Sandwich bread is used for toast and French toast at breakfast. Sandwiches for lunch and can be eaten plain or buttered at dinner. The products put in sandwich bread is limited only by imagination! Toasted cheese, peanut butter/jelly, ham, bologna, or sliced tomatoes and mayo all make great sandwiches…

Sensory assessment could come from several departments:

• Quality: the shelf life of sandwich bread is somewhere around 12 days from bake date.
• If the goal is to match a competitor's product, R&D, production, and even marketing could be involved.
• Production: being a production guy, it is important to formulate a product that can be made consistently at high speed. This entails a formula that has tolerance and can be duplicated day to day.

Sandwich bread is typically sliced thinner than open top bread making it great for sandwiches using 2 slices. The inside of the bread should be white with a tight grain. A good loaf of sandwich bread is square on top with straight sidewalls.

The color of the bread should be similar on top, side and bottom. A golden brown color with no burnt aroma is desired. French toast sandwich can be made using some turmeric to give a yellow color. The smell should be slightly yeasty not burnt. Taste should be slightly sweet with a pleasing yeasty flavor. Sandwich bread can also be made using some whole wheat, raisin, rye, or even bulgur wheat.

The crumb should be resilient and slightly moist. If the sandwich bread is to be used for French toast, how well does the bread hold together and handle a batter? French toast sandwich can even have
some cinnamon added or swirled for extra flavor!

Tom Woods, Senior Vp Manufacturing, Lewis Baking Company, U.S.A