Okay, I felt silly looking at a recipe for grilled cheese sandwiches, but I am glad I did. I also felt silly on how long it took me to get this right, LOL. I did not know that the sandwich would cook on the bottom first. So, the first time I cooked them, I kept waiting for the top to turn golden brown, so the bottom burnt. The second time I flipped them when the bottom was cooked, and cooked the other side for the same amount of time. So, the bottom burned. The third time was a charm :-) I flipped when the bottom was done and checked the sandwiches after 2-3 additional minutes. Perfect!! The total cooking time is 6-8 minutes. If you cook the total time that the recipe says, you might end up with burned bread as I did. These are great. Can make many many at a time and they are not greasy. So, I am slow at learning, but these are great!! Thanks for the recipe!! I will repeat many times!!!
In my family, we've been making grilled cheese sandwiches in the oven for as long as I can remember. I had never had them any other way until high school. We don't bake them as in this recipe, though -- we put them under the broiler. If you do it this way, however, watch them closely because they cook _fast_.
Some tips:
Where there is butter, the bread will take longer to cook. This means, for best results, put the most butter around the crust and little to none in the middle. Done that way, the crust won't burn before the sandwich is ready.
Also, if using a thick slice of cheese, or a pair of american singles, you might want to melt the cheese with the sandwich open-faced before closing it, buttering and baking/broiling as indicated. I find that the cheese sometimes doesn't get melted completely otherwise.
I have had grilled cheese sandwiches made the "traditional" way many times, though I grew up on them this way. To me, there is no comparison; the oven gives a nice, crispy texture that I have been unable to duplicate any other way.
this is a great idea! And a tip for anyone who is left with soggy-bottom bread: elevate the sandwich OFF of the baking sheet. Slip you sandwich onto a cooling rack,and put the rack on the baking sheet. PRESTO! total-surface ventillation. thanks, michelle :-)
Ya know, I never thought I would stop and actually read a recipe for a grilled cheese sandwich! My curiosity got the best of me and I am sure glad it did!! I've always made grilled cheese in the frying pan...NO MORE! Although I love the gooiness of a grilled cheese sandwich, mine were always too gooey and floppy! This recipe makes a wonderful crunchy outside and a glorious gooey inside! Thank you so much!
I did follow the other tips below and buttered the bread heavier on the edges and hardly at all in the middle. This worked out perfect. I also only set the oven for 400 degrees, put the rack on the bottom position and baked for about 8 min on the first side and only 6 mins after flipping.
Two slices of American cheese was my choice for the sandwiches this time, but looking forward to adding other goodies such as tomato, ham, or even trying a tuna melt....Thanks for this idea!!!!
Curiosity got the better of me and I just had to try this method of "cooking" grilled cheese sandwiches. It's a really great idea if you need a whole bunch at one time. I don't run into that problem because it's just me and my husband but this Actually Does Work. The grilled cheese comes out oohey goohey crispy and delicious! Great idea and great recipe! I'll have to try this with other "grilled" sandwiches.
All I can say is WOW! Who would have thought a sandwich could taste so different using the oven? They were great ~ as mentioned previously, the outside comes out super crispy and the cheese inside is just perfect. I used two slices of cheese and baked both sides at 425 for 6 minutes and they were wonderful!
After reading the reviews and making this several times I've discovered a few things. The time it takes depends on the bread type (e.g. wheat white etc.) the bread slice thickness and the temperature of the cheese when it goes in the oven. White bread takes twice as long as wheat bread (with the same thickness) to brown. Cheese that is still at refrigerator temperature will not melt by the time the bread is browned. I've a feeling that the author used white bread and her cheese was at room temperature. For me it takes 5-6 minutes on each side for white bread and 3-4 minutes on each side for wheat bread. The best way I have found to make sure the cheese melts is to place a buttered slice of bread (buttered side down) on a cookie sheet top with cheese and bake for the first half of the time. Add a second slice of buttered bread on top of the cheese (buttered side up) then flip over and bake the remaining time. It turns out perfect every time for me now. Each oven will be slightly different too. Mine is only about 6 months old.
This is the only way I make grilled cheese. This is how they made it when I was in school. I usually have to make 10 sandwiches at a time and this cuts the time in half! It's really really tasty!! Try it you'll never make them in a pan again!
I love the texture of these sandwiches. They're crispy and flavorful instead of soft and squishy they way ones on the stove are. I doubt I'll be making grilled cheese sandwiches any other way from now on even when making only one. They're great. However I did find that 5 minutes per side was plenty in my oven.
I would've LOVED for these to be just as good as regular grilled cheese sandwiches but unfortunately we were disappointed. Too crispy around the edges (hard even) though the centers had a nice texture - certainly nothing special and we'll definitely be using the old tried and true fry method in the future. Kids (age 2 and 4) ADORE grilled cheese sandwiches - hated these.
