2014776
    Jeffrey Pelz
    Member

    @old_guy

    Locale: Tri-Valley

    I've been know to place peanut butter on my Cliff bars, but when I bring out the Chocolate covered cooked bacon. Yum!

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