Many food lovers are only just discovering how bacon is made after archive footage from Discovery Channel UK recirculated on YouTube. The process was documented in a programme that originally aired in 2018 and now seven years on, users of the video platform are admitting their "disgust", vowing never to touch the meat ever again.
"Bacon is now processed and even pre-cooked in factories," the documentary began. The first part of the process sees dozens of pork bellies tossed into a giant tumbler, which spins slowly to soften the meat making it easier to remove the skin. The softened bellies are then stretched out placed face down on a conveyor belt, which takes them through a slicer to remove the skin. As the skin makes its way to be processed into crackling, the meat heads to a "flipping device" to turn it over.
Further down the line, factory works create a brine solution to cure the pork. Discovery explains: "Salt is funnelled into a tank of water and is mixed thoroughly until it dissolves. Then, liquid smoke and flavourings are added before the bellies pass under an "injector head", the needles of which inject the curing solution into the meat.".
As the process continues, a "comb" is pressed into the bellies so they can be hung from a rack. "Then, it's into a drench cabinet for a shower of liquid smoke," Discovery states. "This adds flavour and colour to the surface before the bellies are transferred to a large oven where they are cooked for five hours at a low temperature.".
