On Cooking and Grilled Cheeses

This came about when a group of my friends and I were talking about grilled cheese sandwiches and what we do when we're makin 'em at night

The conversation quickly turned into something much more than a discussion of bread, butter, and cheese. I realized that this starts to get into a broader theory of all cooking really quickly. I haven't fully thought through every aspect of this but my working theory right now is:

In other "words":

$(Number~of~Ingredients)=100/Inpact~of~Each~Ingredient$

As and example, if you think about something like a cup of coffee versus a pot of chili, yes, the ingredients and technique matter in both instances. However its a matter of scale. In a cup of coffee; If you have bad beans, bad water, or if you don't know what you're doing, it goes downhill quickly. But a pot of chili is like…almost designed to be hard to mess up. I often use leftovers and things not at their prime in chili because its so forgiving and there are like 30 ingredients so any one is of nearly trivial value.

Which brings us to the crust of the matter

I think grilled cheese is somewhere in the middle. Yes, you can absolutely make a great grilled cheese sandwich with 89c Wonder Bread, a shmear of margarine, and a nickel's worth of processed cheese product but it's so easy to burn or to otherwise mess up, the technique really matters a lot. However, if you go in there with some hearty fresh sourdough and some fancy cheeses, it's actually easier to pull off well because they don't cook as quickly. It's a really interesting midpoint.

It's also interesting/tricky because the difference between those breads and cheeses is so vast that if you did the exact same times and temperatures for both "recipes", you'd come up with two different products.

OK, enough theory, enough rambling, its time for me to be getting to how I make my grilled cheese, but I want to lead with a qualifying statement. None of what I'm about to say is in any way meant to be definitive or prescriptive, and I certainly don't think that this is the only way. It might not even be the best way.

This is my way

Generally, I prefer butter, but I've also been known to use my jar of bacon drippings. I keep my butter on the counter so it's always room temp and spreadable. Additionally, I buy bougie butter. Kerrygold or the Kirkland knockoff which is also delicious.

I use my lodge 10 and 1/2 in flat Skillet (the one with no sides). I use this for a couple of reasons. The first is it's very heavy. It's incredibly well seasoned. It allows great access, but perhaps more so than any of that. It sits almost perfectly flat on my glass top stove so there are minimal hot spots and it doesn't move around.

Generally speaking, I use sourdough or a loaf that is marked as "Italian bread" in the Publix bakery. For reasons completely unknown to me, sourdough takes a little bit longer to toast. So in order to achieve the nice golden brown we all long for it requires a little more time on the fire. However, although sour dough is what I have most often, my actual favorite is pumpernickel.

When it comes to cheese I prefer Colby cheese although pepper jack is also nice. I'm not above using American or something else, but if I'm going to the store with the intention making grilled cheese, I'm getting Colby from the deli. The important thing is to have a cheese that melts well. Also, I tear up the slices and distribute them across the piece of bread so that every part of the sandwich is as close to two slices of cheese thick as I can reasonably make it. I do this mostly because the bread and the cheese are not always the same size. I also try really hard not to have the cheese hang outside of the bread

I used to be a fan of putting a little whole grain mustard on the inside of one slice but I don't do that a whole lot anymore.

Alright

• Pan on Medium Heat
• Get Out Other Ingredients
• Butter Both Slices, Set Aside
• Portion Cheese, No Thicker Than Two Slices at Any Point
• Place First Slice in Pan (if It Sizzles Really Hard, Cut the Heat 20% and Move the Pan off the Fire)
• Put Cheese on First Slice
• Top With Second Slice
• Wait
• Listen, Smell and Watch for Bread To Begin To Toast
• Flip When Golden Brown
• Repeat Previous Two Until Desired Level of Crispiness and Golden Brownness
• Remove to Cooling Rack
• Wait at Least a Minute
• Cut DIAGONALLY

It should never sizzle really really hard. If it does, remove pan from heat, you can even pull the sandwich out and set it aside on a cooling rack for a minute.

Honestly I could keep going but at this point I'm pretty sure you guys are tired of reading this dissertation. Go forth and grill some cheese and be merry.

~ Corey