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My ideal BLT would probably be a BLTA (avocado!) or a BLAT, whichever you prefer. I'd start with toasted sourdough, mayo on one side, honey dijon on the other. Salt AND pepper a couple slices of tomatoes (remove seeds as well) and make sure the lettuce is really crisp and cold. I'd go with romaine instead of iceberg. Lastly, I think lots of thin strips of bacon makes it easier to eat and doesn't overpower each bite of the sandwich. A couple thin slices of avocado in there, and you're good to go.

@pearl...I had mentioned avocado also but that landed on deaf ears. What are you gonna do with these guys?

Pssssh, boys. Who knows!

I'll second ciabatta as a great bread choice.

Toasted bread, really ripe tomatoes, Hellman's mayonnaise and crispy bacon - no lettuce thank you!

If only you could get some smoked bacon from Masser's Farm Market in Weigh Scales, PA. (Just outside of Shamokin in the Coal Region), you'd have the fixin's for a real BLT. If course, you'd have to have a home-grown tomato and some crisp lettuce,,,,and Hellmann's is a MUST....

Masser's smokes their bacon over red birch and sassafras (so I've been told) and is the best ever!

oooh, definitely a good wheat or white bread (soft, not toasted), a good helping of best foods/hellmans mayo on both sides, dijon on one side, thickly sliced bacon, enough thinly sliced roma tomatoes to cover the bacon, a few crisp slices of iceburg lettuce (normally I like a more nutrient dense lettuce but for a BLT I enjoy the contrast with the salty bacon) and plenty of salt and fresh black pepper.

Perfect sandwich. I agree with Perky on the mouth scraping...

I'd want a diner-style BLT club with mayo. Really good fries on the side. And a pickle somewhere on the plate.

Squishy white bread, not toasted. Really ripe tomato, romaine lettuce, Hellman's mayo. Crispy thin bacon, S&P. To gild the lily, add slices of avocado.

Rye toast, Hellmans mayo, slice of american cheese, tomato, lettuce, pepper, 3 slices of bacon. Hummmm.

Toasted white bread with Hellmon's mayonnaise, crispy center cut bacon, lots of sliced tomatoes with salt and pepper and green leaf lettuce. Gotta have fries on the side!

Searched for the original Woolworth 5 & 10 Store BLT recipe. Closest I could find consisted of the following: Toasted white Wonder bread (which we can no longer get here in California, so I use Sarah Lee's Classic White), Best Food's Mayo (Hellmann's East of the Mississippi), thinly sliced ripe home grown tomato slices on top of the Mayo slathered on both slices of bread, crisp bacon, small piece of lettuce and if available, a thin slice of deli turkey, salt and pepper to taste, slice it diagonally, and chow down. Brings back memories of when I was a kid shopping with my mother in downtown Milwaukee. She always made it a point to treat me with one of these. Oh, a Coke completed the meal.

@ jaf, honeybumper and pearl - I should try avacado that would be wicked.

This is how I prefer my BLT (in this order; and I like it with cheese):

1) 2 slices of toasted whole grain or flax bread
2) large slab of real mayo on inside of each slice (i mean large)
3) 2.5 slices of vine-ripe tomatoes on top of the bottom slice
4) extra-extra-extra fresh-cracked black pepper
5) tiny bit of coarse salt
**If I were to add things like leftover turkey or chicken I would put it here**
6) 1 layer of either romaine or spinach
7) extra-crispy--but not burnt--bacon (as much as possible)
[ 8) 1 slice of cheddar or havarti ]
8) a little more cracked pepper over the bacon
add the hat and cut on a diagonal in half.

Order is important for flavour layering, spinach is cheating but I've learned to dispise iceberg on sandwiches over the years, and the cheese makes it a full-blown sandwich! Mmmm... I wish it were lunch already :)

I like a PAT Pancetta, arugula, and fried green tomato. I also use a basil aioli instead of mayo

I don't like mayo, so my best BLT would be soft white bread, slices of avocado on each half. Thick peppered bacon slices on each half. Then crisp lettuce of whatever kind I have on hand on each half. Then, in the very center of the sandwich, thick sea-salted slices of ripe red tomato, bulging out the sides. Put the halves together and try to fit the sandwich in my mouth. Yum!

I like thick slices of toasted white bread, Hellman's on one side, mashed avacado with lemon and kosher salt on the other side, with thick-sliced crispy bacon and fresh from the garden tomato. And lots of crunchy lettuce.

How about a nice MLT? Mutton, lettuce and tomato. They're so perky! I love that!

Pepperridge Farm White Sandwich Bread- Lightly Toasted on the Outside Sides;

Duke's mayonnaise on the inside of both pieces of bread.

6 half slices of the best bacon I can get my hands on...stacked 3 slices laying one way then 3 slices rotated 90 degrees on top of those.

Thin slice of a super ripe beefsteak tomato...otherwise I'll go for as sweet and juicy a tomato as I can find.

light sea salt and heavy black pepper on the tomato.

Whole grain mustard...I like Zatarain's for this sandwich.

2-3 pieces of green leaf lettuce.

Has to be sliced diagonally and prefer it to be served with sweet tea.

Medium toasted, wide shaped, honey, whole wheat white bread.
A generous tablespoon of mayo slathered on each slice while the toast is still warm. Fresh, finely cracked pepper.
Leaf lettuce, washed, spun dry, and double checked for any stray drops of water. Dab the stray droplets with a towel.
Ripe beefsteak tomato: I used to slice uber-thick, but now I go for about 1/4 inch or slightly less, and shoot for even coverage of the lettuce. No salt.
Bacon: crisp, but not hard and still slightly warm is ideal, if the fatty part at the end is not totally rendered of the fat, even better. The number of slices is irrelevant, what is key is the coverage. I shoot for slightly overlapping slices.
Avocado: only if perfectly ripe, sliced about 1/4" or slightly less...I guess that would be 1/5", huh? But a good BLT does not require the avocado...gilding the lily.
Top with the final layer of bread and press gently. Cut in half diagonally.

Ideal with a sweet ice tea with extra lemon and crushed ice.

Close, Buffy.
It was chicken salad. (held between the knees)

organic, no nitrate bacon, rustic whole wheat toasted, spicy arugula as the L, striped german heirloom tomato and homemade garlic aioli.

Mmm, just perfect when the mutton is nice and lean.

Either homemade whole grain bread or Pepperidge Farms whole grain with honey bread, untoasted, homemade mayo, medium coverage on both slices of bread, the BEST (preferably peppered) bacon I can buy, cooked crisp, but not burnt (thin sliced is best for sandwiches IMHO, as it is easier to eat without destroying the sarnie whilst eating it) and of course the ripest, juiciest organic tomatoes, preferably heirlooms, topped with sea salt and freshly ground pepper and a few fresh leaves of basil, and any good, crisp lettuce, sweet and crunchy. I actually put the lettuce on the bottom, followed by the tomatoes and then as much bacon as I can fit in, topped by the second slice of bread. This way you taste the lettuce and the basil separately. I also know what I'M having for lunch today. As others have pointed out, if you don't have the best ingredients, don't bother making this. I have left behind many a BLT that simply weren't worth the calories. Also, as much as I love avocados and cheese, I don't want them on my BLT. I also don't want aoli, even with roasted garlic on this sandwich, just a simple, slightly lemony mayonnaise. In this presentation, each flavour shines through, but constitute a brilliant whole. (AND, NEVER EVER Miracle Whip...not on ANYTHING...the flavour of that stuff, to me, ruins anything and everything it touches.)

@huneybumper

How do you make homemade light mayo? I love mayo and would like to try making my own, but I'm not sure if my waist can handle a condiment consisting of 100% fat.

Sourdough would be nice, but whole wheat bread works too. I'm not too picky about toasting, it depends on the bread.
Hummus! My home-made hummus is so good especially with BLTs.
Nice, salty bacon, none of that sweet crap.
A few thin slices of room temp tomato.
Arugula or baby lettuce. So good.

@Carolina, don't be a Miracle Whip hater!

Personally screw the tomato and lettuce, and go with avocado and bacon!!! I call it the Bacavacon, I know cheesy but oooh so good. =)
But if I'm really feeling like a real BLT this how it goes:
Whole wheat bread
Romaine lettuce (no iceberg for me!)
not picky about bacon as long as its greasy and crispy =)
minimal mayo (on both sides) just enough to wet the bread
tomato (summer tomatoes best but sometimes (3/4 of the year) its not summer)
lemon pepper and garlic salt (makes up for flavorless tomato)

This sandwich absolutely requires only the best ingredients, and can only be eaten during tomato season. I prefer homemade mayo, on toasted brioche with arugula, and applewood bacon.

I think that using a nice white artisan bread, lightly toasted, with ripe heirloom tomatoes, and really crispy bacon makes the best blt. All it would need now is some mayo and a dash of st and pepper.

I have to try the avocado idea, but my absolute favorite is this:
Hearty whole wheat or multi-grain bread
Not too crisp, thick bacon
a few big pieces of iceberg lettuce
ripe tomatoes
peanut butter
yes... you read that right. Peanut butter. The crunchier the better!

@ag I'm sorry that wasnt clear i meant light coating of mayo on the sandwich, I wouldnt use or make "lite" full fat but just less.

The sub place in town does a great BLT wrap:

-flour tortilla
-mayo
-iceberg lettuce
-tomato
-about a half pound of crispy, hot bacon

That might be dinner tonight...

I have to add avocado and I prefer my bread, super fresh and not toasted. Also, the bacon must be center cut, preferably from Trader Joe's. A smidge of mayo, tomato and goood old iceberg and I'm good to go. Yum, that sounds good for dinner tonight.

oh, crabcake blt, fried green tomato blt, fakinbacon blt--nah, best ever blt, hands down is the following: any variety of my husband's home grown tomatoes, my homemade sourdough bread, his fresh homemade garlic mayo, my homegrown baby romaine, and last but not least, some of our friend Robbie's home cured slab bacon. wow. i think the love has a LOT to do with it cause i remember a phenomenal blt made by my mom back in the late '50's or very early '60's that was Pepperidge Farm white bread, some grocery store brand of bacon, Blue Plate mayo, iceberg lettuce and a backyard grown tomato... as good as or better than any madeleine, any day.

@hobcat That's completely adorable.

I like a BLTC (medium cheddar 1/8" slice) this is one sandwich I prefer with no excess not too much of any part, but I agree that tomato has to be top-notch. This doesn't sound like me must be because I'm stuffed from a breakfast sandwhich (bacon, egg, cheeze with butter and mayo on a toasted crossiant and I must have eaten an lb of bacon while cooking it!)