Why Bacon Tastes So Good - Business Insider

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What is it about bacon that makes it so beloved by many? The meat is positioned on a pedestal, and Americans eat an average of 18 lbs. of it each year.

The food even has its own community: Last month, Oscar Meyer created a dating app specifically for bacon lovers (Sure, why not?)

Scientists have an idea why it holds such a strong power over us. Over at BBC’s Taste of Tomorrow column, which explores the science behind our affinity for various foods, writer Veronique Greenwood gets to the meat of it and we actually have a combination of factors to thank for bacon’s mystical hold.

For one, the different compounds — such as furans, aldehydes and ketones, which come from fatty acids that disintegrate during cooking — each contribute sweet, unique flavors to the bacon (ketones, for instance, provide a buttery taste).

Then there’s the diet and breed of the pig itself which plays a role in the quality of the final product. Large black hogs, for example, make for great-tasting bacon due to their short muscle fibers, while Tamworth breeds are delicious thanks to their big bellies.

But we also owe bacon’s taste to the curing salts, which add flavor by acting upon the various fats in the porcine strips. Finally, there’s the “Maillard Reaction,” which is caused by the combination of sugars and amino acids under hot temperatures that create the bacon’s alluring aroma.So there you have it. Next time you bit into a crispy hunk of pork, thank science. And if you need another way to enhance your addiction, might we suggest bacon cinnamon buns or bacon-infused whiskey?

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