James Anderson

American, cheddar, or Swiss? Pick American when the melt is the point, cheddar when you want actual cheese flavor, and Swiss when the filling is mild and the sandwich is cold or pressed. Match the cheese to the filling and the cooking method, not to a single universal winner. That is the whole argument, really. … Read more

The best cheese for a turkey sandwich is Swiss, Havarti or provolone for a cold deli build, and sharp cheddar, muenster or smoked Gouda once you add heat. Turkey is lean and already salty, so the cheese has two jobs: add the flavor the meat does not have, and hold its own texture from the … Read more

Smoked turkey is deli-sliced turkey breast that has been seasoned, lightly cured and then exposed to hardwood smoke, so it carries real wood flavor without the saltiness of ham. The best brands for clubs and wraps slice thin enough to layer into a triple-decker, or shave cleanly enough to roll without tearing. Buying the right … Read more

If you build sandwiches most days, a domestic prosciutto pack gives you the better value per ounce, and an imported DOP prosciutto earns its extra cost when you want more flavor per slice and use fewer slices. Origin matters far less than salt level, slice thickness, and what you actually paid per ounce. That is … Read more

A fried bologna sandwich is one of those lunches where the sandwich is the easy part and the bologna is the whole decision. A slice that is too thin turns leathery and scorches before it crisps, while a slice that is too wet just steams in the pan and leaves you with a soggy bun. … Read more

Shaved or very thin is the right cut for most cold sandwiches, and a slightly thicker cut earns its place on hot and pressed sandwiches where the meat has to survive heat and a heavy top slice. Past about 4 mm on a cured meat, you are out of sandwich territory and into platter, board, … Read more

Costco deli meat is genuinely good for what it is: inexpensive, pre-sliced, generously packed lunch meat that turns into a sandwich in about a minute. It is not the same thing as fresh roast beef from a grocery store deli counter, and the confusing reputation comes from mixing it up with the plastic-wrapped staff-made sandwiches. … Read more

A stromboli punishes the wrong deli meat in a way a flat pizza does not. The roll bakes sealed, edge-down, for a good 18 to 25 minutes, so every drop of fat and water in your pepperoni or salami has time to soak into the dough and turn the bottom of the bread dense and … Read more

If you’re buying liver sausage for the first time, the short answer is this: pick a sliceable German-style Leberwurst if you want a firm sausage you cut with a knife, and pick an American braunschweiger if you want something soft enough to smear on toast. Past that split, the liverwurst and braunschweiger brands worth your … Read more

If you want the short version: the best grocery store delis in America are the ones that slice your order to order instead of handing you a wrapped sandwich from a case. Publix, Trader Joe’s, Wegmans and H-E-B pull ahead on made-to-order quality, Whole Foods leads on ingredients and customization, and Kroger, Safeway, Giant Eagle, … Read more