SANDWICH HEAVEN
Believe it or not, the best grilled cheese can be made in your air fryer
When you've been doing something for so long and so often, it's easy to fall into a routine, to never ask yourself, “Is there a better way to be doing this?” That's especially true with cooking.
Lest you think I'm about to be too lofty or philosophical, I'll get to it: I have a new favourite way to make grilled cheese. And it's in the air fryer.
When my air fryer came into my life and I started to rethink all the different foods I cook all the time — tofu, roasted vegetables. It was time to try air fryer grilled cheese.
Well, it was a revelation. After about 8 minutes at 360 F in my air fryer, I bit into a grilled cheese sandwich that far surpassed my expectations.
Here are the top reasons the air fryer is now my favourite method for making grilled cheese.
THE BREAD IS UNIFORMLY CRISP AND GOLDEN
In a skillet, I have never achieved the same golden colour edge-to-edge as I have in the air fryer. And the crispness? I'm talking audibly crisp. In fact, my son found it too crisp for his taste (sigh), but the air fryer makes it easy to experiment with time and temperature to achieve your ideal texture.
YOU'LL NEVER HAVE UNMELTED CHEESE
One challenge of making grilled cheese in a skillet is that the exterior can get to the colour you want — or even burn — before the cheese is melted. There are ways around this, including first griddling the interior sides of the bread or covering the pan with a lid. Still, you cannot beat the intense heat of the air fryer for ultimate melt. The appliance handles sliced cheese with ease.
If you prefer to use vegan cheese, I got incredible results in the air fryer, to the point that it was indistinguishable from dairy.
IT'S EASIER TO MAKE MULTIPLE SANDWICHES
Making two sandwiches in one skillet often is not feasible, especially if you toast the bread first. The air fryers I tested this recipe in — an Instant Vortex Plus 6-quart and Cosori 5.8-quart — had plenty of room for two sandwiches. I probably could have squeezed in a third with slightly differently shaped slices of bread.
THE HEAT IS EVEN AND HANDS-OFF
In a skillet, I frequently have to tweak the heat. Not so in the air fryer.
The heat is incredibly steady, so set it at one temperature and you're good to go. And when you can fully assemble the sandwich from the get-go, just put it in the basket, flip once and you're done.