Make The Gooiest Grilled Cheese Ever With This Clever Last-Minute Move - Tasting Table

A grilled cheese can be made with a hybrid method that reduces guesswork and prevents blackened bread. Pan-frying browns the bread and begins melting the cheese, then oven heat melts the filling more evenly from all sides. This approach creates a hot, gooey sandwich with a cheese pull from center to edge while lowering the risk of burning near the end of cooking. Preheat the oven to 350–375°F, pan-fry until lightly browned and cheese starts to melt, then transfer to a baking pan or place an oven-safe skillet in the oven. Bake until the sandwich looks super oozy and crisp, typically requiring no more than four minutes.

"To put an end to fussy guesswork and blackened bread, all you need to do is finish your sandwich in the oven. At first glance, it seems like a hot skillet would melt cheese more effectively, but the oven cooks food much more evenly by hitting it with heat from all sides, not just underneath, as a pan does. This is the key to a grilled cheese that's hot and gooey from center to edge, with a glorious cheese pull."

"The less direct heat of an oven also saves the bread from burning towards the end of cooking. This trick doesn't make your recipe much more time-consuming, either. Your sandwich should require no more than four minutes of baking before it's finished. To try this hybrid cooking method, preheat your oven to between 350 to 375 degrees Fahrenheit - higher temperatures may burn the sandwich."

"Pan-fry your grilled cheese until both sides are lightly browned and the cheese has begun to melt. Transfer it to a baking pan, or just stick your skillet in the oven if it's oven-safe. Once the sandwich looks super oozy and nicely crisped, take it out and enjoy. This is one grilled cheese hack you'll wish you knew sooner."

"You may now be wondering if it's more efficient to just bake your grilled cheese in the oven from start to finish. While baked grilled cheese is an easy method, it's most useful when making sandwiches for a crowd, and may not create the traditional texture and flavor you're used to. When comparing bread baked in an oven or toaster versus bread pan-fried in fat like butter, the latter winds up more flavorful and rich, while the former may be drier and crunchier."

Read at Tasting Table