Raw bacon?

[Lakeside Smoker]

Can you eat raw bacon?
Its cured then smoked. So I guess its not 'raw' If you cant eat it, why not?

Thanks
Mike

[bbqjoe]

I suppose if you really wanted to, you could eat it.
It used to be years ago that pork was full of trichinosis.
With todays modern science trichinosis has pretty much been eliminated.
But really, why would you want to????

[ZILLA]

Maybe it would be like a smoked oyster.

[qman]

You probably could. The trichinosis issue is pretty much gone, but there are other critters out there. "Cured" bacon, at least supermarket bacon, is not a truly cured product, like fully cured and smoked sausage, country ham, Prosciutto, etc--all of which can safely be consumed "raw"
My test is this, if it can be stored without refrigeration, it is safe to eat "raw".

Just my nickle's worth.

[parrothead]

Originally Posted by qman

You probably could. The trichinosis issue is pretty much gone, but there are other critters out there. "Cured" bacon, at least supermarket bacon, is not a truly cured product, like fully cured and smoked sausage, country ham, Prosciutto, etc--all of which can safely be consumed "raw"
My test is this, if it can be stored without refrigeration, it is safe to eat "raw".

Just my nickle's worth.

That's a very good rule of thumb. I do however like to eat my bacon a little on the not done side.

[qman]

Originally Posted by parrothead

That's a very good rule of thumb. I do however like to eat my bacon a little on the not done side.

I will eat bacon "limp" too. I do not worry about that too much. I just would be real sure of my source before I ate it raw.

[RichardF]

I think in this day and age, the big issue would be with samonella and listeria, both of which can be found in "cooked/cured/smoke" packaged meat products like bacon, ham and hot dogs. In theory, you could eat most packaged hot dogs raw, but I don't think most public health officalls would recommend.

[Mooner]

Originally Posted by parrothead

That's a very good rule of thumb. I do however like to eat my bacon a little on the not done side.

Woof.... I can eat almost anything medium rare but not bacon. Thats like cutting the fat off your brisket and snacking on it a little. I think I just threw up in my mouth a little bit.