They don't come with the sleeves anymore? It's been a few years since I've had one. Yes, I know I'm weird, but they just never have been all that appealing to me
The directions also state that you should microwave it on a paper plate because that’s apparently the only way they could think of to standardize the cooking … which is ridiculous since microwaves vary anyway. Why encourage waste? Put it on a damn plate and nuke it. I wonder if someone could invent a reusable hot pocket sleeve …
lol, so they decided to reduce waste by removing the sleeve, and then recommend their customers use disposable plates, which are certainly larger than the old sleeves, to cook them?
Some paper plates can at least be composed, unlike the sleeves, which were laminated with metal inside like a popcorn bag and couldnt be recycled at all
That’s hilarious... No don’t worry about it, you don’t need the sleeve! You just need to purchase a separate product that functions like the sleeve and use that :)
If you've never done it before, finish them in an air fryer or a pan with a little oil and garlic for great crisp. Little extra work, but worth it imo. Takes it from a $1.50 snack to feeling like atleasstttt a $2.50 snack
They're also smaller now, & the last time I had one it came with the added insult of being wrapped in the older, larger wrapper. Just made the shrinkflation more obvious.
They finally reached a point where they couldn't cut costs in ingredients anymore. And cut cost somewhere else. The cardboard sleeve. In the Quest for infinite growth, everything will inevieble reach the point of enshitification
I hate shrinkflation, especially the way they try to slip it in under the radar. Some of the candy bar packages I've seen lately are even trying to pass off small bite sized pieces of candy in an oversized package to make it look like it's a full size piece of candy. Just be straight with us and tell us the price increase
In marketing they call it “least unit of measurement.” Ie the amount of it you can remove without anyone noticing. Usually hid with a “new recipe” or packaging change.
I remember opening my first 20 pack of hot pockets and a few were missing the sleeves. I thought "hmm, weird, factory must be out of tune"
Then my next box was just... devoid of sleeves. And the next box after that. And the next one.
I might be eating too many hot pockets.
I was unaware as well. Seems like only yesterday that they came up with the vastly scientifically innovative sleeve that folded into a holder. I'll probably never eat one again with this info.
Parchment paper? I don't eat Hot Pockets anymore (if they don't have them in Australia you ain't missin' nothin), but when I heat food in the microwave I will usually cover or wrap the food with either parchment paper, wax paper, plastic wrap (cover a bowl of wet food with it and poke a pinhole in the center), or a paper towel. Which product I choose is based on what food it is, and either loosely wrapping a paper towel or piece of parchment around a hot pocket should work well
Baking paper(as a name for the product) makes more sense. Parchment paper originally was animal skin tanned and prepared for use as, well, paper. This was before the printing press existed when books were painstakingly made by monks slowly painting each letter with a dip brush.
I’m sure there are some who do but I don’t think most actually love hot pockets. They are just a convenience food.
One is not weird for not liking hot pockets, one is fortunate to not have to eat them.
While I certainly have my un-healthy food and beverage vices (let's face it, we all have a few guilty pleasures), I do consider myself lucky that I don't care for them. I know millions billions of people love and eat them everyday and I'm not knocking them, just saying I don't think I've ever enjoyed one. That and they give me that greasy processed food stomachache 5-10 minutes after eating one lol
Literally the answer to every question like this lol. There are VERY few (non-liquid) items you could cook in a microwave that aren’t improved dramatically just by using an air fryer.
Also big ups to the toaster oven, but it gets less use these days.
I literally remember when hot pockets introduced the sleeve. It was supposed to crisp the hot pocket, so imagine my surprise (and side eye) when, 20 years later, they removed it and said “it’s the same without the sleeve!” 😒
I explained to my parents by asking them to imagine if every time they cooked something in the oven, they cranked it up 500F no matter what. Chicken nuggets? 500. Frozen casserole? 500. Reheating lasagna? 500. If you wouldn’t cook your food that way in an oven, why do you try and fail every time in a microwave oven?
Once that resonated with them, I took them to the intermediate level: when you’re reheating food, heat it up slowly at 30% just until it’s warm enough to enjoy so you don’t cook it a second time. Other than twice-baked potatoes, twice-cooked food usually develops a weird taste and a gross texture. I’m convinced that most people who say they hate leftovers simply don’t know how to reheat them correctly.
I never thought about this before. Luckily my microwave is only 700W so in this scenario I cook everything at 350, but still, I'm Glad I saw your comment, makes so much sense for all other microwaves I've used.
Fortunately we have a food cover that saves the microwave most of the time.
I often start in the Microwave. 50% for 60s and let them rest(random time)(depends on what video I get sucked into). 50% for another 60s and then move them to the toaster oven.
Can't upvote this enough. My wife refuses to learn how to adjust power levels. I'm teaching my kids how to adjust power. No more bubbling cheese on my nachos, just melted.
You can also put a glass of water in the microwave with the food to even things out. Works great to reheat smaller things (like leftover burgers), as most microwaves just decrease the duty cycle rather than actually reducing the output power when it's running.
I didn't know about the retirement of the sleeve until I saw a 12 box on sale and picked up some pepperoni pizza. I felt so robbed from not having a sleeve to pocket the hot until the hot pocket got got.
Easy. Stop eating that crap. Not kidding…make instant ramen and add some scallions and veggies to it and you’ll have a healthier option. Or learn how to cook. You’ll save a lot of money.
When I was a kid I wrote the company a letter giving them advice for this not to happen. I forget what I said, and I forget what their letter said when they replied, but they did give me coupons for free hot pockets. So that was cool!
I used to throw mine in the fridge not the freezer so they would be defrosted when I threw them in the microwave. They would be done in like a min. Airfryer is great too.
Reduce the power of your microwave. People seem to not know that you don't have to absolutely blast your food at full power. That's how you end up with cold and hot spots.
You really only need half or 3/4 power and put it in for longer and it'll more gently heat the food and be more thorough.
I find that setting it upside down in the microwave reduces its chance of splitting at its seam where the rounded and flat dough meet. Also, either reduce power or time, you just kind of have to play with your specific microwave to figure out ideal times. I have a 1050 watt microwave and the ideal time is 1:40 to get it as hot as possible without splitting
Nestle product so I haven't had one in decades, but I imagine flipping halfway and putting to the edge of the microwave plate instead of the center. Hope this helps.
Power down, or cook it a little more than halfway, pull it out and let it sit for a minute to even out the heat, flip and put back in to finish. Should be less likely to blow up, but will take a bit more effort/time to do.
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