During the cooking process, fat renders off leaving behind a product that simultaneously crisps and melts in your mouth when consumed, a texture combination that is rivaled by few other foods. In a strip of bacon, you’ll see that it consists of lean meat that is heavily marbled with fat. The brain craves novelty, and sensory contrasts will often increase the amount of pleasure that the brain derives from food, which is why you can find bacon as a textural accompaniment in many classic, creative, or sometimes questionable combinations. Bacon delivers a crunchy contrast to the softer textures found in scrambled eggs or pancakes in a mouthfeel phenomenon known as dynamic contrast. Mouthfeel is described as the physical sensations felt in the mouth when eating certain foods. Here, you have a variety of textures on your plate –which brings us to our next concept to explain why bacon is so revered - mouthfeel. You alternate between bites of fluffy pancake drenched in maple syrup and mouthfuls crispy bacon, and maybe you’ll also have a side of velvety scrambled eggs. Now imagine that you’re eating breakfast. Ultimately, we can thank the high presence of nitrogen compounds as well as the interplay of fat, protein, sugars, and heat for bacon’s savory and unique aroma. Nitrites are introduced into bacon during the curing process and are believed to react with aroma compounds in such a way that dramatically increases the presence of other nitrogen-forming compounds, including those meaty pyridine and pyrazine molecules. Pyridines, pyrazines, and furans are known to impart meaty flavors, so what actually sets bacon apart from the fried pork loin is the presence of nitrites. In one study, scientists used gas chromatography and mass spectroscopy and revealed many of these aroma compounds to be pyridines, pyrazines, and furans, which were also found in the aroma of a fried pork loin that was tested. The compounds produced from the Maillard reaction and from the thermal degradation of bacon fat combine to form even more aroma compounds. During this process, bacon fat also melts and degrades into flavor compounds of its own. This same browning reaction is also what forms the darkened and crunchy exterior on a pretzel or provides a stout beer with its characteristic color and taste. The Maillard reaction, the browning that results when amino acids in the bacon react with reducing sugars present in bacon fat, produces several desirable flavor compounds. ![]() ![]() As bacon cooks, there are a couple of different things going on. Scientists have identified over 150 compounds responsible for bacon’s distinctive smell. There are two major factors that can explain why bacon has such a devoted fan base, with the first and more obvious factor being its aroma. ![]() You eagerly bite into a strip of bacon and are met with a pleasantly smoky taste, crunch, and a melt-in-your-mouth sensation.īacon is a delight to eat, but it’s even better when you understand the science of why it’s so delicious. After an agonizing wait, the bacon has finally reached a desired color and crispness and is ready to be consumed. After a few minutes, you’ll hear a delightful crackling and sizzling, soon followed by a complex and savory aroma that could lure even the most resolute of vegetarians to the kitchen.Īs time passes, you peek into the skillet and notice the bacon begin to brown and bubble. Imagine rolling out of bed on a Saturday morning, shuffling into your kitchen, and tossing a few strips of streaky bacon into a skillet.
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