National Sandwich Day is a handy excuse to rethink the usual desk lunch. Gilli Rozynek, who owns Brown Bag Sandwich Co. in New York City, shared a few ways to make better sandwiches at home—and some useful tools for preparing and packing them.
One common mistake, she says, is piling ingredients together without considering how they’ll come together in each bite. Meat, lettuce and sauce can end up in separate mouthfuls. Chopping the fillings together helps spread the ingredients and condiments more evenly throughout the sandwich.
Rozynek looks for a mix of richness, acidity, texture and freshness. If the filling includes something rich, like cheese, mayonnaise or fatty meat, an acidic ingredient can balance it out. Pickles, cherry peppers, mustard and vinaigrette are a few options.
Bread matters, too. Choose a loaf sturdy enough to hold the fillings, but not so tough that taking a bite pushes everything out the other side. A little toasting can also make a noticeable difference, particularly with hot sandwiches.
A serrated knife is useful for slicing crusty bread and delicate ingredients, such as tomatoes, without crushing them. Rozynek also likes using a pizza cutter to chop ingredients in a bowl. Its rounded blade follows the shape of the bowl, making it easier to mix and chop without needing a large cutting board.
Kewpie mayonnaise is a popular choice for its rich flavor and texture, which come from its high egg-yolk content and MSG. For spreading mayonnaise, mustard, pesto or thicker toppings, a wide-bladed spreader can come in handy. Some are sharp enough to cut a sandwich in half or trim the crusts as well.
A two-slice toaster with adjustable settings lets you choose the shade of toast and the type of bread. For a quick hot sandwich, a breakfast sandwich maker can cook one with or without eggs in about five minutes. Some newer models have a larger surface that fits standard sandwich bread.
A cast-iron skillet is another option for making crisp grilled cheese, and it can be used for plenty of other meals, too. With proper care, it can last for years; try it for fried eggs, seared steak or cornbread.
For crustless sandwiches, a cutter and sealer presses the edges together after you add fillings such as peanut butter and jelly. The sandwiches can also be frozen for an easy snack later. Lidded containers with secure closures help keep packed sandwiches from getting squashed, and dishwasher-safe versions are simpler to clean.
If fresh bread sounds appealing but baking from scratch feels like too much work, a bread machine can handle the kneading and baking. Add the ingredients, choose a cycle, loaf size and crust setting, and the machine does the rest.
