Factors Affecting Desirability of Bacon and Commercially-Processed Pork Bellies

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Abstract
Consumer preference studies involving 1,186 grocery shoppers and a 21-member laboratory panel revealed that the most desirable bacon in fresh appearance, cooked appearance and palatability contained more than 40% muscle and had “good” distribution of muscle and fat. Bacon with less than 30% muscle (irrespective of distribution) was less desirable in fresh and cooked appearance, was less satisfactory in palatability and sustained greater cooking shrinkage than bacon with more than 30% muscle. Lighter weight (4.1 to 5.0 kg) bellies had higher lean to fat ratios than heavier weight (5.0 to 5.9 kg) bellies and yielded much higher proportions of desirable bacon slices. Bellies which were “out of proportion”, “scribed” or “flank biased” did not yield lower proportions of desirable slices than did bellies which were free of these defects. Within belly weight groups, increases in weight and length were associated with lower lean to fat ratios and lower percentages of desirable bacon slices. In-plant classification, after slicing, appears more feasible than physical measurements of green or pressed bellies for identifying differences in bacon leanness.

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