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Instead of melting butter in a bowl and brushing it on the bread... melt some butter in the pan. Take a slice of bread and sop up some of the melted butter that's in the pan and set that slice of bread aside. Put the second slice of bread in the pan to soak up the rest of the butter. Then pick up the recipe above from step 4 (but skip step 5 since you already got some butter on that slice of bread).

This basically produces the same results, but you don't need a brush or a bowl (for the melted butter), and you'll probably use less butter. It also takes less time.

Grate the cheese! grate the cheese!

I agree with the other 2 commenters. Applying the butter to the bread creates a "soft sandwich" as stated in the article but allowing a dollop of butter to melt in the pan and then applying the bread, sopping up the butter with both pcs, adding grated cheese (melts more evenly) and then applying the other pc (sopped up butter side up, of course!) creates a perfect grilled cheese with the bread having a toast-like texture rather than soft, gooey & saturated. I guess it depends on which sort of grilled cheese you prefer!

I suddenly have a craving for tomato soup...

This post makes me laugh. Experience has taught me low-heat is the key. I often get impatient, turn up the heat and end up with some burn.

It also made me remember a time when I was babysitting. Less experienced in the kitchen and a very picky child resulted in me making 4 grilled cheese sandwiches before one was properly toasted to his pleasure.

LOL, I wouldn't do that for my own kids now.

Oh, yes and I agreed with the the person who says grate the cheese!

My kid is on a grilled cheese kick, and I've totally slacked. Lately I've just been toasting two pieces of bread and putting a cheese slice between them. He's never complained, and he had them both ways.

Also, the best way to do it is butter both pieces of bread, but buttered sides together and assemble your cheese there, then you lift the top piece (with the cheese already on) into the pan and add the second piece.

@pbysura

That's exactly what I do. Could go for a sammie right now.

Not sure that this would appeal to a child, but it makes a nice "Big Kid" addition to first rub the surface of the pan with a sliced garlic clove. All of a sudden grilled cheese sounds really good...

Has anyone ever used mayonnaise instead of butter? So tasty. (light mayo doesn't seem to work as well as regular)

must have dill pickle sliced and in my grilled cheese! An alternative to the grilled cheese for me, is a slice of bread, mayo, cheese and topped by a tomato slice and broiled for a few minutes in the oven. A variety of spices on top make it more than just a melt for me!

The melted butter seems a bit excessive...I just use the spreadable stuff and I have never burnt a grilled cheese!

We make grilled cheese on our George Foreman grill . . . works great!

I've started doing mine in the oven (I am feeding 6 of us) and I think it tastes even better than pan grilled cheese, the outside is crunchy and the inside nice and gooey. OH and the Williams Sonoma panini press makes an amazing grilled cheese, especially with ham and sliced green apples added. My other fave thing is grilled cheese and broccoli!

Hmmmm, using a lid is a useful step that I usually forget (damn! why won't this cheese melt?!)
http://modernhaus.blogspot.com/2010/02/children-of-upper-east-side.html

Spreading soft margarine on the bread instead of butter will make it much less likely to burn.

For me the butter must be melted in the pan and cooked over low heat. Must also have a little dijon mustard, bread must be crusty no pre-sliced, possibly tomato, sliced pickle, a pinch of horseradish.

sturky, I use mayo on the outside of my bread! it's so much easier to spread than butter (don't have to melt it!) and using light mayo works just fine...it usually equals about 1/2 a teaspoon...

Thank you, thank you, thank you! I have always managed to screw up grilled cheese and have been very embarassed by it! Now I will be a closet "grilled-cheese-burner" no more! Hurrah

I used to make grilled cheese sandwiches in a pan. It was labor intensive making them. Now, I use my waffle iron with the plates reversed. Not only can I fit several sandwiches at one time, but I don't have to flip them at all, and they come out perfectly.

If you don't dig on butter, you can spray a little olive oil on the bread instead. It also gives is a more grown-up taste.

Neat! I'll try that. Faves include tomatoes as well.

Oh, and cumin, a little bit of chili powder

I call this delectable dish toasted cheese (from South Africa). In the old days we used to prepare the sandwich by buttering the outsides of two slices of bread, putting cheese in the middle and then wrapping in aluminium (yes, South Africa again) and ironing with an iron until smelling good and a small peek showed golden brown bread. Yah, somewhat prehistoric I know.
Nowadays I use my sandwich machine which I LOVE... makes the best grilled cheese sandwiches ever.

Mayo instead of butter. Well that's what I used to do when I ate cheese and mayo. It sounds funky but you get a crispy outside without that greasy buttery taste. Use a pan that is big enough to lay out both slices of bread and put cheese on both sides. Just smoosh together when they're done. Cooks in 1/2 the time! And the cheese has to be a mix of cheddar and american for that perfect melty goodness. Or swiss on rye. Or havarti and tomato. Man, posts like this make it a tough day to be vegan.

"Potato Bread" sold in supermarkets, makes a big difference in giving it that diner/luncheonette quality It looks like that is what was used in these photographs.

Nice solution to too-crispy sandwiches for finicky eaters. And ditto above: grate the cheese! It melts much more readily. We just tried a build-your-own-grilled cheese lunch with little ones -- it was a blast. Lots of textures, smells, and tastes: Build a Better Grilled Cheese at Cook Play Explore

Microwave prior to grilling to melt cheese -30 to 45 seconds is plenty.

Now it's warm too so grilling is faster and more controlled

My method is slightly different, though I like a firmer GC.

I lightly butter one side of each piece of bread. Put the pan on medium and then toast the bread with the buttered side up to melt. This has the affect of warming the interior of the sandwich so as to melt the cheese faster. Once the butter has melted, I turn one slice over and apply cheese. It usually melts rather quickly since the cheese is in direct contact with the toasted (and un-buttered) side of the bread. The need for the covered cooking method at the end of the posted recipe is dissolved due to this and tends to make a faster sandwich.

Also, this may have to do with the fact that I use say cheese for my kids (since they have allergies) and that substance usually takes a bit more effort to melt.

err soy cheese

I've found that when cooking for a group of people a real time-saver is to "grill" the sandwiches in the oven on a cookie sheet, with one flip partway through. It's fast, easy to clean (no greasy spatters on the stove!) and the sandwiches cook beautifully -- gooey on the inside, browned evenly on the outside. As a bonus, I get to sit down with the family to eat.

The diners that I have worked at used low-fat (or no-fat, depending on personal taste) mayo on the outside of the bread to get the golden tone. You had to be very sparing but you got a crispy golden sandwich every time that way (unless you were a dipstick, and forgot about the sandwich.

Mayo is also more forgiving, allowing you to use a higher heat for your stove or flat-top. With butter I usually have the flat-top set to 325 F, but I can safely snooze with it at 350 F if I am using the mayo.

Also, with block cheeses you have to grate the cheese. With cheeses like American (the real stuff, not the processed cheese food stuff,) you can use slices, but it will be less melty where your slices overlap.

Shane

it makes me happy that i'm not alone in using mayo on my grilled cheese!

I slather our bread in marg (unmelted), put the buttered pieced together, and put thinly sliced cheddar cheese on top. Then I assemble everything in the pan, cook over medium low-ish heat, and cover with a pot lid - usually just for the first side. This ensures the cheese melts as the bread fries.

yep we do the foreman grill too!

I use olive oil but is there anything more delicious?

I used to love grilled cheeses totally plain, but a thin spread of dijon mustard makes these soooooo much more delicious (I never thought that'd be possible!). In a pinch, honey mustard salad dressing will also achieve similar results.

Seriously, you've gotta try dijon mustard on your gc. Heavenly.

I use olive oil.. it's too heavy with butter for me. Also, must be grated cheese!

After years and years of choking down burnt-one-side grilled cheese sandwiches, my adult frypan fervor has taught me a valuable lesson. At first I thought the butter was too firm but melting it made no difference. Then I tried low heat - still I ended up with a bitter, charred bottom. Then it struck me: even while cooking on a low heat of 4 or 5, by the time I flipped my sandwich the pan was at full heat. When the fresh butter hits the pan after being flipped, the butter instantly burns and the sandwich is ruined. The trick is one simple step that will only add a few seconds to your usual routine: before you flip your sandwich, remove it from the pan and set it aside. Then remove the pan from the heat and gently introduce some warm water (so you don't warp the pan) and swirl it around. After the water stops bubbling, which it most certainly will, return the sandwich to the pan and the pan to the heat. Repeat the cooking process of the first side and voila! Grilled cheese perfection.

mmmm...we LOVED grilled cheese!!! seriously, we made it with my homemade soup recipe and it rocked!!! it's nearly the best combo and super easy for families...we only have a hairy baby (tiny yorkie) but this will be an easy staple dinner when we have a bigger family one day...here's the link to the yummy homemade tomato soup with pics of our GRILLED cheese oozie goodness too - casacullen
http://www.casacullen.com/2010/01/recipe-of-the-week-recap-homemade-tomato-soup.html

Also am glad to have come into this post to see so many others using mayo on their grilled cheeses! I usually get strange looks when I mention using it. It really does add a great touch of flavor.

For me? It's no good unless it flattened with weight. So here's my stack from the burner up:
Gas flame, low-ish
Non-stick skillet
Butter
Sourdough
Cheese
Sourdough
Butter
Foil
Momere's cast iron skillet
A full red teakettle
- Needless to say, flipping the damn thing looks like a circus act. I'm off to assemble the cheese sandwich structure.

Yummy add in?

Fresh basil.

doubly yum!

Just use bread and real cheese. Melts perfectly fine, tastes less greasy and will kill you slower.

I also add jalepeno's or banana peppers and a sliced meat.

Use a brick wrapped in tin foil as the weight.

I tried the mayo instead of butter and it worked GREAT. I actually managed to make a less greasy, less fatty grilled cheese sandwich which I (and my diet) enjoyed. Thanks for that tip!

I use wheat bread, use softened butter (which probably results in using more butter now that I think about it) and jarlsburg cheese. cooked for a long time on medium heat until its just about to burn.omg yummy. and a pickle on the side.

I use wheat bread or some sort of bread from a bakery, and spread butter on one side of both pieces of bread. Put the first piece, butter side down, in the pan (low heat). arrange cheese- today I used muenster i and it was great- and sometimes add some turkey or chicken and then cover with the other slice of bread, butter side up...you know the rest.
About half the time I also spread some hummus on there, and the rest of the time I add avocado slices after the sandwich is done. Both versions are amazing.

And while your pan or griddle is still hot (I have a wonderful heavy Guardian Ware griddle ca.1944), make a grilled peanut butter and jelly (or jam) sandwich. My favorite is strawberry jam with the peanut butter. The peanut butter gets very hot, so don't cut the sandwich, just let it cool until it is warm and then eat it for dessert. Divine!