The perfect, simple grilled cheese sandwich
Ingredients:
- 2 slices of your favorite sandwich bread
- 2 to 3 slices of cheese (at least 1 of them should be deli-style American cheese)
- condiments like mustard or mayo (optional)
- 2 tablespoons mayonnaise (or softened butter)
Directions:
Sandwich assembly: Add any condiments you like to one side of two slices of bread. Add two to three slices of bread (or around 1/4 to 1/2 cup of shredded cheese) to one slice of bread, and then sandwich the cheese between the two slices of bread.
Sandwich cooking: add a skillet or griddle to your stove and turn the heat way down to medium-low. If you have an electric griddle with a temperature gauge, shoot for 275 F (135 C). If you have an infrared thermometer, try to make sure the pan isn't getting much warmer than 300 F (148 C).
Spread around 1 tablespoon of mayonnaise (or soft butter) on the exterior of one slice of bread. When the pan or griddle has preheated for a couple of minutes, add the sandwich, mayo/butter side down, in the pan. Cook for 4 to 5 minutes with the lid on top of the pan. If you do not have a lid, you can use an upside-down metal bowl or a sheet pan to form a cover over the pan. The trick is to allow the sandwich to steam while cooking so that the interior cheese starts to melt.
After 4 to 5 minutes, spread another tablespoon of mayonnaise (or butter) onto the exterior of the top slice of bread and then flip the sandwich.
Cook the sandwich for another 3 to 4 minutes and then continue cooking and flipping the sandwich every 1 minute until both sides of the sandwich are golden brown and crispy.
Remove the sandwich from the pan and allow it to cool for 2 minutes on a cooling rack. If you do not have a cooling rack, you can use a rack from your oven or even something like two knives or chopsticks to keep the sandwich elevated off the surface. If your sandwich goes directly to a plate or cutting board, it will steam itself on the bottom and become soggy.
Notes:
American cheese does not have a whole lot of flavor, but it melts really well and is very creamy. So my suggestion would be to use one slice of American cheese and then add another cheese that has a flavor that you like. You could use something like Swiss cheese or even a sharper Cheddar to bring flavor to add to the creaminess that American cheese provides.
Mayonnaise vs Butter on the exterior of the bread: if your butter is not softened, then you should use mayonnaise spread lightly on the outside of the bread. Mayonnaise has a lot of oil in it, which makes it a good option to use to help fry and crisp up the outside of the sandwich. If your butter is softened, you can use that. But they both should cook about the same and have a similar flavor when the sandwich is fully cooked.