Canning bacon bits

Everybody loves bacon, and having bacon bits on hand for salads, omelets, pizzas and more is great. But those real bacon bits you buy at the grocery can be a bit pricey. If you are already pressure canning foods, canning bacon bits is easy work.


I use 8 oz. jelly jars or 4 oz. jars for bacon bits, because most folks don't use more than a few ounces of bacon bits at a time. I suppose I shouldn't even bother with the tiny jars, since we usually refrigerate and use up the rest of the bacon bits fairly quickly, if they don't become a snack, that is. Darn tasty bacon!

The bacon must be cooked. I prefer thick sliced bacon because it holds up better to pressure canning. I usually do at least a pound and sometimes more to make it worth my while to run the canner for 75 minutes. The fastest way to cook up a lot of bacon is on a tray in the oven. If you have never done it this way, here's how it's done http://foxeslovelemons.com/culinary-school-lesson-bakin-bacon/   (I use foil to line my pan instead of parchment paper.)

Take care not to cook the bacon til it's crisp! Remember, it's getting 'cooked' again when you can it, so you need only cook it until it's 'cooked' but still flexible. Drain the cooked bacon on paper towels.

When it cools, get a pair of clean scissors and cut the meat on the bacon away from the fat. This really isn't as much trouble as it sounds; I kind of enjoy it. (While you are doing this, try not to eat more of the bacon than what you have set aside to can.) When you have finished doing this, discard the fat and use your scissors to cut those strips into bits about 1/4" long or so. When you get all that done and have a nice bowl of bacon bits, get your jars ready.

No matter how well you trim meat, it is always going to produce a bit of fat when you can it. The bacon bits stay out of the fat and separate better later if you keep them up off the bottom of the jar. To accomplish that, take strips of parchment paper, wad them up a bit and stuff one in the bottom of each jar. (The paper usually winds up about a third of the way up your jar.) I mush it down into the jar with a small juice glass, or you can use anything with a flat bottom.

Anyway, fill your jars with bacon bits, leaving about 1/2 inch head space. Top each with a simmering lid, apply the ring finger-tight, and process at 10 lbs pressure for 75 minutes. Yes, the jars are half the size of pint jars, but I don't know if you can cut the time by 15 minutes for half-pint jars (something to research, for sure). 

As you can see, the finished product is darker than it started out. That's ok - so is the stuff from the store. It's not soggy but it's not 'crispy'... I like the way it turns out... it sort of crumbles when you chew it. Now wipe your jars, date them and put them in your pantry. They need no refrigeration until you open a jar and use part of the product. The jar in my hand is one I opened for this demonstration on Feb. 27, 2015 and it was canned in Dec. 2013. We ate some and I thought it had a bit of 'smoky' flavor, but given most bacon is smoked and canning seems to amplify flavors, that's to be expected. For you serious canners, I hope this post inspires you to try this for yourselves.