3 rules (and extra tips) for making the best grilled cheese of your life
For breakfast, with a hangover, after a night out, as dinner: a grilled cheese ALWAYS works. At least, if you know how to make it properly. There are 3 rules for that. They’re simple, but you have to know them.
You can top your grilled cheese with whatever you like. We’ve collected our 10 absolute favorites in a list for you. But what good is an exciting filling if you don’t know the basics of making a perfectly toasted sandwich? Then your entire grilled cheese moment falls apart, and you want to prevent that at all costs. Commit the following 3 rules to memory and you’ll become a true grilled-cheese wizard.
Spread your grilled cheese with butter and mayo
There’s been a long-running debate about the outside of a grilled cheese. Should we spread it with butter or mayo? The answer: both. Thorough research by grilled-cheese fans shows that the butter-and-mayo combo gives the very best result. Mayonnaise doesn’t make the grilled cheese particularly flavorful, but it does make it crispy, while a smear of butter on the outside adds plenty of flavor but doesn’t make it especially crisp. And flavor and crunch are both things you want in your grilled cheese, right?
Use the ‘lid method’ for your grilled cheese
If you’re even a little fond of grilled cheese, you’ll undoubtedly agree with this statement: grilled cheese tastes better when you grill it in a pan. So you can safely get rid of that sandwich maker collecting dust in your kitchen cupboard. But how do you use the pan to its full potential? By applying the ‘lid method’. Here’s how: first spread your bread with butter and mayo, as you learned above. Then place one slice of bread in the pan. When the underside is golden brown, turn the slice over and top it with cheese. Then immediately put a lid on the pan. This allows the cheese to melt in a few minutes. Remove the lid from the pan and add the second slice of bread to the slice already in the pan. Press down gently and turn the grilled cheese over right away. Grill for a few more minutes, until the other side of the grilled cheese is golden brown too. It takes a little practice, but after this you won’t want to do it any other way.
Cut the grilled cheese into a triangle
No, you don’t do that just because it makes you look like a professional grilled-cheese maker. The triangular shape is functional too. If you cut it diagonally in half instead of horizontally, you have much better access to the cheese. The distance between the corners is much greater than the distance from top to bottom. Anyway, you simply have more cheese to pull deliciously out of the bread.
A little more about the cheese…
In principle, you can choose whichever cheese you like best. But there are a few limits. I don’t think it has ever occurred to you to make a grilled cheese with Parmesan, but that cheese isn’t a good idea. Simply because it doesn’t melt well. As a result, the cheese stays dry, which isn’t tasty. The less anti-caking agent used in the cheese, the better it melts—and the better your choice of cheese. Gruyère and Manchego are our favorites because they melt so well and have a deliciously nutty flavor.
Tip for an extra ingredient
Want to give your grilled cheese something extra? Put pitted and halved dates between the bread and the cheese. They give your grilled cheese something sweet, sticky, and soft. Incredibly delicious with the savory cheese.
Also read:
- 4x the best grilled cheeses of your life from top chef Joris Bijdendijk
- Brilliant: you’ll want to get these Lidl grilled-cheese bags as soon as possible
- Moldy cheese on your grilled cheese: can it do any harm?
Source: TheKitchn
