PBJ Debate: Jelly-Side Up or Down?
After so many PBJs in a lifetime, we tend to make them without thinking. Peanut butter here, jelly there. But wait. There's a method to that madness.
Instinctively, many people slop peanut butter on the bottom slice and jelly on top. Why? John Kessler, food columnist for the Atlanta Journal-Constitution, has a theory: "Since taste buds are on the tongue, then the peanut butter goes on the underside so I can taste it first."
Kessler goes back and forth, until eventually, he has no idea why he does what he does. But he's got one thing certain: Relative weights and densities are an issue. Heavier ingredients logically go at the bottom, and peanut butter is heavy, while jelly is jiggly.
So where do you stand: Jelly-side up or jelly-side down? It's a very important issue.
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43 Comments:
I tend to put peanut butter on both side and the jelly inbetween. The peanut butter acts as a seal for the bread and keeps the jelly from making it soggy.
shale at 9:11PM on 10/22/08
I cut mine up into triangles (never rectangles!) and do one side PB up, one side jelly up. Usually in that order.
Lilly at 9:21PM on 10/22/08
I put the peanut butter on the slice that I think is going to be the bottom, for the same reason I layer mustard, then cold cuts on the bottom of other types of sandwiches. Basically, it's simply because the PB, like the cold cuts (or whatever) is the star of the show. For all I know, by the time I'm done, it's been turned upside down (or not), and I really don't notice the difference.
Tonecat at 9:40PM on 10/22/08
Whoa...am I the only one that was perplexed when you said top and bottom of a PB&J? Is there such a thing? For any sandwich for that matter. My sandwich making is entirely random I guess. Top, bottom, sides... It never even occurs to me when I build a sandwich. I guess I'm more function than form when it comes to these things, though I will admit to focusing on even distribution of the contents.
chrisr at 9:58PM on 10/22/08
PB on both sides so the J doesn't make it soggy. Like shale.
TastyNewEngland at 10:18PM on 10/22/08
@shale - I do the same thing, and my pb&js never get soggy!
producestories at 10:19PM on 10/22/08
PB on one slice of bread, jelly on the other and slap them together, hoping the jelly doesn't ooze out. I like to live dangerously.
Kimc54 at 10:26PM on 10/22/08
Interesting concept, shale. I'll have to try pb on both sides sometime. I usually go pb side down, just because it's harder to spread the pb than the jelly. I don't really worry about the bread getting soggy since it goes straight into my mouth once the top piece of bread goes on.
Then, there's the fourth option: mix it all together. You won't have to choose then!
rifter at 10:31PM on 10/22/08
It's easier to spread jelly/jam on top of peanut butter than the other way around. I've never tried to spread peanut butter on top of the jelly, but I believe that to be true, nevernonetheless. The jelly must remain on top as I consume my sandwich so that I may catch any overflow with my tongue, which would be more difficult if the sandwich was upside down which is so very, very wrong. I know this because I believe it to be true, nonenevertheless hownowbrowncowever. Um. Don't worry about me, I'm okay now. Just drank some chocolate milk with the pb&j and I'm very happy with my mustache. ;l)
PerkyMac at 10:43PM on 10/22/08
@ Shale - I think yours is an attempt to justify slathering on two layers of PB instead of just one! :D
AliNC at 10:58PM on 10/22/08
I've never eaten a PB&J sandwich, but when I make an occasional one for my OH, I always do it the way Kimc54 described - peanut butter on one slice, jam on another, slap them together so that the jam side is on top. I just asked him if he indeed preferred jam on top, and his answer was "yes, definitely, because I want it to dominate" - whatever that means.
brooke29 at 11:06PM on 10/22/08
I'm with Shale -- though I spread the same amount of peanut butter as I would if I were just putting it on one piece of bread. My mom used to make my sandwiches that way for school, so the bread wouldn't get soggy. Now I can taste the difference -- and I prefer the jam layer surrounded by peanut butter.
Skythe at 11:12PM on 10/22/08
Up or down? What the......... Let's not overthink the PB&J sandwich. I just put peanut butter on one side and jelly on the other side and then combine. Korean moms like to make pretty triple deckers: bread, peanut butter, bread, jelly, and then bread again.
bionicgrrrl at 12:11AM on 10/23/08
@Perky--have you taken your meds today?
I have to say I'm with you, though...peanut butter doesn't spread well on top of jelly, being of a much stiffer consistency. Or jam. Whatever. My personal favorite is pomegranate jelly.
buffy at 1:04AM on 10/23/08
Yup, I'm w/ shale--pb on BOTH sides of the bread w/jelly in between--especiallly if you are hoping to enjoy your pb&j later on in the day.
seagreene at 1:10AM on 10/23/08
PB on one slice, topped with jelly or jam (on the same slice). Top with nekkid bread slice. Not sure why - but this is the way I've always done it.
IIRC, the time I tried PB on both sides with a layer of jelly in the middle, the sandwich top slid off its bottom. For some reason, the sandwich clung together more solidly if the jelly went directly on the PB.
Wow...This subject is getting about as much press as Ann Landers' letter about which way the toilet paper should hang!
therealchiffonade at 4:55AM on 10/23/08
I agree with Perky--although I would love to see someone try to spread sticky peanut butter on top of a jelly-infused bread!
HeartofGlass at 6:22AM on 10/23/08
I don't partake of PB&J's but when I make one for someone else, I spread PB on the bottom slice, spread the jelly over the PB and end with the top slice.
The greater weightiness of the PB factors into this method but as others said, jelly clings to PB that's already spread on a slice of bread whereas it's almost impossible to spread PB over jelly. Also, if the jelly is on the bottom, the weight of the PB causes the jelly to ooze out over the sides of the bread while the sandwich is eaten.
Thank goodness no one has suggested getting PB & jelly coalescing sickly in one jar. You know what I'm talking about. :)
holdthemayo at 6:57AM on 10/23/08
I tend to stray from using jelly, and instead pile bananas or pickles onto the bottom layer of peanut butter.
Therefore, I guess when I do use jelly, it's on the top.
Apple at 7:00AM on 10/23/08
Apple eats pickles and peanut butter? That's a new one. I'm a jelly on top girl. Sticky peanut butter is easier to get off your tongue than the roof of your mouth. That's my attempt at logic.
myfirstkitchen at 7:31AM on 10/23/08
Jelly on top. I spread the peanut butter first and the jelly second, purely out of habit. And since the jelly side is in my hand and the peanut butter is on the counter, i put the jelly side on top of it rather than inverting them or whatnot. It's not a function of which side tastes better on top or bottom but which I spread first, which is always the peanut butter.
shoneyjoe at 7:38AM on 10/23/08
@ myfirstkitchen: it's delicious too--i highly recommend it with good quality dills.
Apple at 9:42AM on 10/23/08
I agree with Shale. PB on both sides. If you bring it to work, you do not want it soggy. Take it from me... I've been eating PB&J for lunch since elementary school. Yum!
foodiehacker at 9:43AM on 10/23/08
On top! I dthe J side first so that I can easily clean off the knife and use it to spread the PB. Do you guys use a spoon or a knife to spread your J?
Laurel E at 9:55AM on 10/23/08
Jelly on the top! It's just the way I've always eaten and made them so it would bug me if I ate it jelly on the bottom. I use a knife to spread both the peanut butter and jelly.
coffeecrzychik at 10:02AM on 10/23/08
yea i've been putting jelly on top, but sometimes I put PB on top since there isn't the risk of the jelly dripping when you slap on the bread together.
solusgecko at 10:13AM on 10/23/08
PB on the bottom, butter on the top bread to prevent jelly moistening then a delicious jam or jelly.
Montana Eats at 10:33AM on 10/23/08
I sounds like most people spread the PB first. I do it that way now, but growing up, there was a peanut allergy in our house, so I was taught to use jelly first, then close the jar and put it away to avoid cross contamination.
I wonder if spreading order has any correlation with top/bottom preference?
Kerosena at 10:37AM on 10/23/08
Uh. hum.
Well if you ever pre-make your PB+J sandwiches, put it in a tupperware and grab it out of the fridge for lunch the next morning... sometimes when you put the jelly at the bottom, it soaks through the bread.
If you put the PB at the bottom, it acts like a barrier to prevent bread soakage.
foodinmouth at 10:37AM on 10/23/08
i'm not o.c.d. about much, but i'm very particular when it comes to spreading...a thin layer (gloppy is bad) must carefully & evenly be put over the entire slice of bread. this compulsion also bleeds into play when i butter toast or put on mustard...i'm weird.
as for construction...using a knife, i do my jelly on top and the pb on the bottom. triangles are nice, especially if the crusts are cut off. i don't eat pb & js too often though.
gastronomeg at 11:12AM on 10/23/08
I think I know what I'm having for lunch.
jlbrach at 11:37AM on 10/23/08
I actually had a PBJ for breakfast w/ my coffee this morning... I put the PB on the bottom while making and eating it. Never really thought about why, and I always cut in half into retangles.
Alm25 at 12:43PM on 10/23/08
Ditto PB both sides...in fact, skip the jelly.
bessfour at 12:44PM on 10/23/08
Everyone knows you put peanut butter on both sides of the bread and the jelly in the middle, thus preventing the soggy jelly soak-in.
anysuchname at 12:57PM on 10/23/08
my wife taught me this: mix the peanut butter and jelly together first. Then the jelly doesn't ooze out or soak through the bread!
misha1by at 3:24PM on 10/23/08
Peanut butter spread on one slice. Jelly spread on second slice of bread. Invert peanut butter slice on top of jelly slice. Invert whole sandwich and enjoy.
nightowl at 4:30PM on 10/23/08
Thin layer of peanut butter on each slice and then a layer of jelly on each slice. I'm weirdly into sandwich symmetry, though. I like having all of the condiments on both pieces of bread. I hate to get a sandwich and find one of the pieces of bread completely dry, or insufficiently condimented. (Is that a word? I guess it is now.)
RegrettableFoodie at 5:56PM on 10/23/08
I also put a layer of PB on both slices and then the jelly on one slice. I do have an unusual way of cutting the sandwich though:
I like to cut the sandwich slightly off center, so one half is bigger than the other. When I eat the sammy, I eat the small half first - and then when I get to the big half I feel like I'm getting a bonus! My husband used to tease me about this, but I know he thinks I'm a sandwich genius.
GoldenEel at 6:46PM on 10/23/08
It's psychological :D It is peanut butter. All classical sandwiches have butter first and then on top of that anything else. Nobody thinks about the "density of peanut butter compared to jelly" unconsciously, except probably a few super-sophisticated food fanatics.
Do you spread your usual sandwich butter, mayo or mustard on top of your salad and tomatoes? I mean, unconsciously and automatically? I have sometimes mustard on the cheese, but the butter is always the base at the bottom... (it is fun to see how many people get moved by such a simple subject :D)
litsakouzina at 10:04PM on 10/23/08
It's always been pb on the bottom (or slice of bread on the left of the plate, to be exact) and jelly on top of that for me. Then the naked slice of bread (or the one on the right side of the plate) gets smooshed on top.
That goes double for when I toast the bread - that way the heat from the toast makes the pb all yummily melted. Mmmmmm.
disbelief11 at 12:24AM on 10/24/08
I always toast my bread, put a layer of PB (usually extra crunchy) on one slice of toast, a layer of jelly on the other (being toasted prevents soggy bread...and gives it extra crunch) and then slap them together....I eat it whichever way the sandwich should land in my hand!
misfit_angel_85 at 12:54PM on 10/24/08
Jelly on top! It just feels right.
And besides, the whole double PB layer thing makes the jelly squish out of the middle. It's got to adhere to the bread enough to stay inside.
butterface at 11:09PM on 10/24/08
O M G
definitely jelly on top BECAUSE that way the PB doesn't stick to the roof of my mouth. This is from an anti-PBJ/peanutbutter in general person though.
Grace Kang at 5:05PM on 04/05/09