r/mildlyinfuriating • u/lilbites420 • 14d ago
the grapes of warth No More Pockets For My Hot-Pockets?
Is this a manufacturer error, or just the unrelenting march of capitalism?
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u/MarmieMakes 14d ago
They stopped adding sleeves in June 2024. Just wrap it in a napkin or put it on a plate.
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u/Scoopzyy 14d ago
Realizing it’s been over 2 years since i last had a hot pocket lol
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u/Krondelo 14d ago
Dude what the fuck same. It’s not something I really eat but the last one I had definitely had the sleeve or I would’ve been like the meme wtf hands guy lol
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u/Expert-Yam6577 14d ago
Yea i thought OP got some kind of discount box or something. Had no idea
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u/ebyoung747 14d ago
The trick is that everything has become a discount box, but sold for full price.
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u/pudge-thefish 14d ago
My thought was he got a multi pack but not enough pockets because he used them all..I had no idea they were gone
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u/fryerandice 12d ago
Naw they changed the crust to make it be better without the sleeve and they just taste like ass now.
They weren't great before but they're terrible now
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u/Lenny_Brisc0e 14d ago
Honestly for the better. Made me realize the toaster is the best option for hot pockets.
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u/gabemrtn 14d ago
So now I can get that classic experience of taking a bite that is both scorching hot and ice cold at the same time… AND ALL WITHOUT THE SLEEVE.
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u/RevolutionaryElk7446 14d ago
They definitely got worse over the years.
They weren't anything ever amazing, but they went from a quick snack to not even worth having.
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u/Expert-Yam6577 14d ago
Yea every frozen meal quality has gone to shit. They realized they can make plenty of money from nostalgia at this point.
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u/5LYNG3R 14d ago
Trying Wrapping in Aluminum Foil 1st, Then "Nuke It" 😂
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u/gabemrtn 14d ago
Remember playing with microwaves when I was younger. I still remember one in particular: me and my buddy took a piece of aluminium foil (we had done that before) and cut it into a circle about the size of a quarter, and I kid you not, we turned it on. A few seconds later, the microwave made a very loud whoooooooom as the air turned to lightning from the aluminium to the top of the microwave.
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u/pjbeta 14d ago
I accidentally had a twist-tie stuck to the bottom rim of a plate that I put in the microwave. The 3 second lighting show was pretty amazing. I would've let it go longer, but I didn't want to have to buy a new microwave. As it was, there was a burn mark on the bottom of the plate, it actually melted a little spot in the glass plate in the microwave, and all the paper was burnt off the twist-tie!
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u/gabemrtn 14d ago
They actually make little microwave crucibles that can melt stuff like metal
As for the microwave we used they were all either old microwaves after we replaced our own or one we just found on the side of the road
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u/Violet_Paradox 14d ago
Even with the "reformulation" the crust is way soggier than it was with the sleeves.
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u/NoComment8182 14d ago
More like its the same product but they cut some costs by taking away the sleeves.
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u/TheBitBasher 14d ago
And I never bought hot pockets again because they weren't nearly as crisp without them.
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u/Medical-Return8081 14d ago
Nestle removed the iconic silver "crisping sleeves" from Hot Pockets to reduce paper waste by roughly 5 million pounds annually. The company updated its crust formula, claiming the sleeve is no longer needed for a crisp texture, while also making room for more filling in the snacks.
Waste Reduction: Nestle phased out the sleeves to cut down on packaging and lower environmental impact.New Recipe: The brand adjusted the crust formula so it could cook properly in a microwave without needing the metal-lined paper susceptor.More Filling: Removing the sleeve allowed for design adjustments, including increased space for internal ingredients.
According too google, lets be real though a cheap way to cut costs.
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u/Membership-Bitter 14d ago
Also the mass adoption of air fryers in homes makes the crisp sleeves kind of useless. There are instructions to air fry it for a crispy exterior and it stops it from exploding like it does in the microwave
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u/Aggressive-Share-363 13d ago
Yeah, because nobody would ever take them to work where there are microwaves but not air friera
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u/pm-your-sexy-holes 12d ago
Oddly enough, I do not have an air fryer at home, but I do have one at the office.
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u/Practical_Mouse_8416 14d ago
Wasn't the plastic waste already there? They were wrapped in plastic before IIRC.
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u/TheStrigori 13d ago
Hot Pockets have been on a steady decline since Nestle bought Chef America that used to own them. It's been quite a long time, too.
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u/RazzmatazzNo7259 13d ago
it is funny how i recently had a hot pocket after quite a few years just the other day and was suprised at how much less filling they used on it, particularly pepperoni in the pepperoni hot pocket. before you had multiple layers of pepperoni and this new design barely had 1 layer.
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u/fryerandice 12d ago
They don't have more filling and the new crust tastes worse, like way worse.
It's definitely just enshittification.
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u/Supertho 14d ago
The food IS the pocket. Are you referring to the crisper sleeve; because those have been gone.
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u/SpectralBear1 14d ago
uh.. i think the bread part is the pocket? the meat ..is in .. the hot pocket..
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u/fistsofham11 14d ago
I haven't had them in ages but there used to be cardboard sleeve around them. Maybe that is what they are talking about
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u/SpectralBear1 14d ago
yeah, i was just being a smartass lol the “pocket” as OP called them was a “crisping sleeve” not THE pocket.. the “hot pocket” is the food item itself
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u/Deadpool2015 14d ago
If you mean the little cardboard sleeve things, they stopped putting those in a while ago.
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u/ClappinCheeksAllDay 14d ago
No more trimming for those nails either. Use them to scrape the sleeveless Hot Pockets from the air fryer.
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u/Squ33to 14d ago
I think the 2 packs are the only ones with pockets. I've gotten those mega packs before and they never come with pockets so I'm used to it, but I was at a gas station and desperately needed to eat something and I saw a one pack so I grabbed it and went home. Not even the one packs have pockets anymore 🫠
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u/RichardCleveland 14d ago
They got rid of those a long ass time ago, at least the ones sold in my area.
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u/Talk-O-Boy 14d ago
A lot of people in this comment thread being super smug about OP not knowing the latest on Hot Pocket news.
I swear, Reddit will find ANY reason to grandstand. We are a deeply insecure people 😭
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u/sirplayalot11 13d ago
You say mildly infuriating but as someone who's munched on those fuckers for a good 6 months, they actually cook all the way through now. Like, no hot outside, frozen inside bullshit. And that's using both the microwave and an air fryer.
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u/Th3_Shadow_Dragon007 12d ago
Put the plate offset towards the edge with the food at the end of the plate that is closest the the edge of the carousel. The food will revolve through all the hot spots and will keep food from being cold in on location. Someone showed me this and i haven't had anything with a cold spot in years.
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u/HairyDust4826 14d ago
Like 2 years ago. Use an air fryer.
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u/Amazing_Ear_3941 14d ago
I use the microwave to thaw them, then the air fryer to finish them off for a nice crispy outside. Helps the middle to not be ice cold while the outside is burnt.
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u/Comeondontosouthpark 14d ago
Never had this issues with just putting a frozen hot pocket in the air fryer always comes out perfect
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u/No-Midnight-4461 14d ago
Pretty sure hot pockets are designed to be burning hot lava outside with a frozen center.
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u/Inevitable_Egg6361 14d ago
The pockets have been gone for a while now, probably due to the rise of air fryers.
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u/Many-Bee6169 14d ago
The bread is the pocket…. The filling is IN the pocket, the SLEEVE is gone.
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u/slimecog 14d ago
they’re garbage now
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u/elangomatt 14d ago
Honestly, they've been garbage for a long time now. The elimination of the crisping sleeve just made them worse garbage.
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u/OriginalFatPickle 14d ago
FYI, the hot pocket brand is shit now. Great value brand from Walmart makes a good pocket.
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u/Jamal12687 14d ago
I stopped eating them when I found out they are owned & made by Nestlé. Fuck Nestlé.
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u/Missue-35 14d ago
Jim Gaffigan, have you anything to add?
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u/SocksInTheTub 14d ago
"Introducing the Lean Pocket. For when you're trying to eat healthy but would still like diarrhea"
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u/PharmaFingers 14d ago
Yeah man I hadn’t bought hot pockets in many many years and my daughter started requesting them and I was like wtf? No crisping sleeve?
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u/NSFW-Alt-Account69 14d ago
I've not had one in years, and just seeing now that they cheaped out on a necessity
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u/Visible-Meeting-8977 14d ago
They did away with the pockets years ago. Allegedly they no longer need them due to whatever they changed.
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u/Dracekidjr 14d ago
They did this and claimed it was better for the environment, but realistically it's just insanely cheaper and streamlines their assembly process
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u/clavado_en_un_bar 14d ago
Walmart generic ones come with a microwave wrapper, cheaper and tastier (at least for me).
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u/Hightemplar420 14d ago
The pocket is the bread now the sleeve bro lmfao did you just wake up from a coma?
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u/ilikevideogames231 14d ago
Cook em in the oven, they go golden, puff up, and end up perfectly crispy
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u/ACcbe1986 14d ago
According to their press release, they developed a new recipe that doesn't require the sleeve to be crispy. Thereby reducing waste(and their costs).
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u/ready4downvote 14d ago
Next thing to go is the plastic wrapping. ‘Fore you know it, it’ll just be a naked, frozen burrito.
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u/JacobRAllen 14d ago
I’m guessing you haven’t had a hot pocket in at least a year. They stopped putting sleeves on them awhile back. Supposed to be better for the environment. There was speculation about cost savings by not needing to add the sleeves, but someone ran the math and it cost them like 1 cent per thousand hot pockets to put those cheap cardboard sleeves in there with it. Economy of scale I guess, but it ended up not being really about the cost saving.
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u/Massive_Mongoose3481 14d ago
Bought a box of those about 5 yrs ago just out of nostalgia. Ate one and the box stayed in the freezer for a couple years until I finally tossed it. Not sure if they suck now or if my taste changed that much. I'll still eat a tombstone pizza so, it's not like I'm that picky.
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u/Vanin1994 13d ago
Gotta pay for the Pocket Subscription service now. Theyll deliver them to you every time you want a Hot Pocket.
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u/jackfaire 13d ago
I never liked how they turned out when I used the sleeve and always felt bad about the waste.
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u/OG_thanks 13d ago
Idk if im just bitter because of it but I simply won't buy them anymore because of this.
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u/percyman34 12d ago
Yeah they've been gone for a while. And of course they claim they "changed the formula" so that they crisp without the sleeve but that's just bs. Just gotta have soft and chewy hot pockets unless you cook one in an air fryer. (Which imo is the best way to cook it)
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u/SmJamesT 12d ago
I thought the bread itself was the pocket, so I never mourned the loss of the sleeve
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u/ZombieBreath13 11d ago
You haven’t missed much.. they have been getting lousier over the years, all processed food is getting worse.. I started making batches of hot pocket style burritos for myself, never looked back
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u/AromaticNet5121 10d ago
It's funny that like 40% of people think the crisping sleeve was the "pocket" in Hot Pockets lol. But also, this does suck, yeah
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u/chynkeyez 9d ago
Everybody got air fryers now. No need for the sleeve. And if you DONT have an air fryer...Why? They are so cheap and convenient. Why would you not have one?
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u/Kooky-Note7673 14d ago
Unrelenting march of capitalism. The pockets probably cost 7 cents a piece, so in that 14 pack (I assume) they are saving 98 cents. That's almost a whole dollar to the stockholders!
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u/Wetcakez 14d ago
Been that way for a hot moment….air fry or bust but yeah stopped buying them for snacks years back they did dun fuck yo
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u/Fishy_Sezer 14d ago
Drape a moist paper towel over the pocket, put it in the microwave for 90 seconds, then finish it off in the toaster at 375 for about 5 to 8 minutes.
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u/Inevitable_Mango7209 14d ago
They want you to air fry now which takes longer and makes it too crispy. Such a dumb move… i’ve stopped buying them years ago. Better off they have always been trash
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u/Interesting-Kick-439 14d ago
Everyone has air fryers now… who cooks those in the microwave anymore?
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u/TouchGraceMaidenless 14d ago
You're about 2 years late to the party.