What makes bacon so good

The mere smell of it can take you by the nose and lead you across the house to the kitchen. It vaults anything from eggs to chocolate to Brussels sprouts to new levels of deliciousness. Bacon is vivid and specific and entirely unlike anything else.

So what makes bacon taste like it does? And could chemists make non-meat products with the same taste? Sometimes in flavour chemistry you find a single molecule that's enough to evoke a specific taste. Almond flavour centres on benzaldehyde, and banana on isoamyl acetate , though of course the real deal involves a mixture of many compounds in addition to those.

Likewise, there isn't just one molecule that screams bacon. But the flavour begins with the meat itself — the pork belly that's cured, smoked, and sliced thin. Even the pork belly's proportion of fat plays an important part in the overall taste Credit: Getty Images. Some of the major flavour players are the result of the pork belly's fat breaking down, says Guy Crosby, food scientist and science editor at America's Test Kitchen.

The aroma. The sizzle. The crackle. The taste. Commonly featured in breakfast dishes and sandwiches, bacon has expanded its reach into our desserts and cocktails too. And for good reason — the average American consumes around 18 pounds of bacon each year! Whether you wrap a scallop with it, use it to garnish a Bloody Mary, or pile it high on a BLT, bacon is a versatile food that has nearly as many uses as it does fans.

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? For you.

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