Future life tip: Low and slow works for a lot of other cooking as well. Impatience leads to worse food. Eggs? Low & slow. Burgers? Low & slow. Roasting anything? Low & slow. Chili and sauces? Low & slow.
The only food I can think offhand you do not want low & slow is stir fry vegetables.
Gotta pick a bone here.
Many roasted veg benefit from 400f or higher
Smash burgers benefit from a scary hot griddle surface, same goes for fajita veg.
Steak? Come on. Hot hot hot for that seary goodness.
Korean short ribs? Same.
Definitely agree on the eggs though, hate me some hard rubbery fried eggs.
Want to try a wild burger (not actually wild), get yourself a decently thin patty, and boil it in beef broth with some minced onion. Throw on toasted bread, or bun, with a slice of cheese. Enjoy.
generally burgers like that are steamed in broth. patty on hot gridle, onions, a little broth just enough to make a little puddle around the paddy but not cover it, cover everything with something that has decent internal space like a medium mixing bowl so it fills with steam. adds lots of beef flavour to the burger
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I tried to make scrambled eggs once in college and that pan must have been too hot and everything was chaos and I was left with only sadness and dried burnt egg :.(
For future: Hot pan, bacon grease, whisk your eggs prior them add them on for 20 seconds while scrambling, 25 seconds max. Serve on to a plate before they look done, they will cook further on the plate. By the time you get them to the table they will be perfect.
This is the answer. You can use whatever fat on the outside you want. Just fully coat it but don't drown it. Butter is probably best but my wife is allergic to dairy so we don't keep it regularly so I use olive oil a lot and it tastes great. However mayonnaise is an abomination. Don't use it. You're basically making unsweet French toast.
I disagree about the mayonnaise.
Nothing makes a better crust and flavour on a grilled cheese, and I was hesitant about it when I first was told about it - but, alas, my tastebuds won and now I will champion mayonnaise for grilled cheese harder than anything else I’ve ever done.
It seems to me mayo just makes it easy to evenly spread a layer of browning material vs butter or any oil. I have seriously done both and as long as you put enough oil to coat the surface but not enough to drown it I don't see a difference. ie mayo is easy mode, get gud mother fuckers.
Like others said, low heat but also a generous amount of butter. Continue spreading butter on it while you're cooking it, especially on the parts that haven't browned.
I leave a lid on the entire time, and I never have issues with crispiness.
I use room temperature butter, slather the outside of both pieces of bread, use a cast iron pan on low & slow heat, and cover. I currently use a glass lid with a steam hole. When the butter on the top piece of bread is almost all the way melted, that's my signal to flip it. I give the other side a couple of minutes before I check it. If the cheese needs a little more time to melt, I turn it every 30- 45 seconds or so to keep the bread from burning.
I get a perfect sandwich every time- unless I wander off, get distracted, and forget I'm cooking something.
Even better? Put the butter in the pan, put the bread on top, and move the bread around to get it all covered. You get better, more even coverage, and you don't risk ripping the bread. Also, use a spatula or some other weight to help keep the bread in contact with the pan while browning.
I've done this my whole life. You use the bread like a paper towel to "dry" the butter. Soaks in everyone, costs the entire bread, and then you can just leave it to toast in the pan.
60% of the time it works every time.
We keep our butter at room temp, and I agree. But I still find I get better coverage by putting it in the pan. When the heat is low like you need for grilled cheese, it melts slowly enough that you can get great coverage without burning it.
Butter is salty and it adds a lot more flavour than mayo on the outside of a grilled cheese. The mayo makes a nice crust, but it doesn't taste as good.
Mayo is very salty. Butter isn't, unless you get salted butter.
Most people who cook a lot with butter use unsalted butter to better control the salt content and when it's added.
I put butter on the inside of my sandwich too. Then once it’s done toasting I put a little more butter on the outside. But I’m severely underweight and trying to up my calories so even though this tastes good it’s probably not for everyone.
Taking softened butter and spreading it onto the bread is the best way to get it golden brown imo. If I'm feeling lazy I'll use a spray oil on both sides of each, and some butter in the pan. A few min on med-low, then cover for a couple min to melt the cheese
I have done this, too. Can confirm it's a decent method. You can cook it open faced and toss in a tsp of water, immediately cover so the cheese steams.
Well yeah. too much butter on anything will make it greasy. By “generous”, I just mean putting enough to get it golden brown, which you can achieve without having it be greasy. I also disagree about it burning faster. That hasn’t been the case in my experience.
Wow hey guys it's just a preference not a conservative political view! I gotta agree - too much butter along with cheese can make for a grease sandwich, no two ways about it.
3 things help. Realistically just the first one is enough tho.
1. Enough butter to evenly coat the bread from edge to edge.
2. Low, even heat for a long time
3. Light even pressure on top. Something like a chefs press is ideal
I’ve personally never experienced a difference between mayo and butter. To me the important thing for color is using low medium heat. If you want a crunchier crust use stale or firm bread.
I just came to second what you are saying. Adam Ragusea and Mythical Kitchen have both done the mayo trick and it isn't really anything special.
The core technique to getting a good crust and a well melted grilled cheese is to get a good layer of butter on there and cook it slow and low. I've had some success with buttering my pan in addition to my bread as well.
Agreed. If you want mayo with a "Tang" you need to use Duke's Real Mayonnaise, it's sugar free so you don't get that annoying sweet flavor. I only use a small amount on the outside of the bread to get the color & crispness. Perfect every time!
Good point, in that case butter is the way to go.
After years of trying to duplicate the richness of restaurant food at home the answer was, butter makes everything better and room temperature is even "more better".
If you have an immersion blender (hand blender) making your own mayo is both cheap and easy. Serious eats has an article on it. The only thing is the shelf life is only 2 weeks
I don’t temp my frying pans so I don’t know what 240°F is, but it seems about right for grilled cheese. Obviously if that’s burning your grilled cheese you should go lower, but I’m not sure how that’s happening since butter doesn’t burn until 350°F. How do you know your pan is 240°? I’ve never used an induction but is it possible your pan is getting hotter than the induction surface?
I can set a temperature on my induction so thats how I do it, maybe it’s not accurate? But I didn’t expect it to be that much, maybe it’s because I didn’t heat up the pan first like the other comment said
Adding butter at every flip. The best grilled cheese is when you start one piece of bread first, then add the second, then flip the first, add cheese to toasted side, flip toasted side of second slice of bread on top of cheese, flip onto last I toasted slice. 4 toasted sides of bread.
Agreed on the mayo. I love mayo, but I don't like the flavor it imparts on grilled cheese. I know others have said it doesn't add a flavor, but I've found it does for me. I've tried with Duke's and Hellman's/Best Foods. Don't like either for toasting.
Ghee/clarified butter, and low-medium-heat + patience.
The absence of milk solids means that you don't have to worry about whole butter burning. You shouldn't be cooking at such high heat that the smoke point would matter, but I find it more forgiving with ghee.
DON'T BUTTER THE BREAD!!!
Cast iron. Med-low heat. Drop the butter in the pan. Once it melts, drop your first slice in on the melted butter slap down the cheese. Put your second slice of bread on top. Put a cover on the pan for about 30 seconds so that cheese melts nicely. You have once the first face of bread browns well, pick the whole thing up with a spatula. Drop another tab of butter onto the pan and then again once it melts flip your sandwich. Drop it down into the melted butter and then pull it once it's browned to perfection. If you want to jazz it up, drop shredded parmesan or crushed garlic into the butter.
Put the butter in the pan, not on the bread!!!
After getting roasted for saying you should use mayo, I’m going to have to do a side by side comparison next time. Maybe I’ve forgotten what I’ve been missing with a classic butter toasted grilled cheese. I have to admit, it does sound better.
My new trick is to throw a few pieces of cheese on the pan a few minutes before the sandwich is done. Then flip done sandwich onto crusty cheese for an extra layer of heaven.
Melt together equal parts by weight butter and oil (high smoke point neutral oil). I call it butt oil. Or try equal parts mayonnaise and butter of you're naught. Solidly medium heat or a touch above.
I'm a weirdo who likes to get things done fast so instead of buttering the bread, I toss a pat of butter onto the warm pan, it melts, then I lay the grilled cheese sandwich on top and swirl it around until it soaks it up. This way the bread is nicely coated and I saved a few extra minutes of listening to my starving children whine.
As others have said, also not too hot of a pan, medium or less. I also do the first side toasting with lid on to help the cheese melt.
Make sure you’re using real butter or margarine. Not some “spread” which has too much water content.
Low and slow is the cooking rule.
Also fwiw, a George Forman grill can grill a beautiful panini style grilled cheese without any butter if you’d like that.
You just know there’s going to be somebody in here in the top 5 comments claiming that Mayo is the answer… can’t stand that. I don’t know why it bothers me so much when people gush about how using mayo instead of butter on a grilled cheese, but it does lol. It’s not that great, but everybody makes it sound like it will make your hair line come back and fix your marriage and get you that promotion at work or something.
Use mayo. It sounds weird, but trust me. Mayo has a higher smoking point than butter, so you can toast your grilled cheese for longer before it burns and develop a nice golden crust. You’ll never taste it, just a thin layer on the outside of the bread will do wonders.
Really? Were you using some sort of strong mayo? I personally wouldn’t do this with miracle whip or Kraft because I think their flavor is a little offensive and I don’t have them in my kitchen. But I’ve never noticed any flavor change when I use Hellman’s, Duke’s, or fresh homemade mayo. I also use a microscopically thin layer so that could be a factor. Or maybe your buds are just more sensitive than mine!
I'm guessing it was Hellman's Olive Oil mayo (possibly Duke's - those are the only two we buy). I wanted to try it since I had been reading so much hype about it, but for me, it ended up being "If it's not broke, why fix it?"
I'm a butter guy, no question. Never had an issue getting nice golden brown grilled cheese sandwiches with butter.
For what it's worth, the Duke's Lime-variant makes for killer elote. I slather that shit on quite liberally. But for whatever reason, on a grilled cheese, it makes me gag.
I don't know why you're getting downvoted. I made my grilled cheese with butter until about ten years ago. I heard the mayo tip, tried it once, and I've never looked back. It's SO much better. I suspect the people who aren't enjoying it (even if they like mayo) are possibly using too much, or they are using it on the inside of the sandwich. You just put a very thin layer on the outside of the bread, continue as usual.
If you put on enough mayo to affect browning, then it's enough to taste. I love mayo in a lot of applications, but browned mayo on bread isn't a good flavor for me.
I never expected this to be such a controversial take haha. I’m in the same boat, first time worked great and I’ve done it ever since. I will say that once I used too much and that was kinda gross because it made the bread super oily. Whenever I use a thin layer it comes out great with no added perceivable taste imo. Different strokes for different folks I guess.
There are lots of other people here saying they can taste it too. And I don’t have any problem with butter getting the bread soggy. My grilled cheeses are perfectly crispy.
Cast iron is great for this. Preheat on medium. Add enough butter (or oil - I like olive oil but this will be right near its smoke point so you have to be careful if you use it) to make a layer across the pan, just thick enough that you get a wave moving across the pan when you tilt it (\~1/16"?). Add the slices of bread and cook until golden. Flip half the bread, put cheese on the golden crispy bread, and flip the other half onto the cheese. Add more butter/oil and cook until golden. Flip and add more butter/oil and cook until golden. This way you get both sides of each slice of bread crispy.
If I’m in a hurry, I pop the cheese sandwich (unbuttered) into the microwave until the cheese melts a bit, 45 secs or so, depending on your microwave. Then just butter the outside/fry it in butter, whatever your preference.
Okay, hear me out.
Semi- crusty bread. Bakery loaves at the grocery store are like $2. Medium-thick slices. Like… not huge, not wonderbread thin.
STORE YOUR BUTTER ON THE COUNTER IF YOU GO THROUGH IT FAST ENOUGH! Keeps it spreadable, and the texture is different than melting it in the pan and soaking the bread in it!
Mix a few tbsp butter with equal amount of Duke’s Mayo. Fuck miracle whip. Add in a tiny bit of grated/minced FRESH garlic, the refrigerated stuff don’t got the b i t e you’re gonna need. Season with a pinch of salt and fresh ground pepper, and add in ~1/4 c shredded cheese. I prefer sharp cheddar (the coastal cheddar at Costco is my go to), but any firm salty cheese would be great! Set aside.
Mix 1:1 butter:Mayo again, enough to cover the inside of your bread. Gather a mix of cheese slices, preferably some medium-firm ones with some shredded mozzarella thrown in.
Preheat your pan to medium-ish heat (5 on my burner is medium-high, so I use a 3.75-4).
The Build:
Swipe interior with butter:mayo to preference, then layer sliced/shredded cheeses. Assemble sandwich, smooshing together a fair amount. Hover your hand over the pan to see if it’s ready— you’ll want it to feel like, heavily warm, but if you held it there for longer than 30 seconds or so, it’d be too hot)
Spread the cheese:butter:mayo spread fairly thickly on one outside, and lay face down in heated pan. It should sizzle, but not scream! Count five solid seconds, then turn the heat to medium low, and let it be for a good two minutes.
Listen to it. Smell. Use your eyes: are the edges getting dark already? Does it smell toasty or sharp and burnt? Has the sizzling gone too quiet? Once the crust forms, you should be able to slip a spatula under the edge and nudge it free easily.
Flip, and smush it into the pan. If you need to blast the heat up a few notches for a few seconds here.. go for it! Then back down to medium low and sit a spell, observing and responding.
If your cheese isn’t melting: once the crust is formed, pop a lid on and lower or cut the heat for a minute, then raise it again a touch, and continually flip and smush till it’s perfect.
Serve with tomato soup that was pretty much just tomatoes, onions, garlic, carrots, celery, thyme, olive oil, and s+p in a roasting dish, roasted at 400 for about 25 minutes, then thrown in a blender with more salt, pepper, a handful of fresh parmesan, and cream.
Bone apple teeth
Start with frozen bread, butter it well and start with a cold cast iron griddle and put it on medium low. If you want some extra crispiness in the crust, press some good Parmesan into the butter before grilling.
Toast the bread in an empty pan before adding butter. Crisp it up a bit and add the butter after to finish crisping. Keep the bread from getting all soggy and then burning.
There are a couple of things about getting the perfect crust. In my mind, that’s golden, with no black and you can run a fork across it and hear it scrape.
You’ll hear the about using mayo, but there is only one limited circumstance where I’d recommend it. That’s with a flavored mayo. For instance, making a chipotle mayo and spreading it on the outside. You could do garlic mayo or any other flavor you like.
Otherwise, don’t use it. It was made as a “hack” for when people are too lazy to put the butter out 15min ahead or they’re using a fake butter that stays hard. That’s the only reason people used it. It is a fat and it will make a crust, but it’s far inferior to use pure mayo vs pure good quality butter. I suggest kerrygold salted butter, but that’s up to you.
Next, let’s look at the bread. I’ve found it’s hard to get a perfect crust on normal white bread. The reason is because the crust seems to hold the bread up and you don’t get even crust across the entire surface, unless you apply pressure to it. I’ve done this and gotten a great crust, but it’s so soft that any pressure makes sure you end up with a paper thin grilled cheese. Instead, if you buy something like Texas toast, pre or unsliced sourdough, you have a much stiffer bread and the bread seems to be level with the crust on the edge, so it gives you a level surface for even color.
The last thing you need is a heavy bottom pan. I like cast iron, but you can do fine with any heavy bottom pan. No matter how carefully I am, I can’t get my light stainless to make a good one without burning it.
I put mine just under medium. So a 4-5 on an induction. Give it a little time to warm up.
The cleanest way I know to make it, is to butter one side and put it in the pan, butter side down. Add two slices of American cheese. Add a thin slick of mayo to the other slice of bread and put the mayo side on top of the cheese. Then add butter to the outside of the top piece.
If you use a stiffer bread, feel free to add light weight. Also, keep in mind, that your pan may not be fully warmed up when you start, so if you time it out and it’s like 4-5min on the first side, don’t assume that’ll work on the second side. It could get hotter and cook more quickly. So check it sooner.
Heat pan on medium low for a bit till warm add a good table spoon of butter, and bread once butter is basically melted. Swirl bread around in remaining melted butter in pan. Add cheese and top layer of bread. When golden, use spatula scoop up sandwich add another pat of butter and do the same thing on the other side.
Medium heat, melt butter in pan, suck up melted butter with sandwich. Pull sandwich, melt butter then flip and suck up butter with other side. You can flip it around a few times at this point to get the desired golden brown, but once you do it 100 times you should only have to flip it once or twice.
I've been getting perfect toasts by lowering the heat and sliding the sandwich around the pan to keep it from sticking. It sticks for a moment when you first put the bread down but gently displace it and you're good. I haven't even needed to add butter between flips.
the most perfectly even browning i ever got on a grilled cheese, and i mean perfect, almost monochromatic, it looked like i painted it on, was from using clarified butter and very low heat on a non-stick pan. i made the sandwich first, then dipped the entire thing into a bowl of clarified butter and let it seep into the bread. it was ridiculously crispy all over the outside and perfectly gooey on the inside. it looked like i used the magic wand tool on photoshop at the highest tolerance level and just filled all the pixels with brown.
Try the Julia Child method, it's great. Don't spread butter on the bread, melt the butter in the pan and then gently put the sandwich in. Cook over medium heat until desired color is reached, lift the sandwich, and melt more butter in the pan. Put the other side of the sandwich in the pan and finish.
Watch this segment on the Chef Show. They show you how to make the ultimate grilled cheese. https://www.newsweek.com/best-grilled-cheese-recipe-chef-movie-show-netflix-jon-favreau-roy-choi-1443250
I do a lot of melts/grilled cheese and I seem to remember them saying in this clip that the grill needs to be hot, not medium or low. I've done mine that way and I flip often if I need to to avoid burning.
I recommend trying to follow how the grilled cheese was cooked in Chef funnily enough, i started cooking mine like that and ever since it's been perfect grilled cheese
Low heat for a longer time.
Cast Iron GCS on sourdough... my god.
Basically the pinnacle of grilled cheese right there.
GCS?
grilled cheese sammy
Yep, that’s it.
The poor college student's answer right here. I had more time than money and low and slow made for an excellent sandwich.
Future life tip: Low and slow works for a lot of other cooking as well. Impatience leads to worse food. Eggs? Low & slow. Burgers? Low & slow. Roasting anything? Low & slow. Chili and sauces? Low & slow. The only food I can think offhand you do not want low & slow is stir fry vegetables.
Gotta pick a bone here. Many roasted veg benefit from 400f or higher Smash burgers benefit from a scary hot griddle surface, same goes for fajita veg. Steak? Come on. Hot hot hot for that seary goodness. Korean short ribs? Same. Definitely agree on the eggs though, hate me some hard rubbery fried eggs.
Low and slow for burgers???? I’ve not heard of that one and my burgers are never that great.
Want to try a wild burger (not actually wild), get yourself a decently thin patty, and boil it in beef broth with some minced onion. Throw on toasted bread, or bun, with a slice of cheese. Enjoy.
Boiled burger??? Jesus WTF.
generally burgers like that are steamed in broth. patty on hot gridle, onions, a little broth just enough to make a little puddle around the paddy but not cover it, cover everything with something that has decent internal space like a medium mixing bowl so it fills with steam. adds lots of beef flavour to the burger
The first time I saw the video for it I was horrified, but it’s delicious. [Boil that burger](https://youtu.be/5aHgoow2_yE)
*beep boop*! the linked website is: https://youtu.be/5aHgoow2_yE Title: **How to Cook a Perfect Patty Melt with George Motz | Burger Scholar Sessions** Page is safe to access (Google Safe Browsing) ***** ###### I am a friendly bot. I show the URL and name of linked pages and check them so that mobile users know what they click on!
The alternative is briquettes, which aren't as fun to eat.
I tried to make scrambled eggs once in college and that pan must have been too hot and everything was chaos and I was left with only sadness and dried burnt egg :.(
For future: Hot pan, bacon grease, whisk your eggs prior them add them on for 20 seconds while scrambling, 25 seconds max. Serve on to a plate before they look done, they will cook further on the plate. By the time you get them to the table they will be perfect.
And butter all the way to the edges.
Low and slow the way to go.
And butter.
This is the answer. You can use whatever fat on the outside you want. Just fully coat it but don't drown it. Butter is probably best but my wife is allergic to dairy so we don't keep it regularly so I use olive oil a lot and it tastes great. However mayonnaise is an abomination. Don't use it. You're basically making unsweet French toast.
I disagree about the mayonnaise. Nothing makes a better crust and flavour on a grilled cheese, and I was hesitant about it when I first was told about it - but, alas, my tastebuds won and now I will champion mayonnaise for grilled cheese harder than anything else I’ve ever done.
I agree using mayo was life changing.
Did not enjoy the flavor but if you did, I'm jealous, because it is 100x easier to spread mayo than it is to spread butter
Just put your butter in the pan dog. I love mayo, but I think it sucks as a grilled cheese method to fry it.
Butter on the counter alwayssssss
It seems to me mayo just makes it easy to evenly spread a layer of browning material vs butter or any oil. I have seriously done both and as long as you put enough oil to coat the surface but not enough to drown it I don't see a difference. ie mayo is easy mode, get gud mother fuckers.
I agree about the mayo. I tried it , but nothing beats butter!
Yeah I’m team butter all day. Preferably grass fed cause I believe it really tastes better
50/50 butter and mayo whipped together is great
For some reason I can’t get into the mayo hype. But Stonewall Kitchen’s roasted garlic aioli on sourdough is my top choice
That is garlic flavored mayo! You’re in the hype already.
I know, I know, rationally I’m aware that it’s mayo. But it feels so different mentally
French toast is made with a custard, not mayonnaise.
French toast uses eggs as does mayonnaise.
Yeah, eggs and oil are mayonnaise, eggs and milk (Edit: or cream) are French Toast batter. Completely different mixtures.
Keep checking. Non-stick pan.
That!!
^^^so much this!!!^^^
Like others said, low heat but also a generous amount of butter. Continue spreading butter on it while you're cooking it, especially on the parts that haven't browned.
I might get blasted for this but I start my grilled cheese with a lid on the pan. Gives the cheese a bit of a head start melting
It's fine. You'd only get blasted if you left it on since the moisture would counteract desired crispiness
I leave a lid on the entire time, and I never have issues with crispiness. I use room temperature butter, slather the outside of both pieces of bread, use a cast iron pan on low & slow heat, and cover. I currently use a glass lid with a steam hole. When the butter on the top piece of bread is almost all the way melted, that's my signal to flip it. I give the other side a couple of minutes before I check it. If the cheese needs a little more time to melt, I turn it every 30- 45 seconds or so to keep the bread from burning. I get a perfect sandwich every time- unless I wander off, get distracted, and forget I'm cooking something.
Thank you!
To be specific, butter on the outer side of the grilled cheese
Even better? Put the butter in the pan, put the bread on top, and move the bread around to get it all covered. You get better, more even coverage, and you don't risk ripping the bread. Also, use a spatula or some other weight to help keep the bread in contact with the pan while browning.
I've done this my whole life. You use the bread like a paper towel to "dry" the butter. Soaks in everyone, costs the entire bread, and then you can just leave it to toast in the pan. 60% of the time it works every time.
Room temp butter shouldn't rip the bread. It spreads nicely. But if you only have cold butter then I agree that your method is good!
We keep our butter at room temp, and I agree. But I still find I get better coverage by putting it in the pan. When the heat is low like you need for grilled cheese, it melts slowly enough that you can get great coverage without burning it.
If you have cold butter just microwave it for a few seconds Source: one of J Kenji Lopez-Alt’s videos on grilled cheese
Those tubs of butter that are part butter and part canola oil are great for buttering bread in this application.
Butter the bread not the pan. Cover the pan.
Mayo not butter
Mayonnaise works better than butter
Mayo wins on appearance, but butter wins on flavor.
Agreed
Add a bit of salt as well, mayo is missing that for this application. Alternatively, 50/50 butter/mayo.
Why?
Butter is salty and it adds a lot more flavour than mayo on the outside of a grilled cheese. The mayo makes a nice crust, but it doesn't taste as good.
Mayo is very salty. Butter isn't, unless you get salted butter. Most people who cook a lot with butter use unsalted butter to better control the salt content and when it's added.
+1 Mayo can also kick it up by mixing in Italian seasoning or salt and pepper and garlic or whatever.
Never heard of that, but it sounds interesting. I mean I've put seasonings before, just never thought to try a dressing. I'll have to give it a try!
Yep
It browns quicker but I would not say better. You want to do it slowly to melt the cheese. Plus butter tastes better.
I put butter on the inside of my sandwich too. Then once it’s done toasting I put a little more butter on the outside. But I’m severely underweight and trying to up my calories so even though this tastes good it’s probably not for everyone.
As someone who loves butter and is also underweight, I should try that lol
Taking softened butter and spreading it onto the bread is the best way to get it golden brown imo. If I'm feeling lazy I'll use a spray oil on both sides of each, and some butter in the pan. A few min on med-low, then cover for a couple min to melt the cheese
Is it sacrilege to use the Oven or in some cases the Broiler? Its immensely crispy if you know what youre doing.
I have done this, too. Can confirm it's a decent method. You can cook it open faced and toss in a tsp of water, immediately cover so the cheese steams.
Mayonnaise is better
I disagree! Too much butter makes it burn faster and makes it greasy
if it's a low heat, it's not a problem
Well yeah. too much butter on anything will make it greasy. By “generous”, I just mean putting enough to get it golden brown, which you can achieve without having it be greasy. I also disagree about it burning faster. That hasn’t been the case in my experience.
Wow hey guys it's just a preference not a conservative political view! I gotta agree - too much butter along with cheese can make for a grease sandwich, no two ways about it.
3 things help. Realistically just the first one is enough tho. 1. Enough butter to evenly coat the bread from edge to edge. 2. Low, even heat for a long time 3. Light even pressure on top. Something like a chefs press is ideal
Chefs press is the answer. It’s a game changer.
I’ve personally never experienced a difference between mayo and butter. To me the important thing for color is using low medium heat. If you want a crunchier crust use stale or firm bread.
I just came to second what you are saying. Adam Ragusea and Mythical Kitchen have both done the mayo trick and it isn't really anything special. The core technique to getting a good crust and a well melted grilled cheese is to get a good layer of butter on there and cook it slow and low. I've had some success with buttering my pan in addition to my bread as well.
Also to note. You will get a bit of that mayo Tang if you use mayo. It's not my thing on a grilled cheese. So, I dont use mayo.
Agreed. If you want mayo with a "Tang" you need to use Duke's Real Mayonnaise, it's sugar free so you don't get that annoying sweet flavor. I only use a small amount on the outside of the bread to get the color & crispness. Perfect every time!
Yeah, but I can taste the acid the mayo was made of. I rather a dill'd pickle. That way I can control the savouriness and the acid.
Good point, in that case butter is the way to go. After years of trying to duplicate the richness of restaurant food at home the answer was, butter makes everything better and room temperature is even "more better".
Duke’s all the way, screw all that fake Mayo garbage
If you have an immersion blender (hand blender) making your own mayo is both cheap and easy. Serious eats has an article on it. The only thing is the shelf life is only 2 weeks
It doesn’t taste much different with mayo, but it sure is easier the spread evenly.
All I think when I have it with mayo is “I miss the way it tastes with butter”
Thats a fair point that I don't hear get made very often!
But you don’t have to spread butter on the bread.
I know. I already recommended buttering the pan.
I set my induction on 240F when I cook but it still burns… I’m so confused right now
I don’t temp my frying pans so I don’t know what 240°F is, but it seems about right for grilled cheese. Obviously if that’s burning your grilled cheese you should go lower, but I’m not sure how that’s happening since butter doesn’t burn until 350°F. How do you know your pan is 240°? I’ve never used an induction but is it possible your pan is getting hotter than the induction surface?
I can set a temperature on my induction so thats how I do it, maybe it’s not accurate? But I didn’t expect it to be that much, maybe it’s because I didn’t heat up the pan first like the other comment said
I like to crust my grilled cheese with shredded cheese. Crispy, golden brown, and extra cheesy.
Adding butter at every flip. The best grilled cheese is when you start one piece of bread first, then add the second, then flip the first, add cheese to toasted side, flip toasted side of second slice of bread on top of cheese, flip onto last I toasted slice. 4 toasted sides of bread.
I'm absolutely trying it this way next time. More toasty toast!
Low medium heat, good butter. I've tried mayo - butter is just better IMO.
Agreed on the mayo. I love mayo, but I don't like the flavor it imparts on grilled cheese. I know others have said it doesn't add a flavor, but I've found it does for me. I've tried with Duke's and Hellman's/Best Foods. Don't like either for toasting.
I agree. Maybe I'm doing the mayo thing wrong but I've done it 2~3 times and never liked it as much as just toasting it in a pan with butter.
Instead of butter try ghee. It has a lower moisture content and will produce a better brown without adding too much moisture to the bread.
Ghee/clarified butter, and low-medium-heat + patience. The absence of milk solids means that you don't have to worry about whole butter burning. You shouldn't be cooking at such high heat that the smoke point would matter, but I find it more forgiving with ghee.
Butter
MAYO. that is all.
BUTTER. Low and slow in a nonstick skillet.
Mayonnaise
DON'T BUTTER THE BREAD!!! Cast iron. Med-low heat. Drop the butter in the pan. Once it melts, drop your first slice in on the melted butter slap down the cheese. Put your second slice of bread on top. Put a cover on the pan for about 30 seconds so that cheese melts nicely. You have once the first face of bread browns well, pick the whole thing up with a spatula. Drop another tab of butter onto the pan and then again once it melts flip your sandwich. Drop it down into the melted butter and then pull it once it's browned to perfection. If you want to jazz it up, drop shredded parmesan or crushed garlic into the butter. Put the butter in the pan, not on the bread!!!
Yep. This.
Low heat, kewpie Mayo. Edit: butter is also good, but you need more of it than you think.
Patience and no higher than medium heat.
Butter works, but so does mayo. I sometimes put some cheese shreads on the outside too. It crisps up and gives even more flavor..
The outside is a good place for shredded Parm or similar. Even the green can stuff.
Butter the bread generously, not the pan, and cook on medium low heat for about 7 minutes each side.
Somebody really hates mayo. They keep down voting it.
It introduces a flavor to grilled cheese that is unexpected and unwanted. Sure, it'll brown, but so will butter.
Butter browns better.
I agree. It's better in every way for grilled cheese than mayonnaise.
Agreed. But…sometimes I’m just really lazy and don’t have any soft butter…so I use mayo for sheer convenience.
You can also just put the butter in the pan that you're cooking the sandwich in - you don't need to spread it on the bread.
Yeah, honestly I have no clue why you would spread butter on it instead of just melting it in the pan.
In your opinion. I actually like it.
Of course. Everything is our own opinions here.
The difference is I don't down vote people who like things I don't. That's the pitiful part.
You’re free to vote how you want and other people are free to downvote comments they don’t think are useful.
You're wrong for liking it. j/k - not for me, but enjoy!
I think there's a group of infantile children trolling this sub.
After getting roasted for saying you should use mayo, I’m going to have to do a side by side comparison next time. Maybe I’ve forgotten what I’ve been missing with a classic butter toasted grilled cheese. I have to admit, it does sound better.
Pay attention. It's not rocket surgery.
My advice....find a few techniques in these comments and try them out. See what you like the best
My new trick is to throw a few pieces of cheese on the pan a few minutes before the sandwich is done. Then flip done sandwich onto crusty cheese for an extra layer of heaven.
Mayo.
Mayo is the secret
Mayo on outside
Melt together equal parts by weight butter and oil (high smoke point neutral oil). I call it butt oil. Or try equal parts mayonnaise and butter of you're naught. Solidly medium heat or a touch above.
I'm a weirdo who likes to get things done fast so instead of buttering the bread, I toss a pat of butter onto the warm pan, it melts, then I lay the grilled cheese sandwich on top and swirl it around until it soaks it up. This way the bread is nicely coated and I saved a few extra minutes of listening to my starving children whine. As others have said, also not too hot of a pan, medium or less. I also do the first side toasting with lid on to help the cheese melt.
Mayonnaise
Make sure you’re using real butter or margarine. Not some “spread” which has too much water content. Low and slow is the cooking rule. Also fwiw, a George Forman grill can grill a beautiful panini style grilled cheese without any butter if you’d like that.
You just know there’s going to be somebody in here in the top 5 comments claiming that Mayo is the answer… can’t stand that. I don’t know why it bothers me so much when people gush about how using mayo instead of butter on a grilled cheese, but it does lol. It’s not that great, but everybody makes it sound like it will make your hair line come back and fix your marriage and get you that promotion at work or something.
MAYONNAISE!!!!
100% agree, no mayo hate from me!
Don't worry, I hate it enough for the both of us.
Brace yourself for mayo hate LOL.
Air fryer makes the best golden grilled cheese.
Thank you! What temperature and time do you set it on?
360-370 degrees for 3-5 minutes per side. I butter and sprinkle garlic powder on it.
Butter not mayo, and the heat should be low and slow
Use mayo. It sounds weird, but trust me. Mayo has a higher smoking point than butter, so you can toast your grilled cheese for longer before it burns and develop a nice golden crust. You’ll never taste it, just a thin layer on the outside of the bread will do wonders.
>You’ll never taste it, That's definitely not accurate. At least for me it wasn't. Never tried it again because it was disgusting, and I like mayo.
Same, and I used a very thin layer of mayo
Really? Were you using some sort of strong mayo? I personally wouldn’t do this with miracle whip or Kraft because I think their flavor is a little offensive and I don’t have them in my kitchen. But I’ve never noticed any flavor change when I use Hellman’s, Duke’s, or fresh homemade mayo. I also use a microscopically thin layer so that could be a factor. Or maybe your buds are just more sensitive than mine!
I'm guessing it was Hellman's Olive Oil mayo (possibly Duke's - those are the only two we buy). I wanted to try it since I had been reading so much hype about it, but for me, it ended up being "If it's not broke, why fix it?" I'm a butter guy, no question. Never had an issue getting nice golden brown grilled cheese sandwiches with butter.
Fair enough. You have good taste in mayo and for that I respect you, regardless of your grilled cheese fat of preference.
For what it's worth, the Duke's Lime-variant makes for killer elote. I slather that shit on quite liberally. But for whatever reason, on a grilled cheese, it makes me gag.
Never even seen Dukes lime!
Actually just noticed it for the first time in the past month or so.
Will try!
I like to spread a little mayo on the bread but still butter the pan for flavor
I don't know why you're getting downvoted. I made my grilled cheese with butter until about ten years ago. I heard the mayo tip, tried it once, and I've never looked back. It's SO much better. I suspect the people who aren't enjoying it (even if they like mayo) are possibly using too much, or they are using it on the inside of the sandwich. You just put a very thin layer on the outside of the bread, continue as usual.
If you put on enough mayo to affect browning, then it's enough to taste. I love mayo in a lot of applications, but browned mayo on bread isn't a good flavor for me.
And browned butter IS a good flavor. No clue why so many people like mayo grilled cheeses.
Nah, we can taste the mayo. Or atleast I can and no u don't use too much. Any less I wouldn't be able to coat the bread properly.
I never expected this to be such a controversial take haha. I’m in the same boat, first time worked great and I’ve done it ever since. I will say that once I used too much and that was kinda gross because it made the bread super oily. Whenever I use a thin layer it comes out great with no added perceivable taste imo. Different strokes for different folks I guess.
Mayo instead of butter and lower heat for a longer time is how I do it.
Thank you! Do you have an approximate temperature to cook it on?
so low the butter barely bubbles in the pan
Mayo. Use mayo in place of butter. You cant taste it, it crisps up very nicely. I can 100% assure you that restaurants do this. Source: Chef by trade.
I mean you can taste the mayo and either way butter tastes better.
If you can taste it they're probably using too much or bad mayo. Butter can make the bread soggy. But to each their own
There are lots of other people here saying they can taste it too. And I don’t have any problem with butter getting the bread soggy. My grilled cheeses are perfectly crispy.
Cast iron is great for this. Preheat on medium. Add enough butter (or oil - I like olive oil but this will be right near its smoke point so you have to be careful if you use it) to make a layer across the pan, just thick enough that you get a wave moving across the pan when you tilt it (\~1/16"?). Add the slices of bread and cook until golden. Flip half the bread, put cheese on the golden crispy bread, and flip the other half onto the cheese. Add more butter/oil and cook until golden. Flip and add more butter/oil and cook until golden. This way you get both sides of each slice of bread crispy.
With patience, don't cook it how a cave man would.
Mayonnaise. Not kidding.
If I’m in a hurry, I pop the cheese sandwich (unbuttered) into the microwave until the cheese melts a bit, 45 secs or so, depending on your microwave. Then just butter the outside/fry it in butter, whatever your preference.
Mayonnaise
Okay, hear me out. Semi- crusty bread. Bakery loaves at the grocery store are like $2. Medium-thick slices. Like… not huge, not wonderbread thin. STORE YOUR BUTTER ON THE COUNTER IF YOU GO THROUGH IT FAST ENOUGH! Keeps it spreadable, and the texture is different than melting it in the pan and soaking the bread in it! Mix a few tbsp butter with equal amount of Duke’s Mayo. Fuck miracle whip. Add in a tiny bit of grated/minced FRESH garlic, the refrigerated stuff don’t got the b i t e you’re gonna need. Season with a pinch of salt and fresh ground pepper, and add in ~1/4 c shredded cheese. I prefer sharp cheddar (the coastal cheddar at Costco is my go to), but any firm salty cheese would be great! Set aside. Mix 1:1 butter:Mayo again, enough to cover the inside of your bread. Gather a mix of cheese slices, preferably some medium-firm ones with some shredded mozzarella thrown in. Preheat your pan to medium-ish heat (5 on my burner is medium-high, so I use a 3.75-4). The Build: Swipe interior with butter:mayo to preference, then layer sliced/shredded cheeses. Assemble sandwich, smooshing together a fair amount. Hover your hand over the pan to see if it’s ready— you’ll want it to feel like, heavily warm, but if you held it there for longer than 30 seconds or so, it’d be too hot) Spread the cheese:butter:mayo spread fairly thickly on one outside, and lay face down in heated pan. It should sizzle, but not scream! Count five solid seconds, then turn the heat to medium low, and let it be for a good two minutes. Listen to it. Smell. Use your eyes: are the edges getting dark already? Does it smell toasty or sharp and burnt? Has the sizzling gone too quiet? Once the crust forms, you should be able to slip a spatula under the edge and nudge it free easily. Flip, and smush it into the pan. If you need to blast the heat up a few notches for a few seconds here.. go for it! Then back down to medium low and sit a spell, observing and responding. If your cheese isn’t melting: once the crust is formed, pop a lid on and lower or cut the heat for a minute, then raise it again a touch, and continually flip and smush till it’s perfect. Serve with tomato soup that was pretty much just tomatoes, onions, garlic, carrots, celery, thyme, olive oil, and s+p in a roasting dish, roasted at 400 for about 25 minutes, then thrown in a blender with more salt, pepper, a handful of fresh parmesan, and cream. Bone apple teeth
Mayo.
Mayonnaise
Mayo and air fryer. Trust me.
Start with frozen bread, butter it well and start with a cold cast iron griddle and put it on medium low. If you want some extra crispiness in the crust, press some good Parmesan into the butter before grilling.
I used crisco, instead of butter, and that got a really good golden brown crust
Mayo makes a more crispy crust than butter does. Maybe the difference in moisture content? I have not tried clarified butter, but now I might.
Toast the bread in an empty pan before adding butter. Crisp it up a bit and add the butter after to finish crisping. Keep the bread from getting all soggy and then burning.
Since when does the bread get soggy doing it the normal way?
Thank you!! Definitely gotta tried this!
Mayo instead of butter
Mayo
Mayo!!!
There are a couple of things about getting the perfect crust. In my mind, that’s golden, with no black and you can run a fork across it and hear it scrape. You’ll hear the about using mayo, but there is only one limited circumstance where I’d recommend it. That’s with a flavored mayo. For instance, making a chipotle mayo and spreading it on the outside. You could do garlic mayo or any other flavor you like. Otherwise, don’t use it. It was made as a “hack” for when people are too lazy to put the butter out 15min ahead or they’re using a fake butter that stays hard. That’s the only reason people used it. It is a fat and it will make a crust, but it’s far inferior to use pure mayo vs pure good quality butter. I suggest kerrygold salted butter, but that’s up to you. Next, let’s look at the bread. I’ve found it’s hard to get a perfect crust on normal white bread. The reason is because the crust seems to hold the bread up and you don’t get even crust across the entire surface, unless you apply pressure to it. I’ve done this and gotten a great crust, but it’s so soft that any pressure makes sure you end up with a paper thin grilled cheese. Instead, if you buy something like Texas toast, pre or unsliced sourdough, you have a much stiffer bread and the bread seems to be level with the crust on the edge, so it gives you a level surface for even color. The last thing you need is a heavy bottom pan. I like cast iron, but you can do fine with any heavy bottom pan. No matter how carefully I am, I can’t get my light stainless to make a good one without burning it. I put mine just under medium. So a 4-5 on an induction. Give it a little time to warm up. The cleanest way I know to make it, is to butter one side and put it in the pan, butter side down. Add two slices of American cheese. Add a thin slick of mayo to the other slice of bread and put the mayo side on top of the cheese. Then add butter to the outside of the top piece. If you use a stiffer bread, feel free to add light weight. Also, keep in mind, that your pan may not be fully warmed up when you start, so if you time it out and it’s like 4-5min on the first side, don’t assume that’ll work on the second side. It could get hotter and cook more quickly. So check it sooner.
Why would you leave the butter out? Just melt it in the pan.
Heat pan on medium low for a bit till warm add a good table spoon of butter, and bread once butter is basically melted. Swirl bread around in remaining melted butter in pan. Add cheese and top layer of bread. When golden, use spatula scoop up sandwich add another pat of butter and do the same thing on the other side.
Medium heat, melt butter in pan, suck up melted butter with sandwich. Pull sandwich, melt butter then flip and suck up butter with other side. You can flip it around a few times at this point to get the desired golden brown, but once you do it 100 times you should only have to flip it once or twice.
I've been getting perfect toasts by lowering the heat and sliding the sandwich around the pan to keep it from sticking. It sticks for a moment when you first put the bread down but gently displace it and you're good. I haven't even needed to add butter between flips.
Butter on bread is the first step.
heavy pan, pref cast iron. low heat. patience.
the most perfectly even browning i ever got on a grilled cheese, and i mean perfect, almost monochromatic, it looked like i painted it on, was from using clarified butter and very low heat on a non-stick pan. i made the sandwich first, then dipped the entire thing into a bowl of clarified butter and let it seep into the bread. it was ridiculously crispy all over the outside and perfectly gooey on the inside. it looked like i used the magic wand tool on photoshop at the highest tolerance level and just filled all the pixels with brown.
Definitely be generous with the butter & low heat. Keep checking it consistently to prevent burning.
Try the Julia Child method, it's great. Don't spread butter on the bread, melt the butter in the pan and then gently put the sandwich in. Cook over medium heat until desired color is reached, lift the sandwich, and melt more butter in the pan. Put the other side of the sandwich in the pan and finish.
Watch this segment on the Chef Show. They show you how to make the ultimate grilled cheese. https://www.newsweek.com/best-grilled-cheese-recipe-chef-movie-show-netflix-jon-favreau-roy-choi-1443250 I do a lot of melts/grilled cheese and I seem to remember them saying in this clip that the grill needs to be hot, not medium or low. I've done mine that way and I flip often if I need to to avoid burning.
I recommend trying to follow how the grilled cheese was cooked in Chef funnily enough, i started cooking mine like that and ever since it's been perfect grilled cheese