Cheese toasties taste better if you swap butter for better kitchen ingredient

Cheese toasties can often come out of the pan burned with the cheese still hard, but there is a simple method to make them crispy and melty using an everyday ingredient most people have in their kitchen.

Cheese toasties are the ultimate comfort food, whether enjoyed alongside tomato soup or simply as a speedy lunchtime treat. They are among the easiest meals to prepare, yet they can develop an unpleasant charred texture when made with butter.

It may seem natural to reach for the butter when making a toastie, but it contains milk solids that burn very easily under heat, meaning the bread cooks far more quickly than the cheese. What typically happens is that people notice the bread beginning to smoke and remove it from the heat, only to find the cheese remains unmelted while the bread is slightly burnt.

Award-winning cook and former caterer Julie Blanner has revealed that the secret to achieving a crispier toastie lies in ditching the butter in favour of mayonnaise.

Julie said: “Did you know? Mayo is the secret to the best grilled cheese! It seals in delightful flavour, adds a delicious crisp to every bite, just before you sink your teeth into creamy, melted cheese!”.

Butter has a low smoke point, meaning the water within it evaporates rapidly when heated, causing the milk proteins to break down and produce smoke.

It will begin to burn before the cheese has had a chance to melt, leaving you with a toastie that remains hard on the inside, while the outside becomes excessively greasy as the butter soaks into the bread.

However, mayonnaise contains oils that are capable of withstanding high temperatures, making it far easier to cook with and ensuring the bread crisps evenly, so every part of the toastie turns a perfect golden brown.

Toasties will cook at a more gradual pace, giving the cheese sufficient time to melt, resulting in a gloriously gooey sandwich with an impeccably crisp exterior.

How to make tastier cheese toasties

You will need:

• Two slices of bread
• Two slices of cheese
• One tablespoon of full-fat mayonnaise

If you’re aiming to create the ultimate toastie, it’s worth knowing that combining two or more cheeses will typically produce a superior melt compared to using just one variety.

Cheddar remains the classic toastie choice due to its rich flavour, though because it is aged for a longer period, it doesn’t always melt as smoothly and can turn oily if used in excess.

For optimum results, pair cheddar with a cheese boasting a higher moisture content, such as mozzarella, Gruyère or Emmental. This combination strikes the ideal balance of flavour, creaminess and stretch, delivering a wonderfully melty toastie.

Additional toppings, sauces or seasoning can also be incorporated if desired, though take care not to overfill, as cheese expands when melting and could spill out into the frying pan.

Method

1. To start, place a frying pan over a medium heat and allow it to warm up for one minute. There is no need to add olive oil or any other cooking fat, as the mayonnaise will provide sufficient coverage to toast the bread.
2. In the meantime, prepare the toastie by placing the cheese inside the bread. Feel free to add any additional toppings or seasonings, but take care not to overstuff the sandwich, as the cheese may seep out during cooking.
3. Press the two slices of bread together, then apply a thin coating of mayonnaise to the outside of each slice before placing it straight into the pan.
4. Allow it to cook for approximately two minutes until the bread turns a golden brown colour. Use a spatula to gently press down on the sandwich, as this will help achieve a crispier finish.
5. Flip the toastie over and cook the other side for a further two minutes.
6. Once cooked, leave the toastie to rest on a plate for one minute, as this allows the cheese to firm up slightly so it won’t spill out when you slice into it.