I always bought store-brand white, and that was fine since the bread would often go bad before it was used up. I’ve been eating a lot of sandwiches for dinner lately, though, and the cheap bread turns to mush and rips apart any time there’s a wet ingredient, like tomatoes. So, I’m looking to branch out and maybe try other flavors (except rye) and find a bread that doesn’t disintegrate when when it gets a little damp.
Please do not tell me about your homemade bread unless you’re planning to send me some. If I wanted to turn on the oven, I wouldn’t be eating so many sandwiches.
Do you have any Chinese, Japanese or Korean markets near you? It seems a little strange, I know, but there’s no better white sandwich bread on earth than what you can buy at an Asian market. I don’t know how they do it, but they achieve that slight chewy firmness that stands up to wet fillings.
Japanese markets near me sell a type that they call “English bread”, a tall, narrow loaf that I think is the perfect white sandwich bread. It toasts up brilliantly, too.
The English approach to sandwich-making is that you always butter the bread to protect it from soggification. I don’t know if this works; I learned it as an adult, and as an adult, I’m not one to pack sandwiches for lunch.
The sturdy sandwich bread of my childhood, which did absorb jelly but which didn’t fall apart, was Brownberry Whole Wheat. That was in the eastern region of the U.S. Now we have moved to the western region, and Orowheat Whole Wheat is what it’s called here. Franz Whole What is another subsitution.
Unfortunately we just have chain stores here, and not any ethnic markets. That butter suggestion makes sense. I’ll try it on the remaining loaf and look for the brand mentioned.
As a non-foodie, it’s not a big deal to me (there’s another line you can use). I do wish I could take advantage of the deals that people who aren’t limited to chain grocery stores often find, though.
Most “whole wheat” and eleventy-five-grain breads you can buy in chain grocery stores are pretty light and shouldn’t be too challenging for someone who is used to white. They do hold up a little better to wet ingredients.
What about trying some other type of bread-like substance, such as “bagels”* or those large flour tortillas used to make wraps? They are also relatively sturdy.
Finally, sometimes you can find Italian-style loaves or Kaiser rolls at supermarkets, which you could use to make a more deli-style sandwich.
*Put in quotations to forestall comments from bagel purists who know the things you get at the supermarket are not really bagels.
So far as regular white bread, I’ve found the more expensive or “butter top”/“Split top” stays fresher longer. All of these breads in my area are from a local bakery - no national brand.
Seconding Roman Meal. For a normal sandwich bread it’s pretty tasty. The key, as noted above, is not to put wet items next to the bread in the first place. Always place a layer between or at the minimum butter/mayo the bread first.
Are you against toasting? Toasting always provides ample protection against sog, and also adds a nice charred flavor and a crunchy texture, but I understand not everyone likes that.
It seems so obvious, now that everyone is mentioning it. It never occurred to me to butter bread for a sandwich. For me mayo is that stuff that ruins an otherwise fine food.
I’m not against doing it every so often, but I wouldn’t want to toast (or butter bread or using bagels and rolls for that matter) every time.
My preference would be to find a brand that’s just like regular white slices, but a little firmer. I know that probably isn’t going to happen, though, so I’m willing to branch out into the whole grain type stuff.
