U Weekly. Serving The Ohio State University in Columbus Ohio

Baconizing

Making breakfast meat more than food

By Michael Amann

Bacon and eggs. BLT sandwiches. Bacon cheeseburgers. Bacon burritos. Bacon Bits. Cheese fries with bacon on top. Chicken-fried bacon. Chocolate-covered bacon. Bacon-covered chocolate. Bacon-flavored toothpicks. Bacon-flavored mints. "Bakon" Vodka. Bacon whiskey. Oktoberfest Bacon Bier. Bras made of bacon. Guns made of bacon. Girls in bacon bras holding bacon guns. Bacon-print toilet paper. Bacon Camps. Baconfests. Bacon blogs. Bacon books. Pork-weaved, barbequed, and sausage-infused Bacon Explosions.

Bacon.

People like bacon. America's favorite meat leads the counter-insurgency against at least three potent dietary movements of our young millennium: vegetarianism in all its forms, nearly all non-Atkins health diets, and the Kosher/Islamic religious eating rules. Banned by both Abraham and Mohammad, scorned by the veggies for being cruel, and health nuts for being fatty, bacon has somehow emerged all the more popular. Indeed, bacon has won back the hearts and minds of Americans of every race and creed.

Of course, one could argue that a human's heart might not be the best place for fried cuts of pork belly to have a victory. Heart disease is still a monster killer among Americans and bacon is notoriously fatty. On 15 E. Frambes Ave. lies perhaps the most bacon obsessed restaurant on campus. Sure, Five Guys Burgers and Fries has those giant delicious greasy bacon burgers, but PJ's Grill has clearly bacon'd up their menu items. Of their famous Fat sandwiches, six have bacon on them - including their biggest seller, the Fat Carnie (though it is soy bacon). Additionally, several platters and conventional sandwiches include bacon. PJ's is no aberration, as restaurants world wide find innovative ways to baconize their entrees, sides, soups, salads, appetizers, even drinks and desserts.

"It's almost like a condiment," said OSU Food Science & Technology professor Lynn Knipe of the modern use of bacon. "They're really adding it for the flavor."

Knipe's focus of study is meat science - he is a meat scientist, if you will - and the pundit to UWeekly's bacon inquires. Knipe contrasts this bacon-crazed world with the simpler times of his youth.

"We used to eat it for breakfast as a side," said Knipe of a simpler time, one in which candy bars did not have chunks of bacon in them.

The massive influx of bacon eaters doesn't surprise Knipe. He said the food industry has been under criticism for inventing or perfecting foods that are "too delicious to resist" for the consumer.

"Bacon is one of those foods," said Knipe.

The siren song of bacon's salty, rich, smoky flavoring is apparently irresistible whether it's sprinkled on a salad or wrapped around an entire turkey. No Surgeon General warning yet, but consuming bacon could be habit-forming.

Bacon has been around longer than the modern food industry, which separates it from the Twinkies, corn dogs, deep-fried pickles, everything at White Castle and other invented food products that are potentially addictive. The masses delight in the ultra-old school process of salting and smoking - even when those flavors are floating in a cocktail full of bourbon, lemon juice, and maple syrup.

"It's something that humans tend to like, and have been consuming for centuries," said Denise Smith, the Chair of the OSU Food Science & Technology Department.

And bacon is not completely void of nutritional benefit.

"[Bacon] can be a part of a balanced diet," said Smith.

However, she did not recommend eating it regularly. "Anything can be unhealthy if you eat too much of it," Smith said.

Knipe, being a scientist of meat, defended a daily bacon intake. The catch: maintaining a compatibly active lifestyle. Although not an expert on cognitive well being, Knipe also suspected the bacon's palatability to be "good for mental health."

There are ways to enjoy the deliciousness and the alleged mood-enhancers without so much of the heart-conquering saturated fats. Some of these alternatives include meat from other animals (i.e. turkey bacon, beef bacon, sheep bacon, or even soy bacon), or meat from different parts of the pig (i.e. side-cut bacon or "Irish" bacon, which is better than Canadian bacon but it doesn't go well with English food).

There is also fatback, which is not a healthier alternative to regular bacon.

Oddly enough, the bacon on the junior bacon cheeseburger you picked up via drive-thru could be healthier than the bacon you cook at home. Many restaurants, including most fast food places, use a microwave oven-like machine to cook raw bacon, according to Knipe. The strips are placed on a conveyor belt, and cooked in such a fashion so as to George Foreman the fat from the bacon.

"That bacon is actually lower in fat than if you were to fry it in a frying pan" said Knipe.

Nevertheless, even pan-fried bacon has a fat content comparable other beloved meats. According to Knipe, six strips of bacon have the same calories (about 150) as a bun-less hotdog or two slices of bologna. Therefore, a hotdog on a bun with ketchup and a bologna sandwich with cheese are more fattening than eating a side of bacon.

Now you can kick back and enjoy some bacon-wrapped steak with a delicious BLTini. Though as OSU's leading meat scientist advised, you probably should jog at some point if you're going to do that.

Originally Published: August 19, 2009

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