# Anyone else having a hard time finding bacon bits? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Tags:** food-cooking\ **Created:** [January 22, 2025, 9:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-else-having-a-hard-time-finding-bacon-bits/1013269 "2025-01-22T21:42:30Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 15\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/7cd45c/32.png) [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elendil_s_Heir)\ **Post date:** [January 22, 2025, 9:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-else-having-a-hard-time-finding-bacon-bits/1013269/1 "2025-01-22T21:42:30Z")
Or baconbits, for SEO. Haven’t seen them in our grocery store for many weeks now. That spot on the shelf is always empty. ---
**Author:** ![Palooka](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/palooka/32/2902_2.png) [@Palooka](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Palooka)\ **Post date:** [January 22, 2025, 9:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-else-having-a-hard-time-finding-bacon-bits/1013269/2 "2025-01-22T21:50:53Z")
Amazon says they’ll send me some for tomorrow, if you don’t want to just buy bacon and a cheese grater to do it the pioneer way. ---
**Author:** ![Seanette](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/seanette/32/9139_2.png) [@Seanette](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Seanette)\ **Post date:** [January 22, 2025, 10:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-else-having-a-hard-time-finding-bacon-bits/1013269/3 "2025-01-22T22:12:14Z")
Have you tried Costco? ---
**Author:** ![Beckdawrek](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/beckdawrek/32/3647_2.png) [@Beckdawrek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Beckdawrek)\ **Post date:** [January 22, 2025, 10:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-else-having-a-hard-time-finding-bacon-bits/1013269/4 "2025-01-22T22:51:46Z")
You don’t need a grater. Bake the bacon on a sheet pan til its well done. Careful, burns quickly. Drain. Cool. And crumble. Easy peasy ---
**Author:** ![chela](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chela/32/21582_2.png) [@chela](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/chela)\ **Post date:** [January 22, 2025, 10:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-else-having-a-hard-time-finding-bacon-bits/1013269/5 "2025-01-22T22:55:25Z")
This and that too. Please. Bacon bits are out of stock and this is your lament. Tariffs are a bastard. ---
**Author:** ![bump](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/7c8e57/32.png) [@bump](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bump)\ **Post date:** [January 23, 2025, 4:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-else-having-a-hard-time-finding-bacon-bits/1013269/6 "2025-01-23T16:41:05Z")
That’s pretty much how I do it if I need them. ---
**Author:** ![Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/7cd45c/32.png) [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elendil_s_Heir)\ **Post date:** [January 23, 2025, 5:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-else-having-a-hard-time-finding-bacon-bits/1013269/7 "2025-01-23T17:32:14Z")
Thanks, all. I’m no chef and have never made them myself, as it happens. Glad to know there’s not a national shortage or supply-chain issue, though. ---
**Author:** ![needscoffee](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/needscoffee/32/1076_2.png) [@needscoffee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/needscoffee)\ **Post date:** [January 23, 2025, 5:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-else-having-a-hard-time-finding-bacon-bits/1013269/8 "2025-01-23T17:40:03Z")
> [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](#): > > I’m no chef and have never made them myself, as it happens. Surely you’ve cooked bacon, though? Another way to make the bits is to chop up the bacon before you fry it up. Chop the pieces larger than you want because they’ll shrink as they cook. It’ll cook really fast, so keep the heat reasonably low and watch it carefully. Homemade bacon bits are orders of magnitude better than the stuff you buy off the shelf. Now I’m hungry. ---
**Author:** ![Intergalactic\_Gladiator](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/intergalactic_gladiator/32/112_2.png) [@Intergalactic\_Gladiator](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Intergalactic_Gladiator)\ **Post date:** [January 23, 2025, 5:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-else-having-a-hard-time-finding-bacon-bits/1013269/9 "2025-01-23T17:42:09Z")
They’re at Aldi in my area. ---
**Author:** ![ParallelLines](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/parallellines/32/3575_2.png) [@ParallelLines](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ParallelLines)\ **Post date:** [January 24, 2025, 12:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-else-having-a-hard-time-finding-bacon-bits/1013269/10 "2025-01-24T00:04:48Z")
My wife just got back from Costco, and confirmed the usual big bag of bacon bits was in stock. My two cents for making bacon bits at home to to consider a “European style” bacon like [Hempler’s](https://hemplers.com/product/european-bacon-20-oz/): [![](https://hemplers.com/wp-content/uploads/59339-1.png) ](https://hemplers.com/wp-content/uploads/59339-1.png) As you can see from the image, it has a much higher ratio of lean to fat than most strip/streaky bacon, and it’s pretty thick cut. Which means you can cook it with a lot less spitting fat (which isn’t as much of an issue in the oven, granted) and have a better production value of crumbles/bits to cooked material. Of course, this is NOT suggested if you wanted to secure some rendered bacon fat for other cooking - you’ll have a very meager harvest! ---
**Author:** ![Atamasama](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/atamasama/32/12961_2.png) [@Atamasama](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Atamasama)\ **Post date:** [January 24, 2025, 12:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-else-having-a-hard-time-finding-bacon-bits/1013269/11 "2025-01-24T00:26:21Z")
> [@Seanette](#): > > Have you tried Costco? > [@ParallelLines](#): > > My wife just got back from Costco, and confirmed the usual big bag of bacon bits was in stock. This, we get big bags of bacon bits from Costco. Actually, our current bag is almost empty, so she’ll be picking up a new one in a couple of days. ---
**Author:** ![Mikemike2](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mikemike2/32/305_2.png) [@Mikemike2](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mikemike2)\ **Post date:** [January 24, 2025, 5:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-else-having-a-hard-time-finding-bacon-bits/1013269/12 "2025-01-24T17:14:30Z")
I grew up believing bacon bits were those pinkish over salted baked flour crumbles. I was surprised when I learned you could buy real bacon bits. As kids, we tend to take the world as given. ---
**Author:** ![Atamasama](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/atamasama/32/12961_2.png) [@Atamasama](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Atamasama)\ **Post date:** [January 24, 2025, 5:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-else-having-a-hard-time-finding-bacon-bits/1013269/13 "2025-01-24T17:26:54Z")
> [@Mikemike2](#): > > I grew up believing bacon bits were those pinkish over salted baked flour crumbles. Like Bac-Os? [![](https://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/5183TZRF7TL._SS500_.jpg) ](https://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/5183TZRF7TL._SS500_.jpg) I used to like them as a kid, though I knew they weren’t real bacon. I still liked them just fine. It wasn’t until I got older, I really appreciated the difference between them and real bacon bits, and stopped liking them. Bac-Os were apparently discontinued in 2016. But you can still buy very similar products, like McCormick’s “Bac’n Pieces”. [![](https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/816jVG3hgoL._AC_UL480_FMwebp_QL65_.jpg) ](https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/816jVG3hgoL._AC_UL480_FMwebp_QL65_.jpg) I guess if you are a vegetarian but like bacon-flavored stuff they’d be an option. They can also be stored long-term in a pantry, unlike real bacon pieces which need to be refrigerated once opened. But still… No thanks. ---
**Author:** ![Mikemike2](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mikemike2/32/305_2.png) [@Mikemike2](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mikemike2)\ **Post date:** [January 24, 2025, 5:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-else-having-a-hard-time-finding-bacon-bits/1013269/14 "2025-01-24T17:41:42Z")
Yup, just like those. Both bottles you show say artificial flavors. I wonder which chemical tastes most like bacon? The 1970s was an awful time for all the “new” foods and innovations. I also remember Cup O Soup and cheese you could squeeze out of a sausage-shaped bag that I don’t think needed refrigeration. Now I scratch cook most meals, other than canned tomatoes and such. ---
**Author:** ![Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/7cd45c/32.png) [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elendil_s_Heir)\ **Post date:** [January 24, 2025, 7:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-else-having-a-hard-time-finding-bacon-bits/1013269/15 "2025-01-24T19:17:48Z")
Where can you buy really good scratch these days?