Canning bacon is an easy option for storing your bacon for up to a decade and beyond. I’m not talking about expensive canned bacon you can buy at the store. I’m talking about fresh bacon, without any added preservatives or unnecessary ingredients that quite honestly are better left undigested. Canning your own bacon is oh so right, on so many levels.
So, if you are in possession of a lot of bacon, there is no need to eat it all up in a rush before it goes bad, or let it go to waste. And, you don’t have to rely on a freezer, which can lose power on any given day, resulting in all product having to be thrown out.
Canning bacon is easy and doesn’t require too many items.
Supplies Needed for Canning Bacon
The majority of these items might already be in your home. If not, they are easy to purchase at the store. Here is what you will need:
- Bacon
- Unbleached parchment paper or masking paper
- Pressure canner (traditional or electric)
- Sterilized canning jars (wide mouth is best)
If you don’t have a pressure canner, you can probably borrow one for this first batch. Test it out to see if this is something you would like to do again in the future. You might realize that you want your own pressure canner, after seeing how easy it is to have good bacon on your shelf, without risk of spoiling.
The most important thing to remember when choosing a canner for safely canning meat, is that it requires a 10 psi, or 15 psi for high altitude areas, which is pressure per square inch.
The Process of Canning Bacon
There are variations of this process around, but I found this is probably the easiest and most reliable. Before starting this process, and for exact timing and pressure settings, make sure to follow directions for your particular canner.
#1. Cut out a piece of parchment or masking paper, about 18” long, and lay it on a clean working surface.
#2. Place individual strips of bacon along the paper, without layering on top of each other.
#3. Carefully fold over the bacon and paper, in half.
#4. Roll the bacon and paper into a roll, as tight as you can get it.
#5. Place the roll of bacon into the jar (this is where wide mouth jars are more convenient), without adding any other ingredient, including water.
#6. Place the lid and ring on each jar, and tighten gently.
#7. Process the bacon jars in the pressure canner for 90 minutes, at 10 pounds of pressure.
#8. Once the process is over, you will notice some bacon grease at the bottom of each jar, which is normal. See the photo below to get an idea of what it will look like.
The final step is the best. When you are ready to have some bacon to eat, open the jar, unroll the bacon, and cook up what you want to eat at that time. Minutes later, you will be enjoying crisp and tasty bacon.
After the seal has been broken, place any unused bacon back in the jar and store in the refrigerator, just as you would with fresh bacon that has not yet been canned or frozen, typically no longer than 1 week. Keep in mind that once the seal of the jar is broke, it’s no longer safe to store outside the refrigerator or for long periods of time.
Various Ways to Can Bacon
If you want to change the above process up a bit, it doesn’t take much effort. For example, canning maple bacon is almost as easy as canning raw bacon. And, who doesn’t like maple bacon? Here is an easy way to have it on hand, ready to eat when you crave it:
- Cook the bacon
- Lay the bacon on the parchment paper
- Brush the bacon with maple syrup
Then roll up the bacon as you do in the raw bacon method, and follow the above directions for canning in the pressure canner to make sure the jars are sealed.
Another option is to can your very own bacon bits to use on salads and additions to many dishes. Simply cook the bacon and crumble it. Place the cooked crumbles in pint jars, then use the pressure canner to seal the jars.
You could have delicious bacon on your shelf, ready to eat or use in dishes, every day of the year. No more need to thaw frozen bacon, or take up precious space in the freezer. Or, wondering if the bacon in your refrigerator has spoiled before you can eat it.
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Did you use an electric pressure cooker? Can this be done with an insta pot? If so, what settings?
NOOOO!!!! You cannot can in the Instapot. Meat can ONLY be canned in a pressure cooker.
No, Instant Pot should not be used to can meat at this time. They do not meet the criteria and safety guidelines for canning anything other than veggies. Use a pressure canner that can reach the appropriate pressure for meats, which could be traditional or electric.
I see pressure cookers at the local Goodwill for around $20 all the time. At that price there is no reason to use anything else but the proper equipment.
Is a pressure cooker also called a pressure canner?
No. They are not the same. https://www.healthycanning.com/pressure-cookers-versus-pressure-canners/
Most of the Pressure Canners at Thrift stores are actually Pressure Cookers and can not be used for canning.
Most of the time the employees don’t know the difference an have them mismarked. Some companies advertise them as Pressure Cookers/Canners which is not so.
I have canned bacon for years… and just want to share a bit…. when you can the bacon raw…it is pretty nasty and slimmey when you go to use it… it falls apart and does not fair well, it works for soups and stews…. and I fried it up and used like bacon bits in scrambled eggs… but not good for much else… so what I do now… I use thick sliced bacon and and bake it at 350 for about 20 min till its about 1/2 cooked (depending on how you like your bacon cooked)… then I take it out and lay it on the parchment… and the rest is just like above instructions… then when you open it… it holds together and can be heated ect and used on sandwiches and as strips of bacon with breakfast… just my input…. thanks
Deb, thanks to you, I’m going to look for a pressure canner and try doing this. Thank You! Oh, and don’t let trolls like Mr. Rump get you upset. When tshtf and we lose power for six months or more, The left wingers like him, Nancy or Chuck, who think they live in a perfect world, will be the first to go. Maybe then, we can rebuild a new world without them huh?
Deb,
We’ve found the same thing. Can it raw, you get ‘bacon bits’….good for salads,etc, but not the traditional strips.
Now we broil it on a flat pan in the oven to around 3/4 cooked, then roll in parchment paper, in jar and pressure can. Comes out in good strips, we finish cooking for a few minutes in a pan to get it crisp.
Andy, yes and I really like having that wonderful bacon grease to put in jars and into the freezer for later 🙂
Why do you people insist on canning everything? Seriously it’s a fucking echo chamber in here.
Because canning has worked for hundreds of years. It is a proven way to preserve food without drying, or preservatives.
Most of us here (not all) are opposed to chemical preservatives, and some are opposed to dried rations.
That is why it is an echo chamber… because many of us agree that this is a good, chemical free, way to preserve food. We appreciate the thoughtful articles, and first hand experience.
Ronald, there are plenty of other articles here… why do you feel the need to troll this post? That is the real question.
dp,yes.
Maybe we can because we don’t want to loose our food when we loose power for an extended period of time, as I have in the past.Of course if your one of those who does not have food on hand I would suggest you go to another site that suits your interest, or keep your nasty comments to your self.
Probably because it IS the best method of preserving food. But then, feel free to offer an alternative that is better. We are all breathlessly awaiting your reply!
Why do you insist on using repulsive language (unacceptable in most audiences) on a public forum? I am truly sorry you were not raise better, friend. Life must be difficult for you.
Ronald Rump: Sir, I would appreciate it if you wouldn’t use profanity.
To be precise, Mr. Rump — how appropriate — used vulgarity, not profanity. Profanity is to use an oath or to invoke the name of the Deity. For example, “By God’s eyes, , ,” is an example of profanity. Hardly used these day. No one is capable a really good curse any more. For example, a good curse in my book is: May your first born be a hunchback with a hare lip and a club foot.
I wonder if Mr. Rump is his real name or is that a pseudonym that he has adopted because he uses language like the portion of the anatomy that his name calls to mind. I offer him my personal condolences if that is his real name. How he must have suffered as a child with a name like that. No wonder he has a skewed outlook on life. On the other hand, if that is his pseudonym taken because he likes to post nasty comments on line hiding behind an alias, perhaps he would do us all a favor and take his trolling to some other list.
Left Coast Chuck,
LOL. I always enjoy your comments. 🙂
Not sure what happened that you weren’t around for several months, or so it seems, but welcome back brother.
I hope that God has continually blessed you and yours…
To Rump, opened up a jar of Alaskan salmon that was smoked and then canned twelve years previous. It was just very good. Can it right, store it right, everything is alright. And you know what? Nobody has ever been called on the carpet for using kind words absent of curse words. The late great Thumper always said,” Mama always told if you you can’t say anything nice don’t say anything at all.”
Is this the kind of bacon you buy packaged in a grocery store or is it the kind you buy unpackaged from a butcher shop?
Howard, either works… but its better to find the thick cut bacon … it holds up better in the canning process
This is why I love this forum…
Well spoken folks with real world experience. Thank you Claude 🙂 for setting this place up for us.
I will try this…
fry the bacon 3/4 first, and then can it.
I love all of you, not so much the trolls…
dp,
We used to fry ours, but if you do much (we do the bacon we cure off 2 pigs at a time when we do this), the frying grease tends to turn the bacon dark after a couple rounds.
Wife discovered broiling on a slotted top oven pan keeps the bacon looking better, so that is how we do ours now.
I tried canning bacon several years ago. Though the instructions were from another source, they were identical to those above and I followed the to the letter since, at that time, I was new to canning meat. All the flavor went into the parchment and the drippings. Now, all I left with are a bunch of jars of flavorless strips of side meat. Has anyone who has canned bacon have this happen? Would partially cooking it possibly help?
Tastes vary. I bought a well known brand of canned bacon that had received rave reviews. I later thought perhaps they were posted by employees of the company. I found the bacon incredibly greasy. As I commented in a much earlier post, the can held more grease than I used on my tandem wheeled boat trailer when I greased the wheel bearings. I thought the bacon also had a funky taste that didn’t come close to the ecstasy of taste that the other reviewers had posted. I purchased a single can to sample before ordering a case of it. I did not purchase the case.
The long preamble is to suggest, Homesteader, that tastes vary and what one canner may find acceptable, you may find tasteless at best.
What to do with jars of tasteless strips of meat? Well, if you do any trapping, it would make good bait for your traps. When I was a kid and we used to go crabbing, we used bacon that we let ripen for a couple of days as bait for crabs. If you have dogs, they probably wouldn’t care what it tastes like and will scarf it down. If you have chickens you could feed them small pieces of it and the same with pigs, although the pigs could probably handle all the bacon you have easily in one meal and they won’t mind eating their cousins either. Ducks will eat it also. I read something about ducks in Thailand that I won’t relate here as this is a family web site. Based on what I read about Thai ducks, if you have ducks, they will eat the bacon. I think geese are herbivores, although they may eat bugs and small fish. — and perhaps small amounts of bacon too.
That about exhausts my list of farm animals that I think might enjoy your experiment in canning bacon.
I have a couple cases of that bacon you spoke of stored away. I simply put it on paper towels and nuke it a short time so it’s crispier and not so greasy. Although, I wouldn’t buy that bacon today. For what a single can costs today, I bought a whole case about ten years ago.
Thanks for your ideas on what to do with the jars of side meat. I’ll figure out something to do with them.
Sometimes bacon from a butcher shop is uncured. And it kinda tastes more like a pork steak. Lol.
We use thick cut cured/smoked bacon and it seems to be holding up well. Since 2012.
I also remember as a kid storing bacon in crocks covered with lard in the basement or root cellar.
I used a thick cut cured bacon when I canned it. Guess I didn’t do something right. When I buy bacon for a meal, I buy the uncured kind, rather than dip into what’s stored. .
Yeah, it was pricey which made it doubly disappointing. High price and low taste — a deadly to sales combination.
Sorry I couldn’t come up with something brilliant for you to do with your home canned bacon. Running low on flashes of inspiration.
I’ve been researching this for a time, and a site where I’m ordering some of my canning equipment recommends against canning bacon, especially if there’s no water. Would love everyone’s take on this.
well, shucks, it would help to include the dang website – https://www.healthycanning.com/home-canning-cured-meats-bacon-brined-corned-ham-etc/
I guess it would help to include the url! healthycanning[dot]com/home-canning-cured-meats-bacon-brined-corned-ham-etc/
To answer Vickie’s question, I went to the reference site that she gave and the answer is succinct. Canning recipes were developed in the 30s through the 50s through a government grant — you know those famous pork barrel grants that we all complain about unless the money is spent in our district. Actual peer reviewed scientific studies were done to develop recipes for home canning of various substances. There were some surprises. Fish required far more time than was originally estimated based on the supposed delicacy of fish flesh as compared to tough old beef. (proof reading this, predictive changed beef to beer. That would have surprised some readers)
One thing that was never tested was the canning of cured meats, thus there are no peer reviewed and scientifically tested recipes for canning cured meats. There are a couple of tested recipes for adding ham to canned pea soup and ham to beans but beyond that, nada.
For that reason, the USDA makes no recommendation for canning of cured meats. They have also not tested uncured bacon and sausage. They do have recipes for raw sausage and raw ground meat as they have tested both of those products.
To cut to the chase, the methods described in the article and in the sincere posts to the article may be considered anecdotal recipes. Other than the individual results that they report there has been no rigorous scientific testing of the end result. It’s kind of like the non-prescription recommendations for curing eczema. What works for some may not work for others. MaryLou’s successful recipe for canning bacon may not work for Homesteader.
I hope this is not an old posting…love the info here…Can you store precooked bacon like this?It is completely cooked…not half-cooked…I need advice…thank all
Honestly Tammy I have not tried the precooked bacon… but that stuff is so paper thin that I’m thinking it would turn into tiny bits of hard or burnt bacon… because you pressure can this for another 60 to 90 min (depending on if pints or quarts) and that bacon is a lot more expensive per pound…. I guess I personally would not chance it… I would just keep the precooked bacon in the freezer till I used it… and try to partially cook and can some nice thick applewood… to try it… if you like the results… do some more… if you do decide to rty to can the precooked bacon… please come back here and let us know how it turned out please.
I love bacon just about any way to make it. I bought a gyro kit which smelled wonderful but when the meat was cooked it was flat and bland. The smell came from the packing liquid. I have hgeard they improved the product but my experience was so negative that I won’t chance it again. As businesses start working harder and harder at making a cheaper product at a higher cost to consumers they are simply making aroma therapy…but the proof is in the end results. Do they seriously think we won’t notice the scam? I have found bacon made in that same way which I will never purchase again. I crisped it and fed it to the animals mixed into their feed. I could have used it in canning beans for the fats but I really prefer smoked meats in most of my beans. One can also find hams with the right smell when first opened but in the cooking it become dry cardboard. The more processed the ham is the more likely it’s going to be that way. I always make note of the best brands versus the worst so mistakes don’t happen twice.
Oops! I canned bacon a few years ago…and promptly forgot it! Reading this column reminded me I had several jars of canned bacon hiding behind more recent endeavors. Big opps. I wonder if it is still good! I pressure canned it in 2017…it looks good, the seal is still tight. Any ideas???