How do you make grilled cheese?

Cafe Society
1

I have made it 3 ways. The first and most delicious: butter one side of two breads, put cheese inbetween these two slices of bread, butter side out. Fry in dry frying pan.

My aunt the lazy cooker taught me this way: Put cheese between two slices of bread. Melt a lot of margarine in a frying pan. Fry the cheese sandwich.

Weight Watchers taught me this and this is the way I usually do it. Sadly, it is the least tasty way: Put cheese between two slices of bread. Put it, uncovered, in the oven (at 350 or so) on some foil. Remove when cheese is melted and bread is crunchy.

2

A bit of butter in the pan…lots if it’s hard and will tear the bread…one slice down, add the cheese, top with other slice, flip immediately (to get butter on both sides right away), then grill completely, flip, finish grilling the first side.

LOTS of squishing…a grilled cheese sandwich isn’t a grilled cheese sandwich if it isn’t properly flattened!

3

this is the way I do it, except I use a sandwich press (actually a George Foreman grill, but you know, six of one…)

4

I lightly toast the bread. Then I put slices of cheese on the toast, and put it all under the griller.

5

Butter the bread on the outside, insert cheese, fry.

I’ve also heated some olive oil, and fried up an unbuttered cheese sandwich in that. Pretty tasty, especially when I used 7 year old cheddar.

6

Cheese (and tomato, and a little mustard) inside, butter in the pan, a saucer and soup can or the like to compress it.

7

Butter the outside of the bread, four slices of american cheese and dill pickle slices. Grill in a cast iron skillet, both sides till brown.

8

Butter (and I mean BUTTER, not some fake crap) the outside of the bread. Use one slice of Swiss cheese and one slice of American cheese. Fry in dry pan on low-ish heat, so the cheese melts and the bread gets crisp but not burnt.

Excellent variation, if you’re in the mood: Layer some thin apple slices between the slices of cheese.

9

I’ve done this with thin slices of Virginia or honey ham but apple sounds yummy! Maybe ham wrapped apple slices. . .

10

George Foreman here too. I make more grilled cheese on it than I do burgers. Butter the bread, unwrap cheeze slices, add mustard and pickles, let George do his thing. Mmmm… :smiley:

11

And bacon. And brown mustard.

12

I’m not picky as to how exactly it’s made, but I like my grilled cheese “well done”. Like blackened. Mmm, mm good.

13

Pam in the pan, real butter on the bread, American cheese between the bread. Pan on medium heat, for maximum browning but not burning.

And it must be served with Campbell’s tomato soup for dipping.

14

Real butter, on inside and outside. Plain old American cheez. If I’m really feeling decadent, I’ll take a sweet gherkin and slice it thinly and put it inside the sammich.

When my daughter and I were on Weight Watchers together, back in the “Fat and Fiber” plan, I’d spray PAM inside AND outside the sandwich. The mouthfeel was right, but I missed the butter!
~VOW

15

Butter in the pan. Plus I often spice up my sandwich with some diced jalapenos from my garden.

Oh, and I often use just a very very small amount of Miracle Whip. Just enough to get that little sweet vinegar tang it adds.

16

That’s the way I do it. Get a little crunch going on the bread. Bonus points for cheese that runs out of the sandwich onto the pan and fries to an oily crisp.

17

Butter outside, cheese inside. A slice of turkey or ham in between slices of cheese if my mood calls for it.

I cook it in a pan. No squishing.

18

Aged cheddar cheese between two slices of bread that are buttered on the outside. I prefer sourdough bread or whole wheat bread.

Fry in dry cast-iron frying pan on med-lowish heat. Don’t put the heat too high or the outside might get too toasted or even burnt before the cheese is totally melted. The only thing to do with a burnt grilled cheese sandwich is throw it out and start over, or possibly cut off the burnt part if it’s small. A couple times as a kid I remember my dad trying to convince me it was good enough to just scrape off the most burnt bits, but I never believed him.

I don’t mind grilled cheese sandwiches with other stuff in them (e.g. bacon, or turkey slices, or whatever), but the ultimate grilled cheese for me is just the basic without other fillings. Every once in a while I get a craving for a basic grilled cheese sandwich with cream of tomato soup - childhood nostalgia meal for me.

re: the crispy bits of cheese on the pan being the best part, I saw a recipe a few years ago for a grilled cheese sandwich that had parmesan cheese on the outside - IIRC it was grated parmesan mixed with butter spread on the outside of the sandwich and then grilled to the parmesan melted and turned crispy. Has anyone ever tried that?

19

I’m not a fan of tomato soup, so we tend to go with chicken-noodle. Or just a salad, which we actually did tonight because this thread made me hungry. It was a Caesar salad tonight…that’s what we had ingredients for!

20

[Prepare to have your mind blown.](

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