5 Nonnegotiables For Making The Perfect BLT, According To Chefs
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The experts might be able to spot a few complaints about the BLT shown here.
We wait for it all year long. Through dark winter days and rainy springs, we never lose hope that summer will come. And when it does, there’s just one food we need to fuel us, the one we’ve dreamed about in the gloom — a perfectly constructed bacon, lettuce and tomato sandwich, lovingly known as the BLT.
“The BLT is possibly the world’s greatest sandwich,” said chef Andrew Zimmern.
Each summer, millions of hungry people agree.
Brad Hedeman spent years working the sandwich line in Ann Arbor, Michigan’s, Zingerman’s Deli. He now works as a food finder for the deli’s mail-order group, where he maintains his strong sandwich opinions, especially about the BLT.
“It fulfills the Platonic ideal of a sandwich with four simple, flavorful ingredients: meat, veggies, bread and spread,” Hedeman said. “It’s not complicated, but it covers all the flavor and texture bases with savory and salty from the bacon, cool and creamy from the mayo, crisp from the lettuce, juicy and sweet from the tomato, and then it’s all held safe in soft yet crusty slices of great bread. How can you top that?”
When a sandwich has only three ingredients, and they’re listed in the name itself, you might think it’s easy to pull one together. But to create a truly stellar BLT, there are several details that must be managed correctly.
“Since the sandwich can be so simple, the key is to ensure each ingredient is carefully curated and selected with the highest standards,” said restaurant owner and chef Curtis Stone.
Follow these tips from food experts, and we promise your next BLT will be a juicy, salty, gloriously messy chef’s kiss.
First, The Bacon
Neuske’s is the bacon brand mentioned most often by the experts we spoke to.
Hedeman offered this gold-star endorsement: “It’s been the house bacon at Zingerman’s Deli for more than 40 years, and that’s because it’s sweet, savory, rich, meaty and satisfying. In all my years of tasting and finding food, I’ve yet to come across any bacon that is so consistently delicious and has been for so long.”
“Bacon is the star of the show in a BLT, so the secret to a great sandwich is high-quality bacon,” said chef Lisa Dahl of the Dahl Restaurant Group in Sedona, Arizona. “My go-tos are Nueske’s or Beeler’s, especially the peppered varieties.”
“The bacon should be natural and fruitwood smoked,” Zimmern said. “I like Nueske’s, Benton’s, D’Artagnan, Wright and Niman Ranch brands. At the supermarket, Hormel Black Label and Applegate are two favorites, although many of the best brands are now carried in supermarkets.”
Now that you’ve chosen the perfect bacon, it needs to be cooked the right way. Our experts love the texture of well-cooked, not undercooked, meat.
“Everything’s better with bacon, and the crispier the better,” said Robin Selden, executive chef and managing partner of Marcia Selden Catering.
“It needs to be nice and crispy, not flabby and rubbery,” Stone said. “I like to lay bacon strips over a rack set on a baking sheet, then bake in the oven. This method gets the entire strip of bacon perfectly and evenly crisp.”
Could this be the perfect prototype?
Lettuce
“Baby Gem lettuce holds up well to rustic bread, tomato and bacon,” saidDewey Losasso, corporate executive chef ofBill Hansen Catering in Miami. “You can mix it with rocket arugula, which adds a little bit of complexity to the sandwich flavor. Add a few dandelion greens, because they’ll wake up the palette.”
Zimmern also mixes it up with his lettuce choices: “I usually use a mix of iceberg ’shreduce,′ mixed with flavorful, spicy greens like arugula or watercress. It should be carefully blended so the lettuce stays on the sandwich.”
Dahl wants lettuce that can stand up to the other ingredients. “The inner leaves of a crunchy romaine heart get my vote. I go with a triple layer of leaves for the ultimate crunch experience.”
Hedeman is another texture aficionado: “No one expects lettuce to contribute too much flavor, so crunchy texture and a nice snap are more important. I look for texture over flavor.”
Tomato
Choosing the right tomato makes all the difference, these experts said, and the best way to make that happen might begin when you’re planting your vegetable garden next spring.
“Heirloom beefsteak tomatoes have the best flavor and texture,” Stone said. “Their meaty insides stand up to all the goo. If there’s one thing to include in your garden, it should be a tomato plant, because there’s nothing better.”
Fresh is always, always best, experts said.
“The tomatoes should be in season and actually grown in dirt, outside,” Davis insisted.
“An underripe or underflavored hothouse tomato defeats the entire idea of using it in the first place,” Dahl said.
Pay attention as you select each tomato.
“If it’s too ripe, the sandwich will be too wet and soggy, but if it’s underripe, the flavor won’t be there,” Losasso said. “I add a few drops ofOlio Piro olive oil, kosher salt and cracked black pepper to the tomato slices, too.”
The thickness of tomato slices is a matter of personal preference, and our experts fell into “team thicker” and “team thinner” camps. Losasso said “a little thickness works great,” while Zimmern favored a “paper thin” approach.
And yes, you can go ahead and remove the tomato seeds, but it’s not absolutely necessary. “In my book, seeds are just part of the texture experience,” Hedeman said.
Bread
Hedeman insisted that bread is the most important ingredient. “It must be flavorful and sturdy enough to hold everything inside without breaking down, ripping or getting soggy,” he said.
Stone favors a square-shapedPullman loaf for its tight webbing and light texture. “Slice it just about a half-inch thick, but no thicker, because then the sandwich becomes all about the bread and may overpower the filling,” he cautioned.
Sandy Davis, chef for New York-based Roxo Events, grew up in Texas eating “sammiches” made withMrs. Baird’s white bread. These days, he prefersPepperidge Farm white sandwich bread, toasted.
Dahl also prefers toasted bread, noting that it must be served Goldilocks style — “not too soft and not too hard.” She’s a fan of whole-grainDave’s Killer Bread.
Zimmern also toasts the bread. And while he prefers a soft crumb bread, he said cheap supermarket bread is “its own special thing and it works, too.”
Mayonnaise
Opinions about mayonnaise were split, so follow your own longing for nostalgia, use what you have on hand — or conduct your own taste test to be sure.
For Losasso, BLT mayonnaise is Hellmann’s all the way. “It’s a comforting sensory flashback,” he said.
Hedeman shared that opinion. “It’s what we use here at the deli, and I still haven’t found a mayonnaise I like better.”
Dahl is a fan of the Best Foods brand, which is the West Coast version of Hellmann’s. “I use it in all six of my restaurants for all my dipping sauces, remoulades and potato salads,” she said.
Davis, who splits his time between New York City and Texas, has the ultimate diplomatic approach: “I keep Hellmann’s in New York and Duke’s in Texas.”
With mayo jar in hand, it’s time to spread it on the bread. Zimmern, who favors Hellman’s or Duke’s, suggested this method: “Spread the mayo on both pieces of toasted bread. On the lower piece, add lettuce, then tomato, sprinkled lightly with a little bit of salt and freshly ground pepper, and then four pieces of bacon. Top with the final piece of bread. Use two frilled toothpicks to secure your halves. Cut at an angle for triangular halves.”
Go-Withs Are Just A Bonus, But Opinions Are Strong
To complete your sandwich-eating experience, consider the accompaniments that work best.
For Davis, “This sandwich must be served with Lay’s Ruffled Potato Chips and a Coke — not diet.”
Hedeman keeps it simple: “Chips and a pickle sound pretty good to me.”
Zimmern’s favored sides include cole slaw, potato salad or Zapp’s potato chips, and he’ll drink iced tea, root beer, cream soda, homemade lemonade or a real orange soda.
Dahl said there’s a reason she chooses potato salad over chips: “A BLT is naturally salty, so you want to cut the salt with something creamy and rich,” she said. “You don’t want to pair salty with salty, which is what you’d get with chips.”
