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What the heck is smashed grilled cheese?
7:00 pm Jan 28 - by Trisha Ruiz – Buzz writer
Grilled cheese – it doesn’t get much simpler than that, right? I beg to differ. The confusion comes in all forms. Is it a ‘grilled cheese’ or ‘cheese toastie?’ How is it made? Is it actually grilled, or is it toasted? Or is it fried? Do people actually eat it with ketchup? I know I’ve never done it, but then it’s not too far off from a hot bowl of tomato soup, is it? If there’s one area of confusion that can be cleared right now, it’s this: what is the best way to cook a grilled cheese sandwich?
Now, I know everyone has his or her own favorite way of making this classic sandwich. I prefer one slice of cheese—American—between two slices of white bread, smashed and pan-fried in butter. Then, there’s the two-slice, un-smashed version (extra cheese, some would argue, to make up for the fluffiness of the bread). Finally, there’s the only version that, I would argue, can be legitimately named ‘cheese toastie’: the toaster oven version.
(I’d like to take this opportunity to point out one similarity between these three versions – butter. Cooked in butter, butter between the bread and the cheese. One whole stick of butter was used in the testing for this article.)
I started with the un-smashed version, with two slices of bread, two slices of cheese and a hunk of butter in the pan and thin slivers of butter between the bread and the cheese. The difficulty with this grilled cheese is that the heat under the pan must be carefully calculated. Too high and the surface of the bread is golden-brown before the cheese has an opportunity to melt. Too low, and it’ll take you fifteen minutes to make a sandwich. I have to admit, though I am a cheese minimalist, I did appreciate the extra slice. I deemed this version tasty, but time consuming.
Next was the cheese toastie. It was a bit of a stretch trying to incorporate butter into this version with two slices of cheese on one piece of bread, and a few half-heartedly spread chunks of butter on the other. Both went face-up onto the toaster rack. (Open-faced seemed the obvious choice to avoid uneven toasting.) Thanks to my cheap and crappy toaster-oven, the bread came out half charred and half lightly toasted. The cheese was barely melted, and the butter soaked in the bread making it soggy, instead of crispy and buttery as I’d hoped. It was an interesting experiment, but I didn’t eat the cheese toastie. I had something better in line.
That something better: the smashed grilled cheese. This version is prepared the same way as the un-smashed version, except with one slice of cheese to maintain a decent cheese-to-bread ratio once it’s smashed. Also, right when it hits the heavily buttered pan, you smash the hell out of it with the spatula. A minute on one side over medium-high heat, flip and smash again. One more minute, and…the perfect grilled cheese every time. The bread is all infused with the cheese, and it’s crispy and buttery and gorgeous—and with only a few minutes to wait. I tried to be fair and open-minded with the other versions, but it’s tough. Once a favorite, always a favorite.
Now where’s my condensed tomato soup?
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Last post: Jan. 30, 2008 at 10:46 pm
Nikki (Nikki Blight) said on Jan. 29, 2008 at 9:55 am:
The secret to the cheese toasty is to use not butter, but a soft spread like Country Crock on each slice, in a thin layer so as not to oversaturate the bread, shredded cheese rather than slices (on both pieces of bread) for a more even melt, and toast open faced, then slap the two halves together in one quick motion before the cheese can even think about cooling.
Mmm.... cheese toasty...
James (James Hamilton) said on Jan. 30, 2008 at 10:46 pm:
White Bread + dejion mustard and cheddar cheese. Two pans on the stove, one larger than the other, at least one cast iron. Heat them both for about a minute on high (if you have an electric stove, give up). Turn the heat off and spray the larger pan with PAM, place your sandwich in the larger pan. Spray the bottom of the cast iron pan and lower it onto your sandwich. Wait one minute. Remove the cast iron pan and consume.
jsiess (Judith Siess) said on Jan. 28, 2008 at 10:28 pm:
Very important--a thin slice of dill pickle for each half (triangle) of the sandwich. The epitome of grilled cheesedom *used* to be Steak n Shake, but they are now using bread that is too thick, so they aren't as good. Texas Toast does *not* cut it. You have to pry the sandwich open just off the grill and stuff the pickle slice in--you can't put it in before--that's cheating.
Now I'm starving--and I'm dieting so can't have a g.c. (I've lost 44 pounds on Nutrisystem--without being able to exercise because of foot problems--11 more to go and I'll be at the weight I was when I got married--in time for my 25th anniversary in August.)