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Bacon contains a rather large amount of salt which can pose problems for people who are trying to find ways to reduce salt in their diet.

Is there some method that can be used to reduce the amount of salt in bacon?

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  • Use distilled water for more de-salting power. Soak in distilled water and change frequently.
    – Chloe
    Dec 21, 2018 at 5:33

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If you're buying bacon at the store, and trying to reduce the actual sodium in the product you've just purchased - you're out of luck. Like most things, you can't un-salt it. You can reduce the flavor, but in your case, the sodium is still there.

Alternative options include:

  • Buy reduced sodium bacon
  • Make reduced sodium bacon
  • Use less bacon, in order to reduce the total sodium intake.
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  • So basically once the sodium is added there's no way to remove it?
    – George Edison
    Aug 26, 2011 at 1:35
  • Yup, once salt dissolves in, it doesn't come out. You can dilute and mask it, but the sodium is there.
    – rfusca
    Aug 26, 2011 at 1:39
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    Surely you can 'unsalt' anything if you soak it in water for long enough? I've completely desalinated salt cod with a two day soak where I changed the water every 8 hours. Obviously, that's overkill for bacon because you still want it to be somewhat salty otherwise what's the point.
    – Stefano
    Aug 3, 2012 at 8:55
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    You absolutely can unsalt bacon by soaking it in cold water. Salt will move out of the cell membrane as it is semi permeable and into the water.
    – Halaster
    Apr 2, 2019 at 12:04
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You CAN desalt bacon.

Place the bacon in tupperware filled with water. Be sure to arrange the bacon so they are interlaced at the ends, allowing their surfaces to be exposed to the water.

Leave it overnight in the fridge. Drain the water.

Be careful, though, as removing the salts and preservatives will shorten the lifespan of your bacon. Therefore, you'll have to consume it relatively quickly. Otherwise, only desalt the peices you expect to eat.

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Another option to consider is to go to your local butcher and ask them to cure you some bacon specially. As @rfusca says, "you can't 'unsalt' it", but the butcher can cure it with significantly less salt. Alternately, the butcher may be willing to either smoke cure or sugar cure the slab.

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You can reduce the salt content of bacon by blanching it in simmering water for 30-60 seconds before you fry it. This is just like boiling a country ham in order to remove salt prior to baking. This will not remove all of the salt, but will make it noticeably less salty.

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Place cooled cooked bacon in frying pan and cover with water and heat up for a few minutes. Then drain the water off and reheat in frying pan or microwave. Will reduce saltiness by half.

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    Please do not repeat other answers
    – user34961
    Apr 2, 2019 at 11:57
  • ...No one else has suggested soaking/simmering after a first frying, and then re-frying. Some more details would be nice, but it doesn't seem like this answer is a repeat.
    – kitukwfyer
    Apr 3, 2019 at 2:17

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