Weeknight Cooking
What Makes the Perfect Grilled Cheese Sandwich?
A perfectly executed grilled cheese relies on a number of factors. Here's how to make a great one.
A perfectly executed grilled cheese sandwich relies on a number of factors, the most important being: textural contrast, cheese that melts, and avoiding burnt toast at all costs. Also, a lot of butter.
Here is the biggest problem with grilled cheese making: Sometimes your cheese does not melt as quickly as you'd like, so you either get hard, cold cheese surrounded by perfectly golden bread, or melted cheese hiding behind charred, black bread that you then have to scrape into the sink. There is no kitchen sound more shameful than this.
But lucky you! I have a no-fail way to make grilled cheese sandwiches at home, and it yields both melty cheese and a buttery, golden exterior. It also allows you to serve multiple hot sandwiches at a time, which means if you want to have, say, a grilled cheese party, you don't have to draw straws to decide who gets to eat the only warm one.
How to Make a Perfect Grilled Cheese Sandwich in 5 Steps
1. Before you get started, set yourself up for success: Slice your bread, shred whatever cheese you'll be using, and bring your butter to room temperature. Preheat your oven to 350° F and preheat a heavy-bottomed skillet over medium heat.
Generously butter two thick slices of bread. I like crusty, chewy bread (like a sourdough or levain) without too many big holes, but if you grew up on Wonderbread and Kraft singles, well, I'm not going to stand in your way. You want an even smear of butter that covers the whole slice -- this makes for a crisp, golden, flavorful exterior. If your butter is unsalted, sprinkle a bit of salt over each buttered side.
2. Lay one piece of bread, butter-side down, in your hot pan. The butter should sizzle, but not angrily -- you don't want your pan so hot that it burns your bread in under two minutes. Top the bread with shredded cheese; I use a mix of Gruyère and cheddar. Use whatever cheeses you like, but remember that melty cheeses should dominate, and something sharp like cheddar will balance out all of the fat and general unctuousness happening here.
You can also customize your filling here: Try dashandbella's pickled jalapeños or sautéed mushrooms. Some people swear by a smear of mustard; I have never tried this, and maybe never will. (I'm lazy.)
3. Lay down your second piece of bread, buttered side up, and press down with a spatula. You don't want to flatten the sandwich completely, but a good press will help your cheese melt, your butter sear, and your bread smoosh in a pleasant way.
4. After a minute or so, begin to check the color on your bottom slice. Once it's nice and brown, flip everything over, holding the sandwich together with your other hand to keep it from falling apart. Press down some more with your spatula, and cook until the bottom slice looks like the top slice.
5. Here's the kicker! Once you're happy with the color of your crust, finish your sandwich on a baking sheet in the oven. If you're making more than one, use the oven as a way to keep everything warm. Let your sandwiches bake for at least 5 minutes, or until their cheese is completely melted.
Slice in half, and enjoy immediately. Remember that tomato soup is never a bad idea. And you'll want some napkins at the ready.
Our Best Grilled Cheese Sandwich Recipes
1. Labneh Grilled Cheese
Molly Yeh's updated grilled cheese makes use of labneh, a creamy strained yogurt spread, as the base for white cheddar and Parmesan, plus za'atar and sumac for warmth.
2. Mustardy Grilled Cheese
The mustard in this mustardy grilled cheese comes twofold: In the peppery mustard greens that fill the insides and add heft, and in the lip-smacking stoneground mustard that's spread on the bread, providing sharpness and a textural bite.
3. Tomato Soup & Saint-André Waffled Grilled Cheese Sandwiches
The bisque is to die for, but it's made even better thanks to the grilled cheese sandwiches that are buttered and pressed in a waffle iron. Thanks for the idea, Feed Me Dearly!
4. Spanakopita Grilled Cheese
This Greek-inspired grilled cheese sandwich is loaded with garlic, spinach, and feta for a fresh take on a comfort-food classic.
5. Fig & Bacon Grilled Cheese
Campbell Cheese & Grocery says that this is one of their signature sandwiches they sell at their shop. We're in love with a few things: the sweetness of the fig jam, the savoriness of the scallions, and the Comté (of course), which works great with the cultured butter. (Cultured butter has a slight tang to it and is a favorite choice for grilled cheese if you can find it.)
6. Ruth Reichl’s Diva of a Grilled Cheese
"Ruth Reichl has been publicly aligning herself with grilled cheese for a long time," writes Genius Recipes columnist Kristen Miglore. This recipe uses the mayo trick: that is, a smear of mayonnaise on the outsides of the bread (instead of butter), which crisps up golden and delicious on the griddle. But don't worry: There's butter, too, inside the sandwich.
Photos by James Ransom
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Written by: Marian Bull
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72 Comments
My husband is from Italy where at all the cafes and bars they serve “toast”. A toast is usually two slices of thin white bread, a thin slice of white cheese and a thin slice of cooked ham. They are grilled in a press and are usually good. My husband thinks our grilled cheese sandwiches in the USA are greasy. He doesn’t like the butter that we spread on the outside. Between you and me I think he ate his first grilled cheese in diners and probably got grossed out by the taste of the foul butter substitute often found in such spots. I digress. So I found out that you can make a great grilled cheese without any buttered bread. The cheese will exude a little fat into the bread as it melts. Keep your heat low. I use cast iron. Simple as “toast”.
Pastry chefs will usually use parchment or Silpats or something else, but that's to keep things from sticking and to keep their shape, not because it would hurt to cook them on a little carbon.
I totally agree with you on the thin onion slice. I usually cook my grilled cheese with caramelized red shallot and garlic. Also, i found that a few apple dice in the caramelized onion goes very well with cheese, especially cheddar...my two cents ;)
But if I don't feel like pulling out the waffle iron (e.g., for one sandwich) I simply put the a lid on the cast iron skillet after I flip the sandwich. It basically combines the oven step with the grilling step.
My favorite grilled cheese is Rudi's organic honey wheat with pepper jack cheese, spread with Crofter's Morello cherry jam.
PS: Are you all really serious about the bit of burn on the toast?
No one has to eat it.
Broader studies and education on the subject is needed.
And, "We found that, if we took one individual study that finds a link with cancer, it was very often difficult to repeat that in other studies," said Schoenfeld. "People need to know whether a study linking a food to cancer risk is backed up before jumping to conclusions."
From: http://www.theguardian.com/science/2012/dec/01/cancer-food-scares
Personally we have been eatting it since the beginning of time so I am still not sure of the benefits or lack of. I hope to follow "everything in moderation" as my grandmother taught. She lived into her 90's, raised Angus beef and ate a lot of meat including BBQ'd. She also drank an Old Fashion in the evening and did not smoke.
But I would argue that our dislike for things that are too burnt could suggest that there is still some drawback to eating too much of it. A little char on your dinner is not going to kill you.
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