How to Make Crumbled Bacon ~ Easy & Economical

Photo: Mitchell Feinberg; food styling by Sarah Jane Crawford

So at some point my Dad mentioned that he would buy the "Ends & Pieces" packages of bacon because its the same stuff just not as pretty but usually much cheaper. My husband and I like to put bacon into our macaroni and cheese to give it some protein. We were buying Kirkland Crumbled Bacon from Costco. A 20 oz. bag for $7.99. That equals about 40 cents an ounce. (Other places I found selling it online for the "sale" price of $14.29) We are always trying to save money, and who isn't these days. So when if finally crossed my mind about the "Ends & Pieces" I decided to look into it. Here's what I found: A package of ends and pieces at my local (Henderson, NV) Smith's was $5.79 for 3 pounds ($1.93/pound). That's about 12 cents and ounce. Most of the sales for bacon in my area were 2 - 1 pound packages for $7 ($3.50 per pound).

So then I just fried it up as usual, then put it in my food processor till it was a good crumbled consistency. Not only was it not too much work but I could multi-task while waiting for the bacon to fry. Best of all it tasted so much better! I can't even describe how much better the flavor was! Better flavor for much less money, now that's a good deal.

Update: Check out this post on "How to Make Bacon without Getting Burned by Popping Grease".