By David Ponce
Looks like there really are people stupid enough to grant researchers funding to determine formulas for the strangest things. Last time we covered this, it was a Russian-American scientist who claimed to have developed a formula for laughter. Yeah, fun. This time around it’s not one but four British researchers at Leeds University’s Department of Food Science looking for the formula for the perfect bacon butty (popular in the UK, similar to a BLT). That’s right: four educated dudes who spent more than 1,000 hours testing 700 variations on the traditional bacon sandwich.
The results? For the best butty, you should put two or three back bacon slices under a preheated oven grill for seven minutes at about 240C (475F) and then place it between two slices of farmhouse bread, 1cm to 2cm thick. This conclusion was arrived at after (or maybe before or even during. Who knows?) the development of The Formula:
N = C + {fb(cm) . fb(tc)} + fb(Ts) + fc . ta
N = force in Newtons required to break the cooked bacon.
fb = function of the bacon type.
fc = function of the condiment/filling effect.
Ts = serving temperature.
tc = cooking time.
ta = time or duration of application of condiment/filling.
cm = cooking method.
C = Newtons required to break uncooked bacon.
Way to spend your students’ tuition, guys!
[ BBC Article ] VIA [ Neatorama ]
I love the pointlessness.