The Best Sandwich-Making Tips, According to the Internet

There are really very few things that are better than a well-made sandwich. It might not have taken a genius to come up with the idea of putting their meal between two pieces of bread, but whoever it was, I thank you. We all thank you. There’s something so incredibly satisfying about biting into that glorious stack of layers and getting an even amount of bread, spread, cheese, lettuce, tomato, seasoning, and meat.

The only problem with sandwiches is that they are frequently poorly made. But we can’t blame that sad disgrace on the sandwich — no, the blame rests solidly on the shoulders of the unfortunate soul who constructed it. It must have been for this very reason that a Reddit user asked one of the most important questions that has perhaps ever graced the unwieldy social news site: “What’s the best advice you’ve ever received for making a sandwich better?”

Then answers starting pouring in from some very enlightened and thoughtful sandwich-lovers. Here are some of the highlights.

“When making a sandwich with avocado, don’t cut the fruit into slices and place it on the sandwich. Mash up the green stuff and treat it like a spread,” explains Hey_Neat. This rings true if you’ve ever tried to eat avocado toast but kept getting foiled by the beautiful little slices of avocado as they fell off the bread or unceremoniously slipped, partially gummed, out of your mouth.

Dotmatrix insists, “Pepper the tomatoes.” And salt them. This way you’ll be able to see exactly how much salt you’ve added, and your pepper distribution will be blissfully even. Not to mention the tomato juices will hold onto the seasoning (and any other spices you add) like a charm.

Another bit of sandwich science: Mojave_moon reminds us that “mayo or another fat like butter or a dressing is a membrane, a barrier to liquids. So if a sandwich has mustard or wet ingredients like tomato or lettuce, the fat barrier keeps the bread from getting wet.”

User Imadethisuponthespot called upon the sandwich-making wisdom of Alton Brown to tell fellow Redditors, and the world, what everyone needed to hear: “The bread needs to match the filling. Hard bread for hard fillings, and soft bread for soft fillings. Hard bread will squish out a soft filling as you bite it. And soft bread will just mush in your mouth as you bite through thicker and harder fillings.”

Just in case you were wondering, hard fillings, according to user STRAIN, include “hard salami, grilled chicken, sliced pork,” to name a few. I cannot believe I had never thought about why pulled pork goes on a potato bun, why chicken salad works best on a kaiser, or why a BLT sits happily on toasted, mayo-slathered white bread. Ever try to put soft, ripe tomatoes on toasted sourdough? Yeah, I was also wondering why they always ended up on my plate.

See the thread on Reddit: What’s the best advice you’ve ever received for making a sandwich better?

What’s your best sandwich-making advice? Let us know in the comments!