Nothing beats the classic combination of crispy bacon, fluffy eggs, and melted cheese sandwiched between two slices of toast. It’s a filling, protein-packed way to start the day. But what if you don’t finish your tasty bacon, egg, and cheese sandwich right away? How long can it safely sit out before bacteria start to grow and make it unsafe to eat?
The 2 Hour Rule
Perishable foods like bacon, eggs, and cheese should not sit at room temperature for more than 2 hours This is the general guideline set by the USDA After 2 hours in the “danger zone” between 40°F to 140°F, bacteria can multiply quickly.
If a bacon, egg, and cheese sandwich sits out for more than 2 hours, it is best to throw it out. The 2 hour window includes prep and cooking time too. So even if you just assembled the sandwich, the clock starts ticking.
Within 2 hours, the sandwich must be refrigerated or eaten. But what are the risks if you break the 2 hour rule?
Increased Risk of Foodborne Illness
Eating a bacon, egg and cheese sandwich that has sat out too long puts you at risk for food poisoning. Bacteria that can grow even at room temperature include
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Salmonella – Raw eggs may contain this bacteria. Symptoms include fever, diarrhea, vomiting, and abdominal cramps.
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Listeria – Processed meats like bacon can harbor listeria. It causes fever, muscle aches nausea.
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Staphylococcus – Bacteria from handling can multiply. Causes vomiting, diarrhea, cramps.
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Clostridium perfringens – Found on raw meat, causes abdominal cramps and diarrhea.
While healthy adults may just experience temporary gastro-intestinal distress, foodborne illness can be fatal for those with compromised immune systems. Children, pregnant women, elderly, and sick individuals should be especially careful.
Extending Time Limits Safely
If you really want to stretch that 2 hour limit, there are some ways to safely leave your bacon, egg, and cheese sandwich out a bit longer:
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Keep it on the cooler side of room temperature, ideally below 70°F. Warmer temperatures enable faster bacterial growth.
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Minimize handling and air exposure. Keep it wrapped up.
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Stack ingredients straight from the fridge. Cold ingredients buy you more time.
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Cook the eggs thoroughly until yolks are firm. Raw eggs pose greater risks.
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Use pasteurized eggs to reduce salmonella risk.
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Choose pre-cooked bacon to minimize risks.
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Use cheese alternatives like soy cheese if you have lactose intolerance. Real cheese increases spoilage rate.
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Consider a breakfast sandwich maker to cook everything hotter and more evenly.
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Keep your kitchen clean when prepping to avoid cross-contamination.
What If I Eat a Bad Sandwich?
We’ve all been there – it’s noon and you realize your tasty bacon, egg, and cheese sandwich has been sitting out since breakfast. Should you risk taking a few bites or cutting off the less cooked parts?
It’s generally not advisable to eat if it has been sitting out upwards of 4 hours. The bacteria levels may be high enough at that point to make you ill. We also tend to underestimate how long food has been unrefrigerated.
If you do eat a sandwich that has sat out too long, watch closely for symptoms of food poisoning. Nausea, vomiting, diarrhea, fever, and abdominal cramps may set in within 6 to 48 hours after exposure.
Drink plenty of fluids and call your doctor if severe symptoms arise. Food poisoning usually resolves on its own within a week. But certain high-risk individuals may need medical support to recover from dehydration and infection.
Play It Safe with Time and Temp Control
Preparing your dream bacon, egg, and cheese sandwich? Enjoy it within 2 hours and you can feel confident it’s safe. Stretching to 3-4 hours in a cool kitchen with cold ingredients may be ok in a pinch. But beyond that, it’s best to discard.
Keeping tabs on time and maintaining proper temperatures are key to preventing bacterial growth and potential foodborne illness. A tasty sandwich isn’t worth that misery! So stick to the 2 hour rule or simply refrigerate leftovers promptly to be able to safely savor your bacon, egg, and cheese again later.
3 Major Types of Bacon
When most people talk about bacon in the U. S. , theyre referring to a product that you can pick up at grocery stores near the lunch meats. This mass-produced bacon is cured with salt and nitrates before being heat processed in an oven. It is then sliced for packaging and quickly chilled to below 40°F in order to stymy bacterial growth.
But not all bacon is the mass-produced kind you find next to Lunchables. Dry-cured bacon is made by letting pork cure for several days, which makes it much less likely to get bacteria than mass-produced bacon. Uncured bacon is technically still cured but uses natural nitrates instead of synthetic ones. Some consumers find this to be a healthier and more natural option than mass-market bacon.
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How Long Does Bacon Last In the Fridge?
Once a package of bacon is opened, the USDA recommends that you use or freeze the bacon within 7 days to ensure freshness. If unopened, use the refrigerated bacon within a month (or 1 week past the sell-by date).
Authentic New York Bacon Egg and Cheese At Home
How to make a bacon egg & cheese breakfast sandwich?
Fold over one slice of bread on top forming the sandwich. Now cook it like a classic skillet grilled cheese sandwich. It will take a minute or two to brown each slice of bread. And just like that, your bacon egg, and cheese breakfast sandwich is done. Pretty simple right? Well except for the flipping part, that may cause you to stumble a little.
How long is it safe to keep egg whites?
You can store egg whites in the refrigerator up to two days before it becomes unsafe to use them. If you need to store them for longer you can freeze them for up to three months. An interesting way to store them in the freezer that would make them easy to use is by storing them in an ice cube tray. That way you could pop one egg white out (or however many you want) whenever you wanted to use them. I would recommend keeping the ice cube tray of egg whites in a Ziploc freezer bag to prevent freezer burn.
What makes a good bacon egg and cheese?
The key to a great bacon egg and cheese, therefore, lies in its precise execution. In my opinion, the ideal BEC has the following basic features: Its layers should exist in balance. Not too much bun, not too little bacon, not a mountain of eggs so thick you can barely manage to get your teeth around the thing.
Can you make a bacon egg and cheese sandwich without eggs?
Eggs – You can’t make a bacon egg and cheese sandwich without the eggs. Bacon – I love bacon. Use whatever kind of bacon you want. I love a good hickory or applewood smoked bacon. If you would like you can swap the bacon for ham or a sausage patty. Or maybe you want to make your own homemade cured bacon and use that.
How do you start a day with a bacon and egg sandwich?
Today I bring you one of my favorite ways to start out the day, a bacon, egg, and cheese sandwich. My perfect combo is toasted bread, softly folded eggs, melted cheddar, crispy bacon, and doused in jam and hot sauce. But maybe you want to switch a few things up, perhaps with runny eggs and bagel instead.
Can you make a bacon egg and cheese sandwich vegan?
To make your bacon, egg, and cheese sandwich vegetarian, all you have to do is swap out the beef bacon with tempeh or plant-based bacon alternatives. To go the extra mile and make it vegan, swap the cheese for dairy-free cheese and leave out the eggs.