How To Choose The Best Ham For A Breakfast Sandwich

Breakfast is the most important meal of the day, so what you eat has a huge effect on the next 24 hours! So what has the carbs, the proteins, and the kick to energize you and get you out the door? A breakfast sandwich. The breakfast sandwich has been around since the 19th century, when pioneers eating egg and meat sandwiches made their way along the Oregon Trail, according to "Breakfast: A History" by Heather Arndt Anderson. The first breakfast sandwich recipe was a cross between an egg and meat sandwich and French toast fried in butter.

Today, McDonald's has made us familiar with a different kind of breakfast sandwich, one that's piled high with eggs, cheese, and Canadian bacon, all settled on top of an English muffin (via Serious Eats). But, let's be honest; McDonald's isn't necessarily the healthiest option, and the ingredients they use probably aren't the freshest or highest quality, so the best way to get a great-tasting breakfast sandwich is to make it yourself!

You can easily buy higher-quality bread and cheese for your sandwich, and you can fry your eggs any way you'd like, but when it comes to meat, most people are clueless regarding quality. A lot of the sliced stuff you get in your sandwiches at fast food restaurants and in the pre-packaged meat section at the store tastes more like rubber, and sometimes it doesn't even have any flavor at all. For example, Canadian bacon — aka cured pork loin — is supposed to be hearty with a bite of salt.

Serious Eats suggests finding meat cut from whole pork loins that has a fat lining the rim so it will crisp when you cook it. Other options include Black Forest ham. Di Lusso claims that the Black Forest pares wonderfully with most sandwiches and does great with cheese. With a smokey flavor and dark edges, this ham will be the star of your breakfast sandwich. And if you find that you'd like something a whole lot crispier, use bacon! You can't go wrong with bacon.