The great grilled cheese sammich controversy

[luvs]

okay, for your basic grilled cheese, i learned to cook them at 7, threw the butter into the pan before my bread & cheese, then added my bread & swirled it around.
now SOME poeple, namedly jake, my dear beloved Grandmother, my bother, my mom, & my childhood buddy jennifer, like to waste precious time by letting butter slooooowwwwwly soften or else tear holes in delicate slices of fresh bread buttering them with cold chunks of it.
i'm apparantly not gonna win this one....

i GOTTA ask though, when you cook a grilled cheese, what way is yours cooked?

i gotta add, people love my grilled cheeses, my cronies used to BEG me for them & now jakes does, too. so who makes the better sammich?

 

[GB]

Everyone knows that the correct way to make a grilled cheese sandwich is to throw the butter in the pan first then put the sandwich in and swirl it around and press it down. Anything else is just foolishness

 

[getoutamykitchen]

I always keep a stick of butter out on the counter at room temperature, so I slather it on the side of each piece of bread, but I also put some in the pan. I don't press them down and I like my grilled cheese sandwiches extra crispy with a little bit of mustard. I guess what I'm saying is I do it your way and their way. My favorite cheese to use is Colby or Colby/Jack.

 

[Andy M.]

It's simply too easy to put the butter in the pan. Any other way means more effort.

 

[kadesma]

OH boy, I take a ramekin melt the butter in the microwave then brush it on one side of the bread, put the sammich in the warmed pan and brush the other side...Any leftover butter, the sammich gets revisited I know I know I just dirtied a dish and brush..pfsssst.
kades

 

[jabbur]

I butter my bread first but I use I can't believe it's not butter spread which is always soft and spreadable. I also put a little on the pan but not much. My MIL would take the stick of margarine and just rub a bit on the hot pan and then put the sandwich on which made it pretty dry and not very flavorful.

 

[Andy M.]

I keep a stick of butter in the fridge just for buttering pans. I do that for grilled cheese, eggs, omelets, quesadillas...

 

[bourbon]

I use mostly homemade bread which tends not to tear and rip like the cheap store breads. But when I did use the standard white sandwich bread, it was always far easier to melt the butter in the pan and just let the bread soak it all in

 

[LadyCook61]

I like grilled cheese panini , which I make by buttering top and bottom of the sandwich before putting on the panini grill. I don't use store bought bread , I use my artisan bread .

 

[CasperImproved]

Stick in a covered dish, buttered bread into medium high heated skillet for plain sandwich, it's american and swiss slices, buttered other bread, then flip when bottom browned past golden & crisp. Fancy? Sky's the limit.

bob

 

[Wyogal]

I butter the bread with softened butter that I keep in the cupboard. I like using cheddar, provolone, swiss, etc... but also really like "processed American cheese food" and dip in catsup.

 

[HMGgal]

You guys are so lucky that you can do the butter! I have familial high cholesterol, so butter is out. I miss it so much because I believe that a good knob of butter makes EVERYTHING taste better and gives such great gloss and mouthfeel. Sigh. The Earth Balance, etc. products are okay, but definitely not the same. I've adjusted by spraying my pan with a butter flavored spray. I like a mix of muenster and jack cheese, and I add some chopped fire roasted chilies (yep, the canned kind) for my daughter. That and some homemade soup. Yummers.

 

[Uncle Bob]

Spread pats of butter on both slices of bread....drop it on a hot cast iron griddle...listen to it sizzle...move it around a little...flip it over...listen to it sizzle again till nice and brown ---- Like Extra Sharp cheddar...mixed with Pepper Jack sometimes...Mmmmm grilled pimento & cheese is good too!!!

 

[luvs]

it looks like us butter-thrower-inners may be in the majority, for now! wowsers, made my day a little brighter! i thought most were against that!

 

[Uncle Bob]

it looks like us butter-thrower-inners may be in the majority, for now! wowsers, made my day a little brighter! i thought most were against that!

Yeah, but the majority ain't always right!

 

[luvs]

Everyone knows that the correct way to make a grilled cheese sandwich is to throw the butter in the pan first then put the sandwich in and swirl it around and press it down. Anything else is just foolishness

& i knew a fellow phish fan would find some way to agree on a proper grilled cheese! lol.

 

[GB]

& i knew a fellow phish fan would find some way to agree on a proper grilled cheese! lol.

The best grilled cheeses I have ever had were in the lots at Phish and Dead shows. I will never forget the one that was made on homemade bread, garden grown basil, fresh churned butter and garlic with heirloom tomato. One for $1.50 or three for $2.

 

[GB]

Yeah, but the majority ain't always right!

Maybe not, but we are better looking

 

[Uncle Bob]

Maybe not, but we are better looking

Only in your wildest imaginations.......

 

[ChefJune]

I grew up with a waffle iron that had plates that fit inside, so we always had a sandwich press. If the butter wasn't soft enough to spread on the outside of the bread, I always melted it and then brushed it on. I still prefer the butter spread on the bread and then put into the sandwich press. [I have a waffle iron with plates, now, too. ]

I use anything but "American" cheese. Can't eat those processed slices for anything! Favorites are some variation of Swiss cheese, or Taleggio. Manchego makes a good grilled cheese, too.