--- ---  # This Is Why Bacon Smells so Good by [TIME Video](https://time.com/author/time-video/) ## TIME Video May 27, 2014 3:21 PM UTC  Bacon, from a video by the American Chemical Society Bacon, from a video by the American Chemical SocietyAmerican Chemical Society by [TIME Video](https://time.com/author/time-video/) ## TIME Video May 27, 2014 3:21 PM UTC It’s a smell that we all know and love, but what is it that makes the aroma of sizzling bacon so enticing? The folks at the [American Chemical Society](http://www.acs.org/content/acs/en.html) decided to find out and were able to pinpoint the answer, with a little help from their friends at chemistry blog [Compound Interest](http://www.compoundchem.com/2014/04/16/why-does-bacon-smell-so-good-the-aroma-of-bacon/). The answer is that the sugar and amino acids in bacon mix in what is called the [Maillard Reaction](http://www.scienceofcooking.com/maillard%5Freaction.htm), which produces about 150 aroma compounds that provide the unique smell. Check out the video from the ACS for more information. VIDEO: Why Does Bacon Smell So Good? ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/119186/explaining-bacon-smell/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/119186/explaining-bacon-smell/"},"headline":"This Is Why Bacon Smells so Good","datePublished":"2014-05-27T15:21:53.000Z","dateModified":"2026-04-13T08:55:21.784Z","description":"Science has an explanation.","url":"https://time.com/119186/explaining-bacon-smell/","keywords":["Research","Living","Food","Bacon","Smell"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltd5c6ba14956016af/698690ebe53aba64d54d2ba2/bacon1.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"TIME Video","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/time-video/"}],"articleSection":"Science","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltd5c6ba14956016af/698690ebe53aba64d54d2ba2/bacon1.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"Bacon","caption":"Bacon, from a video by the American Chemical Society","creditText":"American Chemical Society","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/science/","name":"Science"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/research/","name":"Research"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/119186/explaining-bacon-smell/","name":"This Is Why Bacon Smells so Good"}}]}] ```