Cured vs. Uncured Bacon: An Expert Explains the Difference

Have you ever looked through the bacon selection at the grocery store and noticed that while most of the packages are labeled "cured," there are some that are labeled "uncured?" This has always confused me because I’ve been told that all bacon is cured. So what gives?

To get to the bottom of this, I spoke with Matthew Moskowitz, butcher at Foster Sundry, one of my favorite butcher shops in Brooklyn, New York. He confirmed that all bacon is cured, and helped me understand why some are labeled as uncured. Here's what I learned.

What Is Curing? 

“Curing is the addition of salt to a product to change the chemical properties in a way that preserves it,” says Moskowitz. The salt in the brine prevents the growth of certain kinds of bacteria that cause meat to spoil. Curing also imparts flavor to the meat. In addition to salt, often sugar, herbs, or spices are added to the brine for flavor.

Both cured and uncured bacon start as slabs of pork belly that are either injected with a wet brine—a saltwater solution—or placed into a wet brine. Some bacon is still made using a dry brine—a dry salt and seasoning mixture—but wet brines are more common. 

Smoking meat is also a way of preserving it, and most bacon is smoked over a low temperature after being cured to help further dehydrate the meat, and to impart a nice smoky flavor. 

What Is Cured Bacon? 

Bacon is most often cured using artificial nitrites, a chemical additive that preserves the meat and gives bacon its pink color. The bacon at Foster Sundry is cured in-house using pink curing salt (it's not the same thing as Himalayan pink salt), a mixture of sodium chloride (table salt) and sodium nitrite. Pink salt is also known as Prague powder, Insta Cure #1, or pink curing salt #1, and it is commonly used to cure meats, like corned beef.

“There’s a more attractive color on a cured product,” says Moskowitz, “especially when it’s been cured with pink salt.” That’s a large part of the reason butchers prefer cured bacon. When exposed to air, cured bacon maintains its pink color much longer than uncured bacon, which can quickly turn gray.

What Is Uncured Bacon? 

There isn’t such a thing as “uncured” when it comes to bacon. “It’s misleading,” says Moskowitz. “Most things that are labeled as uncured have had celery salt added to it.”

Celery salt, which contains naturally occurring nitrites, cures the bacon. Bacon labeled as uncured was cured without artificial nitrites like pink salt.

The USDA rules require uncured bacon to be labeled as “no nitrites or nitrates added.” Nitrites are naturally occurring both in our bodies as well as in many foods like celery, lettuce, spinach, and beets. Celery salt and sea salt are two natural nitrates often used to cure meat. 

Do Cured Bacon and Uncured Bacon Taste Different? 

While cured and uncured bacon use different curing agents, there is hardly a difference in taste between the two. “Cured bacon may taste a bit saltier in some instances,” says Moskowitz, but it depends on how long the bacon cured. Because uncured bacon has to sit in its brine for longer, in other instances it can taste saltier than some cured bacon, but the difference is negligible.

It is more likely that you'll taste the difference in flavor based on what seasonings were added and how it was smoked.