Wednesday, July 19, 2017

Why Does Bacon Taste So Darn Good?

Who can resist the glorious smell of bacon wafting through the air? Even vegetarians' mouths start to water when they smell it! It's a natural, irresistible reaction that is pretty hard to control. We get to see this effect on a daily basis here at our Lake of the Ozarks BBQ restaurant every time we pull that incredible meat out of our smoker, and each time it is served to one of our hungry customers. 



Why does this meat in particular evoke such a euphoric feeling from nearly everyone on the planet? Well, Wobbly Boots Roadhouse did a little research on the subject, and we found out there are some scientific reasons why bacon is so appealing. 

The Science of Bacon
Some foods contain a single molecule that is responsible for what you taste. For example, bananas and almonds are very distinctive flavors that mainly rely on a single molecule for flavor, but as yummy as they may be to you, those are foods that aren't too difficult to resist. 



Bacon, on the other hand, has a phenomenal combination of factors that come together to create that crispy goodness. The best explanation that we found came from an online article from the BBC. It gets a bit scientific, but extremely interesting to us bacon-lovers. 


" '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. 'It's not just the white marbling that's in play. The cell membranes of the muscle tissue contain fatty acids that disintegrate during cooking to yield a bouquet of flavourful compounds like aldehydes, furans, and ketones. By themselves, some of these molecules have distinct tastes or smells – furans have a sweet, nutty, caramel-like note, aldehydes a green, grassy note, and ketones tend to be buttery – but whatever they are doing together seems to be key. If any of these classes of molecules were missing from the overall bacon flavour, you would notice it.' "


So basically, the combination of sweet, nutty, caramel-like notes, + green, grassy notes, + a buttery flavor all come together in a magical way to create the magnificent bacon flavor we all know and love! The bacon that you get from our family-friendly restaurant at the Lake of the Ozarks takes our bacon's flavor one step further when we put it in the smoker.

Hickory-Smoking Makes It Better
The rubs and spices that are added to bacon play a part in the final flavor too. The chemical reactions of everything combined create a variety of tastes, pointing the various molecules in different directions. 

The act of smoking bacon causes the meat to take on yet another set of flavor compounds. Wobbly Boots BBQ's hickory-smoked meats go through a long, slow cooking process, giving all of our meats, including the bacon, a flavor that is the best in the Midwest. The smoke that comes from our hickory wood releases both acrid and sweet smelling compounds that combine to add that amazing extra flavor that puts our bacon on everyone's favorite foods list.


Bacon At The Boot
Wobbly Boots Roadhouse's menu features quite a few items containing our mouthwatering, hickory-smoked bacon. These menu items taste great on their own, but adding bacon makes them even better! (That's the true magic of bacon!) Some of the dishes that you will find our bacon on are:

  • Bacon Wrapped Shrimp
  • Brisket Quesadilla
  • Texas Fries
  • Cowboy Cobb Salad
  • Loaded Baker
  • Baked Potato Soup
  • Big Texas BLT
  • Catfish BLT
  • Salmon BLT
  • Grilled Turkey Wrap
  • Texas Style Club
  • Hickory Bacon BBQ Cheeseburger
  • El Diablo Burger 


Wipe the drool off of your chin, hop in the car, and get yourself to Wobbly Boots Roadhouse! We're serving up our hickory-smoked goodness seven days a week, starting at 11 am. Whether you order the bacon or not, (come on, you know you're gonna!) you can rest assured that whatever dish you choose will taste great, and you'll leave with a very happy and satisfied stomach. 



4717 Osage Beach Parkway
Osage Beach, MO 65065
573-348-2277

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Dining Hours: 
11am - 10pm, 7 Days Week
Bar Hours:     
11am - 1am, Mon-Sat
11am -12pm Sun  




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