Cheese toasties are the ultimate comfort food, whether you prepare them for a swift lunch or to accompany tomato soup, but it appears there's a remarkably simple method to enhance their flavour. Most individuals add butter to create a traditional toastie as it tastes delicious, but it can actually cause bread to burn more readily, leaving your toastie charred and somewhat bitter.
Butter comprises milk solids, and when heated, the proteins tend to brown exceptionally quickly, meaning the exterior of a toastie is finished before the cheese within has melted adequately. If you wish to elevate a toastie even further, Jeanine Donofrio and Phoebe Moore, the culinary experts behind Love and Lemons, suggest you should utilise mayonnaise instead. They stated: "The mayo helps the bread brown insanely well in the skillet, creating a mouthwatering crunch when you bite into the sandwich. It also gives the sandwich a richer flavour."
One of the primary ingredients in mayonnaise is oil, which assists the bread in cooking more uniformly and produces a crispier and more golden crust.
Mayonnaise is also more tolerant at higher temperatures than butter, making it less prone to scorching and enabling the toastie to brown more consistently.
If you apply it on the exterior of the bread rather than the interior, it won't taste like mayonnaise and instead will have a rich flavour with a considerably more satisfying texture.
Mayonnaise is also simply more convenient to use as you needn't wait for it to soften, and it spreads smoothly without tearing the bread like cold butter occasionally does.
It may sound a little strange if you have never tried it yourself, but swapping butter for mayonnaise is the ultimate way to toast bread and make your toastie even more mouth-watering with minimal effort.
How to make the ultimate cheese toastie
You will need:
Using two different types of cheese is often the better option, as it adds greater depth of flavour to your toastie, and you can select whichever varieties take your fancy.
Cheddar is a timeless choice as it melts beautifully and boasts a sharp, slightly salty taste that complements bread perfectly.
Gruyère, raclette, or other Alpine-style Swiss cheeses also work wonderfully alongside cheddar, as they are mildly sweet and buttery, lending the toastie a wonderfully creamy taste.
Any bread will do, but sourdough is frequently the top choice as its thick crust can support a generous amount of melted cheese without collapsing or turning soggy.
Method:
Begin by spreading mayonnaise on the outer side of each slice of bread, then add a thin layer of Dijon mustard to the inner side as well.
Grate the cheese and distribute it evenly over the bread before putting the sandwich together, as pre-shredded cheese frequently contains preservatives that may hinder it from melting correctly.
If you own a toastie maker, place the sandwich inside and switch it on, waiting until the cheese is bubbling and the toastie is golden and ready.
Should you not have a toastie maker, heat a frying pan over a medium-low heat and add a small amount of butter or oil.
Put the toastie into the pan and cover with a lid to capture steam, aiding the cheese in melting rapidly. Cook for approximately two minutes on each side, or until the bread is a golden brown colour and the cheese has completely melted.
