Why You Should Think Twice Before Adding Bacon To Your Wendy's Sandwich

Wendy's has been a fast food nirvana for bacon lovers. The company seems committed to adding bacon to as many of its menu items as it possibly can. But some Wendy's fans who love it for its bacon have been shook by a change to how it's made which they say has sent the quality of their favorite porky strips downhill. The chain has quietly implemented a shift to precooked bacon, according to online reports from Wendy's workers.

Customers definitely noticed something had changed, with some saying the applewood smoked bacon is now smaller and thinner. "Looks so weak and sad," said one Redditor. Others bemoaned that Wendy's "used to have the best bacon game" and that it was "so crispy and juicy." They invoked Wendy's late founder, saying, "Dave Thomas is rolling in his grave." We tasted a difference too, which landed Wendy's on the wrong side of The Takeout's list of fast food chains with the highest and lowest quality bacon.

Wendy's used to boast about the high quality of its bacon, proudly proclaiming it was cooked fresh every day. At the time, when those things were true, a lot of people agreed that Wendy's had the best fast food bacon. A former McDonald's executive chef previously said Wendy's bacon outclassed McDonalds' specifically because it wasn't precooked like Mickey D's. The reason fast food chains use precooked bacon simply involves fitting more in a box for shipping and having less grease to deal with since a lot of fat renders during precooking.

The irony is that Wendy's may have been the victim of its own successful menu choices. Internal messaging about the move to precooked bacon said that because the chain serves so much bacon, it had become difficult for workers to go through the process of getting it all prepared and cooked. Precooked bacon is simpler and quicker since the bacon only needs to be warmed. It also allows more strips to fit on a pan so a larger amount can be oven-heated at the same time.

Wendy's serves nearly 20 items with bacon, including most famously the Baconator with two beef patties and six bacon slices and the Son of Baconator, a junior-sized version. Seven burgers in all feature bacon, three chicken sandwiches, and six breakfast sandwiches, including the Breakfast Baconator, The Takeout's choice for best fast food egg sandwich. There's also Baconator Fries, a Bacon Cheese Baked Potato, even a baconated Cobb Salad. Bacon is also a part of many Wendy's secret menu items you need to try.

With Wendy's going all-in on bacon, one Redditor questioned the business smarts of its decision to switch to precooked. They said, "When your menu items have so many bacon options you can't miss the mark this bad."