If you’re entering our Sandwich Showdown Contest, you likely agree that a sandwich can be so much more than just a handheld meal. “A great sandwich gives you a wide range of tastes and textures in a single bite,” says Lisa Cherkasky, whose Lunch Encounter blog (midnightsnack.wordpress.com) is devoted to the art and craft of sandwiches. To help you create a combination that will catch the judges’ attention and make you a winner at home, we asked her and a few other experts for their secrets to making extraordinary sandwiches.

Realize that less is more. Dagwood, the husband in the classic Blondie comic strip, built towering, everything-but-the-kitchen-sink creations that are amusing to see but no fun to eat. “An overloaded sandwich is hard to handle and confusing to taste,” says David Joachim, author of more than 30 cookbooks and a frequent contributor to MyPanera^®. “Keep it simple - three or four filling ingredients is plenty.”

Begin with bread. “It’s the platform for your sandwich, so choosing the right type is a critical first step,” says Tom Gumpel, head baker for Panera Bread. He discourages using crusty bread with a soft center because “the filling will just pop out as you bite into it.” For a grilled sandwich, Gumpel recommends bread with an “open crumb” (which means a rough texture inside, rather than a smooth, uniform one). The open crumb, he explains, allows the heat to thoroughly penetrate the bread and melt the cheese.

Make moisture mandatory. A moist spread not only makes bread easier to chew and swallow, it can bring together the flavors of the other ingredients. But you don’t have to be limited to the old standbys,, plain mayonnaise or mustard. “I like to use pesto instead of mayo because it adds a bold, fresh flavor to the sandwich,” says Willi Galloway, author of Grow Cook Eat and the Diggin Food blog (digginfood.com). A few ideas from the Panera menu to try: sun-dried tomato pesto, artichoke-parmesan spread, horseradish, or chipotle mayo.
 
Strike a balance. Choose fillings with flavors that contrast the bread and each other, Lisa suggests. “Sweet fillings in salty bread, for instance, highlight each of those flavors,” she says. “If the bread and all the fillings are salty, the flavors are buried and don’t stand out.” Contrasting textures also make for an interesting sandwich, so consider including ingredients that are crunchy, creamy, chewy, and melty.

Stay in the family. A simple and effective way to create a new combination is to take a familiar sandwich and switch to other ingredients in the same “food family,” David says. Take the classic BLT with mayo, for example, and give it a fresh taste by making it with Applewood-smoked bacon, fresh baby spinach, tomatoes, and chipotle mayo.

Check for the break. Have you ever bitten into a sandwich and found yourself tearing at one of the ingredients? That makes you want to put down the sandwich and pick up a knife and fork. “To get a taste of every ingredient in each mouthful, they have to break off easily when you bite them,” Lisa says. Pass on meats that are not tender enough to yield when you bite them and vegetables that are so pliant they bend rather than break.

Try something familiar, something new. Fresh ideas are certain to catch the judges’ attention when you’re creating a contest-ready sandwich, but it will sure to be a winner with everyone if you pair a couple of common ingredients with one or two unique ones. “The familiar ingredients anchor the flavor while the new ones provide the spark,” Willi says.