There’s only a few rivals to my lifelong love of chocolate, and one would be bacon. J Combine food and science (and almost everyone’s love of bacon), and how could I not dedicate this month’s infographic to The Aroma of Frying Bacon? And just in time for International Bacon Day, to boot!

The smarties at Compound Interest created this infographic to explain why bacon smells so good!

Without getting too techy-speak, it is the 150 volatile organic compounds, when heated, interacting with the amino acids in bacon to create a Maillard Reaction. Using Gas Chromatography & Mass Spectrometry, the Maillard Reaction can measure theses compounds that resulted from the thermal breakdown of fats. This process is what causes bacon’s aroma.

Got that?

Nitrogen, furans, pyridines…do we NEED to know these compounds to cook up a delicious BLT? No, but this sure is interesting!