Cooking Tips

The Key to a Perfect Breakfast Sandwich Is a Cheese Anchor

Bacon and cheese don’t work together for flavor alone. One can keep the other in place.
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Published Apr. 12, 2022.

In my humble opinion, there is a holy trinity to the perfect breakfast sandwich: eggs, cheese, and bacon. I love sausage, I love regular ham, but nothing beats bacon.

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However, there’s a problem with two of these ingredients: the bacon and cheese don’t always like to cooperate with each other. If you’ve ever faced the disappointment of biting into a great breakfast sandwich only to have the bacon slide out with your first bite, you’re not alone.

Luckily, there’s a really simple trick to keep this from happening. I learned it from our recipe for Bacon and Cheddar Breakfast Sandwiches which is featured in our book, One-Hour Comfort. The tip? Use your cheese to anchor the bacon to your eggs.

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Since you’re working with so few ingredients, the construction of your sandwich is key. You might think the order should be eggs, cheese, and then bacon, but this is where the slippery bacon problem begins. Perched precariously on top, it falls out on your first bite. Bummer! Instead, follow these tips.

Steps to Creating the Ultimate Cheese Anchor

  1. As your eggs are cooking, top them with your slices of bacon.
  2. Then, place your cheese of choice (we like shredded cheddar here) on top of the bacon.
  3. Cover the pan, remove from the burner, and let the residual heat melt the cheese and finish cooking the egg.

Don't skip the melting step! As the cheese melts, it traps the bacon and anchors it to the egg. Now it will stay put as you transfer from the pan to your bread, so you don’t have to worry about losing any pieces. Then, add the rest of your toppings and take a bite. Notice anything different? No slipping. Now you have the perfect amount of bacon with every single bite.

But why stop with breakfast sandwiches? This trick also works great with burgers! Place your bacon on your patty, and melt the cheese on top of it. 

Who knew cheese could do so much?

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