Cheese on toast vs 'grilled' cheese vs cheese toastie

[Fez909]

I used to absolutely love cheese on toast, and cheese toasties were an ocassional treat (because they're a bit more effort and require special equipment), but lately I've been mostly eating American-style grilled cheese.

And I think it's the superior cheese and toast combo.

On its own, it's fine, but you can easily pimp it up to turn it into something more like a meal, than a snack. I mostly use butter on the outside, but have tried the proper American way of using mayo and it's actually pretty good. Doesn't taste as nice, but has a better texture than buttered: Lighter and crispier. And it's easier to prep (except for the 4 hot days we get each year, when butter becomes easy to spread).

So, to define the terms, here's what I think cheese on toast is. Cheese, melted under a grill, on toast. Simple.



And this is 'grilled' cheese: a cheese sandwich, buttered/mayo'd on the outside, then toasted in a hot pan with no oil except the stuff you spread on the outside.



And this is a cheese toastie. It's similar to an American grilled cheese, except it's made in a machine which compresses the sandwich. It has a different feel. The bread is denser, and feels like more of a crispy bread shell, filled with molten cheese.



Which is best?

 

[Silas Loom]

Poll needs toasted cheese option.

 

[spitfire]

I eat cheese on toast mostly but the American way is superior. You can kind of cheat one with a George Foreman grill but it's not quite there.

Kudos for your correct classification of the 3 sorts of cheese/toast combos. Ignore the naysayers who will surely be along in a minute.

 

[Throbbing Angel]

Poll needs toasted cheese option.

Which is?

 

[philosophical]

A note to say in my opinion traditional cheese on toast requires the underside of the bread to have been toasted properly.

 

[Silas Loom]

Which is?

What the OP wrongly calls cheese on toast. Using pre-toasted bread, as per philosophical

Also, there should be an option for adding a teaspoonful of mash on top of the cheese, which would transform this humble dish into a cottage pie.

 

[Throbbing Angel]

What the OP wrongly calls cheese on toast. Using pre-toasted bread, as per philosophical

Also, there should be an option for adding a teaspoonful of mash on top of the cheese, which would transform this humble dish into a cottage pie.

Oh no, that's all bollocks.
Get out.

 

[Fez909]

Also, there should be an option for adding a teaspoonful of mash on top of the cheese, which would transform this humble dish into a cottage pie.

Feel free to make a thread where you butcher cheese on toast.

This is not that thread.

 

[littlebabyjesus]

Toastie is best.

However you do it, add spring onions and Worcestershire sauce. Worcestershire sauce needs adding before you melt the cheese, not at the end. Onions to go under the cheese.

 

[Fez909]

A note to say in my opinion traditional cheese on toast requires the underside of the bread to have been toasted properly.

I agree, but this is hard to get right.

If you under-cheese your toast, you can end up burning the corners/edges where the already toasted bread is exposed to more toasting. Like this:



Easy fix is to make sure you have an obscene amount of cheese on the toast, so that it drips down the outside and covers all visible bread surfaces. This makes it less pretty, and messier to eat, but more cheese = better.

 

[Saunders]

What the OP wrongly calls cheese on toast. Using pre-toasted bread, as per philosophical

Also, there should be an option for adding a teaspoonful of mash on top of the cheese, which would transform this humble dish into a cottage

What?

 

[DotCommunist]

what about toast with cold cheese on it, this is my preferred method.

 

[philosophical]

I agree, but this is hard to get right.

If you under-cheese your toast, you can end up burning the corners/edges where the already toasted bread is exposed to more toasting. Like this:

View attachment 402088

Easy fix is to make sure you have an obscene amount of cheese on the toast, so that it drips down the outside and covers all visible bread surfaces. This makes it less pretty, and messier to eat, but more cheese = better.

The burnt edge issue is a debate worth having all on its own.
Goodness knows why Sir Tim Berners Lee created the internet when he could’ve applied his considerable intellect to the burnt edge issue.

 

[danny la rouge]

I used to absolutely love cheese on toast, and cheese toasties were an ocassional treat (because they're a bit more effort and require special equipment), but lately I've been mostly eating American-style grilled cheese.

And I think it's the superior cheese and toast combo.

On its own, it's fine, but you can easily pimp it up to turn it into something more like a meal, than a snack. I mostly use butter on the outside, but have tried the proper American way of using mayo and it's actually pretty good. Doesn't taste as nice, but has a better texture than buttered: Lighter and crispier. And it's easier to prep (except for the 4 hot days we get each year, when butter becomes easy to spread).

So, to define the terms, here's what I think cheese on toast is. Cheese, melted under a grill, on toast. Simple.

View attachment 402085

And this is 'grilled' cheese: a cheese sandwich, buttered/mayo'd on the outside, then toasted in a hot pan with no oil except the stuff you spread on the outside.

View attachment 402086

And this is a cheese toastie. It's similar to an American grilled cheese, except it's made in a machine which compresses the sandwich. It has a different feel. The bread is denser, and feels like more of a crispy bread shell, filled with molten cheese.

View attachment 402087

Which is best?

I have a toastie machine with different irons you can replace. The “panini” one which brands the sandwich with stripes rather than compresses and crimps the edges is the one I use. I call it a cheese toastie. It’s what you generally get in cafes if you ask for one, too.

 

[Silas Loom]

Feel free to make a thread where you butcher cheese on toast.

This is not that thread.

It was cross-thread lamb rather than a serious suggestion.

I’m serious about the need for Worcestershire sauce, though.

 

[danny la rouge]

cross-thread lamb

 

[souljacker]

The one done in the sandwich toaster should have tonnes of butter on the outside (just like a grilled cheese) otherwise they turn out as suggested.

As for mayo on the outside of a grilled cheese, I have no words. Sounds disgusting (and I love mayo).

 

[rubbershoes]

what about toast with cold cheese on it, this is my preferred method.

Please follow the green lights to the place of execution.

The sentence is final. There is no right of appeal.

 

[ruffneck23]

I recently discovered putting your cheese on toast in the air fry, it comes out lovely.

 

[Silas Loom]

what about toast with cold cheese on it, this is my preferred method.

That is cheese on toast, which is why we call the warm cheese option “toasted cheese”.

 

[moochedit]

That is cheese on toast, which is why we call the warm cheese option “toasted cheese”.

No "we" don't!

 

[Puddy_Tat]

i'm open to cheese on toast or cheese toastie / toated cheese sandwich.

cheese on toast meaning cook the toast, bung cheese on top, put it back under the grill.

very hmm at the idea of having cold cheese on toast, or adding cheese to un-toasted bread.

either can include sliced tomato, or onion, or spring onion, cheese on toast can have separately constructed poached egg bunged on top when it's done.

although if you've got a grill, i don't see why a toastie / toasted sandwich needs specialist equipment - and it doesn't flatten the bread that way.

my cooker's grill doesn't work any more (i've tried changing the element and that didn't work, and don't really want to replace the whole thing as i'm thinking about moving house) so i have invested in a sandwich toasting thing, but not one of the ones that can only take standard sized square slices. and i can't do anything under a grill.

i'm struggling to cope with the concept of anything 'grilled' that involves doing it in a frying pan not under a grill, but it sounds interesting.

 

[Brayfart]

I agree, but this is hard to get right.

If you under-cheese your toast, you can end up burning the corners/edges where the already toasted bread is exposed to more toasting. Like this:

View attachment 402088

Easy fix is to make sure you have an obscene amount of cheese on the toast, so that it drips down the outside and covers all visible bread surfaces. This makes it less pretty, and messier to eat, but more cheese = better.

Plus, when you wash the grill a few days later there's loads of crispy cheese treats in it.

 

[moochedit]

Cheese on toast for me. Never tried the "grilled cheese" usa thingy but they do look good on "man vs food".

 

[danny la rouge]

Anyway. The one done under the grill is “roasted cheese”.

 

[danny la rouge]

 

[moochedit]

Anyway. The one done under the grill is “roasted cheese”.

Now you are just being silly

 

[Fez909]

what about toast with cold cheese on it, this is my preferred method.

This is what I'm eating right now. Toast, buttered, with brie and ham from the fridge.

 

[danny la rouge]

Now you are just being silly

No. It’s what we always called it, and what everyone where I grew up called it.

 

[philosophical]

Doesn’t a toasted cheese sandwich mean too much bread in relation to the cheese?