“You need to find the right ingredients for you,” says Joe Boudreau, an expert peanut butter and jelly (PB&J) sandwich maker. He has made a PB&J every day for the past five years. Boudreau has perfected the sandwich-making process.

The PB&J is fairly simple to make but is tough to perfect. The hardest part is “finding the right ingredients. You need to find a brand that works for you,” Boudreau says, talking about how the right ingredients mean everything in the sandwich. His preferred brands include Skippy creamy peanut butter, Smucker's peach jelly, and Cottage white bread. Boudreau also talks about spreading the peanut butter evenly on one slice of bread and jelly evenly on the other to ensure the same consistent taste throughout the sandwich. Lastly, Boudreau says to make sure the bread is aligned perfectly to ensure a consistent taste throughout. If something during the process goes wrong, it is ok to start over and redo the sandwich. 

Many of Boudreau’s early sandwiches did not go as planned. Many had too much jelly for his liking. Instead of giving up on his sandwich-making dreams, he persisted and kept trying. This eventually led him to make the perfect PB&J. “The process varies from person to person,” Boudreau says, but the most important part is to have an open mindset and to not be afraid of failure. You will make many mistakes throughout your journey, but that is necessary to achieve the perfect sandwich and satisfy your taste buds.

“One sandwich a day can make a whole difference in perfecting the PB&J,” the expert says. If you make a bad sandwich, it’s ok, this is all part of the learning process. Remember that everyone’s perfect sandwich is different.