Sandwiches should not be quite this damp. Eew.

September 20, 2011 7:34 AM

How do I keep a sandwich overnight without it getting soggy and gross?

Once a week I tutor for a family that feeds me dinner. Every week without fail, they get me a foot long sub. Super nice, right? I can only eat half of it while I'm there, so I try to save the other half for lunch the next day. Almost every time it ends up so damp and icky that I end up just tossing it and buying lunch that day. How do I prevent this?

I don't put any kind of liquidy stuff on the sandwich to begin with, so it's just meat, cheese, and veggies. I've tried all different permutations of keeping it wrapped in paper, putting it in a ziplock, leaving the ziplock open so the moisture can get out, sealing the ziplock so the moisture can't get in, varied temperatures in the fridge, etc. Is there anything I can do that will leave the sandwich edible the next day?

Thanks!

posted by chatongriffes to food & drink (12 answers total)

Separate the parts. Recombine when you dine.
posted by anildash at 7:36 AM on September 20, 2011 [9 favorites]

seconding anildash, around here you can order your hoagie "packed for travel" which means they wrap the insides up separately and then you put them together when you're ready to eat.
posted by interplanetjanet at 7:37 AM on September 20, 2011

I don't know of any way to keep it in original condition, but I have often peeled the nasty wet bread off a leftover sandwich and added new bread. Sub shops (around here anyway) don't tend to have great bread to start with...
posted by fritley at 7:37 AM on September 20, 2011

oh, also, because I know I can never eat a big sandwich I have often asked the shop to pack half of it up separately when I order. That way the extra half doesn't get so soggy.
posted by interplanetjanet at 7:39 AM on September 20, 2011

Pack bread, meat/cheese and vegetables separately. Meat and cheese are fine together. Meat, cheese and bread may even be fine together. Leaving the vegetables in there is just asking for soggy mess.
posted by koahiatamadl at 8:08 AM on September 20, 2011

nthing separating it all. and toast the bread a little.
posted by ilk at 8:36 AM on September 20, 2011

Freeze it in a sandwich bag the night before. Take it out in the morning and it will thaw by lunch.
posted by Sweetmag at 8:52 AM on September 20, 2011

Tomatoes are the worst, can wreck a whole sandwich. Pickles make little soggy spots. Lettuce is iffy, depends on how well they dried it after they washed it. Mayo/ketchup/mustard aren't problems in themselves but if there's extra liquid elsewhere these sauces make it into gross gooey liquid. Meat and cheese are probably not the culprit. Order a very plain sandwich with no veggies this week and see if it lasts any better.
posted by aimedwander at 10:06 AM on September 20, 2011 [1 favorite]

Drop the veggies and sauces. Meat and cheese only with maybe onion.
posted by saradarlin at 10:47 AM on September 20, 2011

Thanks all! I foolishly left my sandwich at home, so I can't test any of these out this week, but I think separating out the bread is probably for the best. It's not like it was good bread anyway...

And a panini press at work with a fresh ciabatta roll? Maybe these sandwiches can be salvaged after all!
posted by chatongriffes at 11:21 AM on September 20, 2011

If it's a subway sandwich, give up all hope. The bread is moist, and there is your problem. Just ask them for a six inch.
posted by darkgroove at 12:50 PM on September 20, 2011

Lucky for you we live in a golden age of sandwich technology.
posted by villanelles at dawn at 12:04 PM on September 24, 2011