Firehouse Smoked Turkey

Today, we are reviewing the Smoked Turkey and Provolone from Firehouse Subs. This is the sixth installment of a six-part series (we expanded it from five) called Turkey Sub Quest. The concept is simple: I visit six chain sandwich shops and review a similar turkey sub from each. The goal is to rank how the subs stack up.

Founded in 1994 by former firefighters Chris and Robin Sorensen, Firehouse Subs has expanded to over 1,210 restaurants in 46 states. Today it is a subsidiary of Restaurant Brands International, which also owns the chains Burger King, Popeyes, and Tim Hortons.

The Construction

All six of the Turkey Sub Quest reviews will use a similar format. All sandwiches will have turkey meat as the foundation. Provolone cheese will be part of the sub. Lettuce, tomato, and onions will be toppings. Oil, vinegar, salt, pepper, and oregano will also be used if available. No mayonnaise will be used on any of the sandwiches. White bread will be the default, getting as close to a foot-long option as possible. In this case, the foot-long option mapped to Firehouse’s “Large Sub”

There is one fundamental difference with Firehouse compared to the other five chain Turkey and Provolone sandwiches. This one is a hot sandwich. The meat and cheese is steamed separately and then is placed on a slightly toasted roll (toasted separately). The condiments are placed on separately

Smoked Turkey Breast
Provolone Cheese (Default)
Lettuce (Default)
Tomato (Default)
Onion (Default)
Oil (By Request)
Vinegar (By Request)
Salt (By Request)
Pepper (By Request)
No Mayonnaise (By Request)
No Mustard (By Request)
Side Pickle (By Request) – not part of sandwich
White Bread
Size: Large (12 inch option)
Sandwiches Eaten: Two (Two separate purchases)
Location: Indian Trail, NC
Price: $12.99

Oregano was not an option, but Firehouse did have a “Italian Seasoning” option which was not used.

The Experience

Meat and Cheese

In terms of the turkey itself, this was pretty good. I liked the fact it was thin sliced and it had a decent amount of smoke flavor on it. Firehouse says the meat and cheese for the day is sliced in the morning. There is also a generous portion of the turkey. The amount of cheese isn’t huge, but its the right amount.

In the case of theis that the meat and cheese is steamed. Some Firehouse Subs I have seen the meat and cheese benefit from the steaming, but with this sandwich I think the turkey would have been much better served cold. The melted cheese didn’t add that much more to the sandwich.

Still I would rate the turkey and cheese was pretty tasty and I’d rate it slightly above average.

Score: 2.75 out of 4.00 points

Bread

Because the sandwich is lightly toasted, Firehouse Subs have a better crust than most. While I appreciate a crust, this is still a thin crust and was prone to cracking. The bread itself is cut thick on the top and very thin on the bottom. This is a very light and airy bread, so it really didn’t do much for the sandwich s a whole. he cru

Score: 0.50 out of 2 points

Condiments

Overall, the tomatoes used on the Homemade Turkey were on the ripe side and had a nice sweetness. The onion slices were slightly thicker, but they still worked well. These onions had a little bit of sweetness to them and were not pungent. The lettuce was slightly wilted and wasn’t shredded thin.

I did get this sandwich with oil and vinegar which is not a default option. It was a little on the light side, but not enough to ding the score here. The salt and pepper ratio worked here as well.

The condiments are not heated, steamed or toasted. The problem is they are affected by the warm meat and cheese. I notice Firehouse puts the lettuce at the bottom – which stands the most to lose from the heated component, but unfortunately it doesn’t stay crisp. I didn’t find the heated components to have a negative effect on the tomato and onion, but it didn’t help things here.

Score: 0.75 out of 2 points

Intangibles

Proportion-wise, Firehouse does an excellent job with the meat/cheese to condiments ratio. There is plenty of turkey on this. The problem becomes when the components are all put together. First I didn’t love the affect the steamed meat and cheese had on the condiments. Secondly, the bread is cut thin on the bottom and light as a whole. As a result, every time I get this sandwich it falls apart. In the end, a sandwich needs to stay together, and the Firehouse one does not stay together. On top of that the bread is simply not that tasty.

Score: 0.75 out of 2 points

OVERALL ASSESSMENT

Even though I wasn’t necessarily a fan of the steamed meat and cheese, it was still the best part of the sandwich. As I mentioned this was a sandwich that simply didn’t come together well in terms of components or construction. In this case, better bread would have went a long way for the Firehouse Turkey and Provolone sandwich.

Coming in at 4.75 points, this tied Jimmy Johns for the bottom spot. Priced at $12.99, this was the second most expensive sub in the competition.

Summary

Meat and Cheese	2.75
Bread	0.50
Condiments	0.75
Intangibles	0.75
Total	4.75

Score: 4.75 (out of 10 points)
Value: Slightly Below Average

The Turkey Quest Standings (Final Standings)

Note: There will now be six subs from six different chains as a part of the Turkey Quest competition

	Sub	Meat/ Cheese (4)	Bread (2)	Condiments (2)	Intangibles (2)	Score (10)
1	Capriotti’s Sandwich Shop Homemade Turkey	3.50	0.50	1.25	1.25	6.50
	Publix Turkey Sub (Turkey Pub Sub)	2.50	1.50	1.00	1.50	6.50
3	Jersey Mike’s #7 Turkey and Provolone	3.00	1.00	0.75	1.25	6.00
4	Subway Oven Roasted Turkey	2.50	1.00	1.25	1.00	5.75
5	Firehouse Subs Turkey and Provolone	2.75	0.50	0.75	0.75	4.75
	Jimmy John’s Turkey Tom	1.75	1.50	1.25	0.25	4.75