BA’s Best Grilled Cheese (2024)

FAQs

What makes grilled cheese taste better? ›

If you don't have a lid, Archibald recommended cooking grilled cheese “low and slow, turning and flipping often to really give a chance to get a full melt on the cheese and to get the bread evenly toasted and golden brown.” Pressing the sandwich down gently will help ensure that all the cheese inside melts and gets ...

Chefs have a huge choice of cheeses that melt well. These include provolone, a tangy cheddar, nutty Swiss cheese, and soft cheeses. Fontina melts well, and so does raclette and the stronger-tasting taleggio. Gouda is ideal too, and asiago, but cheese that doesn't melt well can also be added in with a good melting one.

The secret to your best-ever grilled cheese? Mayonnaise. Next time you make one, don't smother your bread in butter like usual. Instead, slather on the mayo; it'll add a tang and create a perfectly crisp exterior.

For the ideal grilled cheese, look for bread with a soft-but-hearty texture with even slices of medium thickness (about 1/4 inch). Hearty sandwich bread, sourdough, brioche, and rye all work very well. Avoid rolls and loaves with large holes in the interior.

Tuck in a little sautéed spinach, caramelized onions, chopped steamed broccoli, roasted red peppers, or roasted tomatoes. Add fruit. For really gourmet grilled cheese sandwiches, use a mix of Gruyere and brie cheese along with thinly sliced apples or a slather of fig jam.

Shred Your Cheese: Do not, we repeat, do NOT use sliced cheese for grilled cheese. First, it is best to bring your cheese up to room temperature before cooking your sandwich. Then, shredding the cheese will help ensure that it melts faster and more evenly. Keep in mind, certain cheeses melt easier than others.

For each grilled cheese, you'll need two slices of bread, at least 1 tablespoon of butter, and 2-4 slices of cheese (depending how gooey you like it). American, Cheddar, Swiss, muenster or Gouda all work well—feel free to mix and match your cheeses.

The Quintessential Grilled Cheese is served on two pieces of French Pullman champagne bread which is made with Dom Perignon champagne and edible gold flakes, with white truffle butter and the very rare Caciocavallo Podolico cheese. The sandwich is served with South African Lobster Tomato Bisque as a dipping sauce.

What cheese melts the best for grilled cheese? ›

Cheese options – For the best grilled cheese, you want to use a combination of mozzarella (for its cheese pull and non-greasy melting qualities) with a flavoured cheese – because mozzarella actually has a very mild flavour. A good vintage cheddar or gruyere are my absolute favourites.

Use olive oil, not butter.

Many recipes recommend butter, but in the time it takes to properly toast the bread and melt the cheese, butter tends to burn, blacken, and smoke. Ick. I use olive oil instead – its higher smoke point is your friend here (and its flavor will enhance the sandwich).

There's no better place to start than with halloumi, the rightful king of grilling cheese. The salty, semi-hard goat's and sheep's milk cheese hails from Cyprus and has a high melting point that makes it suitable to grill.

What is the best melting cheese? Cheeses with more moisture and lower melting points - cheddar is one of the most popular choices, but Swiss and Gruyère are also terrific options. Which melts better, mild or sharp cheddar? Mild cheddar melts more smoothly than sharper (more aged) cheddar.