People are convinced they'll never eat crispy bacon again after video reveals how it's made in a factory

If you find yourself relishing your favorite food item and wondering how it’s made, we suggest do not let that intrusive thought win. More precisely, the meat factory is the last thing one might want to peep into, granted, they want to keep consuming their preferred meat items. Bacon has been a part of diets in the United States for decades, and this trend has only increased over time. On that note, Discovery UK (@DiscoveryTV) showed behind-the-scenes of how bacon is processed in food factories in the YouTube video for the series, How It’s Made. Safe to say, bacon lovers are not impressed. 

Historically, bacon was cured and smoked at home but its increasing popularity has earned the food item a permanent spot in supermarkets. The video from 2018 showed the fate of the raw material and how it was converted into the bacon slices available in grocery stores. To start with, a batch of pork bellies is tossed into a big tumbler and repeatedly turned to soften the meat for easy skin removal, which is the next step. A conveyor belt then takes the bellies placed skin side down to an automated blade. The removed skin is used for pork rinds while the meat undergoes some more manual trimming and pruning. 

Then begins the curing process, which involves kilograms of salt funneled into a tank of water to create a brine solution stirred with loads of preservatives and seasonings. The pork bellies are then treated with this curing concoction, first by injecting it into the meat and then in the “drench cabinet.” This is what caught the viewers off-guard. After the treated meat is hung onto a rack using metal hangers pressed into the pork bellies, a shower of liquid smoke “bombards” the meat adding flavor and color to the surface. While people relish the savory taste imparted by this step, most were grossed out by the usage of liquid smoke. It is a concentrate of the smoke from burning wood which is passed through a condenser to convert into a liquid, per Wright's Liquid Smoke. 

The flavoring from the liquid smoke is then allowed to permeate the pork bellies as it cooks in an oven for five hours at a low temperature. The product is then allowed to sit in a blast freezer for a quick chill down and then transferred into another cooler where it is stored for days. “The cooling firms the meat which makes it easier to slice,” the video revealed. The pork bellies are trimmed into shape in a sizing station and passed under a metal detector to check for any metal residues lodged in the meat. The final product is obtained by passing the meat through chutes with blades, creating the typical bacon slices we see in stores. However, it is further browned in a microwave and packaged for transport. 

The video left the internet divided with people critiquing the step with liquid smoke pressed into the meat. The reality of the process got the best of some bacon fanatics while others remained optimistic about the meat product. “You know I was expecting this to be a lot more appetizing than it actually was,” wrote one internet user (@nickmoorefanpage6295) while another (@thestonedhippo) stated, “Imagine the smell in that place.” “I don’t like liquid smoke. I prefer uncured bacon,” said someone else (@SprialBreeze). Bacon is a popular choice for breakfast in the US and is at an all-time high demand.