Bread vs. toast

Ultimate pan toasted (aka grilled) sandwich: PB&J with banana.

z31maniac said:

The0retical said:

Seriously though. Who baked a loaf of bread and was like "you know what? Bake it again"

 I'm a bagel man myself.

I find this whole post a bit ironic considering bagel's are also "cooked" three times, sure not baked twice, but boiled, then baked, THEN toasted!

And that also seems weird to me. That said, I do love a good bage also.

You don't toast bagels you heathen. They get eaten fresh with enough cream cheese drown an average sized 6 year old.

Does toast stop being bread? 

There is a time and place for toasting. In some places it is almost required, in others it ruins things. I think that toasting is best used to withstand an onslaught of liquid from the food being consumed (like a BLT) but even then, it has to be done right.

How can you toast something wrong, you ask? Hamburger buns that get toasted with the liquid margarine or whatever they use at most places. Wrong. Toast them DRY if you toast them at all, please. Or, better yet, use a bread product that will stand up to the rigor of being paired with juicy beef. A boring white hamburger bun isn't that bread.

Grilled cheese is not made with toast. Rather, the entire sandwich is grilled, panini style. 

The ultimate toast products, in my opinion, are croutons. 

(not) WilD (Matt) said:

There is no clear winner both have their place.  Squishy white bread should never be used for anything, toasted or not.

white bread is an insult to real bread

Duke said:

z31maniac said:

Streetwiseguy said:

 

As an aside, you don't make sandwiches at any time more than 90 seconds before you eat them.

This. I can't believe on the last page I read someone makes their sandwiches the night BEFORE for work.

I’m not getting up half an hour earlier every morning just so I can have the ideal sandwich at lunch. 

It takes you 30 minutes to make a sandwich? 

How? I'm genuinely interested how this could be possible. Maybe your toaster needs to be replaced. 

If I go get a nice, naturally fermented batard from the French bakery downtown I'm probably not going to toast it... at least not that day. If I'm eating a club sandwich that things gotta be toasted. It's not a club sandwich without the danger of soft palette damage. 

The maillard reaction is a magical thing.  Toast is great. Great bread is great. Soft and chewy is wonderful as is crisp. Buttered toast, yes please. Dipping a soft loaf in olive oil and balsamic sprinkled with flaked salt, oh yeah I'm there too.

I'm gonna make toast and eggs this morning.  

Fresh warm bread is great. Hot buttered rye toast is great. Sourdough buttered and fried is a new religion.

z31maniac said:

Duke said:

z31maniac said:

Streetwiseguy said:

 

As an aside, you don't make sandwiches at any time more than 90 seconds before you eat them.

This. I can't believe on the last page I read someone makes their sandwiches the night BEFORE for work.

I’m not getting up half an hour earlier every morning just so I can have the ideal sandwich at lunch. 

It takes you 30 minutes to make a sandwich? 

How? I'm genuinely interested how this could be possible. Maybe your toaster needs to be replaced. 

 No.  It takes 30 minutes to make a complete lunch for DW and I. Not only am I not getting up 30 minutes earlier to make the lunches that morning, I sure as E36 M3 am not going to make 80% of the lunches the night before and then still have to make the remaining 20% the next morning before I roll out the door for work. 

I love me some good bread as much as the next man, but sometimes your options are limited.  Especially when SWMBO is gluten free.

Grilled cheese and chicken on an inside out super white Burger bun from the freezer.  Next one will be on a hot dog bun as I'm out of burger buns but I'm still hungry.

Score!  Found some left over meatballs in the fridge.

Has anyone else noticed that it's become trendy at restaurants (particularly foodie-focussed ones) to WAY over toast bread on sandwiches? Like, they use a thin scrap of bread that is "toasted" until you have a burnt-edged laceration machine that could double as a stepping stone? I mean, I've expressed my love of toast here, but I don't want my Reuben on a sheet crouton that leaves my mouth feeling like I ate a razor blade sandwich. C'mon people! 

/end rant/