If you’re going to enjoy cheese, I can think of no better way than melted on some toasted bread slathered with butter. A grilled cheese sandwich is simple to make but improvements can always be made. This recipe will give you the confidence to make your grilled cheese sandwich spectacular. Here are some tips for making that perfect grilled cheese sandwich.
4 Tips for the Perfect Grilled Cheese Sandwich
Tip #1: Use a really great bread. I have some great bread recipes that will be coming along shortly. For now, you might want to visit your local farmer’s market. I don’t think I’ve seen one in a long time that didn’t have some local lady making some awesome bread. You can experiment with whole grain varieties, sourdough, or pumpernickel. Experiment to your hearts content. Just make sure its not sliced too thick and doesn’t have a lot of holes. Other wise you either don’t have enough cheese to bread ratio or the cheese leaks out. Yikes.
Tip #2: Using butter is great but have you tried mayo? Usually we use butter on the outsides for sure. Sometimes we butter the insides as well. But what if we used mayo on the outside and butter on the inside – or vise versa? Mayo is basically oil, eggs, and a splash of vinegar. The oil browns the bread really nicely when used on the outside and the vinegar adds a bit of tang.
Tip #3: Use the right cheese. American cheese melts really well, but man o man is it boring compared to other choices. You definitely want a cheese that melts well. Just about any aged cheese will work well, with the exception of really hard cheeses like parmesan. So, gouda, cheddar, gruyere, fontina, and so on. Look for availability of our Clau d’ ville Aged Cheddar, Ararat Legend washed-curd cheese and Pinnacle alpine-style cheeses this summer at the Farmer’s market in Wytheville.
Tip #4: Cook it slow. Keep the heat in the medium to medium-low range. You want the bread to toast at the same rate the cheese melts. You definitely don’t want to burn the bread before the cheese is fully melted. Press is firmly with a spatula. You can even put a heavy pan on top of it while it cooks. That pressure is going to give you that super crispy crust.
Grilled Cheese Sandwich
Ingredients
- 1/3 cup (3 oz) cheese per sandwich sliced or grated
- 2 slices bread of your choice per sandwich
- 1 tablespoon butter per sandwich
- 1 tablespoon mayonnaise per sandwich
Instructions
- Apply butter or mayo to one side of the bread. Flip it over and apply butter or mayo to the other side. Lay it on a plate. Lay the cheese on top of the bread. Apply butter and mayo in the same way on the second slice of bread. Lay it on top to complete the sandwich. Repeat to assemble all sandwiches.
- Heat your grill or frying pan to medium-low. You can raise the temperature to medium if your cheese is melting rapidly enough.
- Place the sandwiches in the pan. Grill until lightly browned and flip over. Continue grilling until cheese is melted and bread is browned on the second side. Press down with a spatula to get a crispy panini bread crust.
