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"Q&A: What Makes A Perfect Grilled Cheese Sandwich?"

norm9

Member
http://www.latimes.com/food/dailydish/la-dd-grilled-cheese-truck-dave-danhi-20170510-htmlstory.html

You might say it began as a cheesy dream, or at least a cheese-filled one. Dave Danhi, a former chef at fine dining restaurants including the Water Grill, entered a grilled cheese invitational back in 2009, and the sheer size of the crowd stunned him. His entry, a grilled cheese sandwich stuffed with macaroni and cheese, pulled barbecue pork, caramelized onions and sharp cheddar, didn’t take the prize. But it did spark an idea.

“I thought, ‘Maybe the world needs a grilled cheese food truck,’” Danhi recalls. With that, the Grilled Cheese Truck was born.

What makes the perfect grilled cheese sandwich?

You have three main components. Well, actually four. You have bread, butter and cheese. And, to me — this may sound so wrong when I say it, but I truly believe it — there’s got to be a lot of love put in the sandwich. This is one of those creations that really takes on the attitude it’s made with.

So, starting out, you want a good quality bread with a good stiff bread — nothing over-processed or gooey. The cheese needs to be a good quality cheese, and that can be anything from a sharp cheddar to mascarpone. And for the butter — this is a signature of ours — I do a mixture of butter and mayonnaise.

The mayonnaise raises the smoking temperature, so you can cook it better, so if you’ve got a lot of stuff inside, it can all get nice and hot, and it makes it a little crisper. And you want butter because of the butter flavor. That to me is the trick. Then just cook it nice and slow.

Absolutely disagree with everytthing in the above quote. Kraft Singles is the go to. Grilled Cheese sandwiches should always start with individullay wrapped processed american cheese. Not even gonna talk about the mayonnaise nonsense.

Where do you find your grilled cheese inspiration?

Sometimes when we’re driving, I’ll just turn off the radio and think, ‘What has cheese in it that I can turn into a sandwich?’

I’ve done that with things like our fried chicken and waffle melt. I’ve come up with a French onion soup melt. It can be an iconic type of dish that will get me going, or sometimes the inspiration of a single ingredient, such as a great pork loin or even something as simple as a banana.

A few examples of "grilled cheese sandwiches" from his truck.

grilled-cheese-truck-los-angeles-food-trucks-02.jpg


8780661.0.jpg


Sorry folks, a grilled cheese sandwich is easy to define. It's bread, butter, and american cheese. That's it. Any other answer is straight up wrong.

americas-favorite-grilled-52507-580x250.jpg


Stuff me in a melt if old.
 

sensui-tomo

Member
anyone got that terrible euro grilled cheese with 2 pieces of toasts and a cheese slabbed in the middle, picture from the other thread. I feel like we need to shame it some more.
img_5844_156999231.jpg


Anyone else here like to have grilled cheese with Tomato soup?
 
OP, I was gonna be fan of this thread till you dropped that American cheese nonsense.

If someone passed me a grilled cheese with processed cheese I'd stop being their friend.
 

Lord Fagan

Junior Member
Mayonnaise, huh? I dunno, condensed milk in mashed potatoes worked out better than I expected, I guess I shouldn't knock it before trying it.

Grilled sandwiches are infinitely superior to non-grilled sandwiches.
 
it isn't perfect unless its fast casual served in butcher paper on a wood plank, possibly on a miniature skillet because rustic urban visceral and the name of the place is called GRLD
 

notworksafe

Member
the mayo thing sounds awful but is actually super good. i don't often make grilled cheese anymore but when i do, a (very) thin layer of mayo on the grilled side is so much better than butter.
 

Dufoos

Banned
anyone got that terrible euro grilled cheese with 2 pieces of toasts and a cheese slabbed in the middle, picture from the other thread. I feel like we need to shame it some more.
img_5844_156999231.jpg


Anyone else here like to have grilled cheese with Tomato soup?

Isn't that Kaserbrot?
 

riotous

Banned
No thanks on the American Cheese; I see foodie stuff on Food Network claiming it's best for burgers... again, no thanks.

Not a huge grilled cheese fan but I'd combine something like a sharp cheddar with a provolone myself.
 

Hazmat

Member
I can't stand grilled cheese with American. The cheese is 100% the star of the meal, and there's nothing to cover up the processed taste of the cheese. I didn't grow up eating them though, I think that's what makes people like them that way.

Sharp cheddar, some good bread that you can get a real crunch on, and just enough butter. Delicious.
 
Not even gonna talk about the mayonnaise nonsense.
Thats a really dumb thing to say. Its a fucking sandwich. You just posted about a guy who puts mac and cheese and pulled pork in his grilled cheese sandwich.
 

ElRenoRaven

Member
IF it has anything but cheese in it then it isn't a grilled cheese sandwich. At that point it becomes a regular sandwich. He deserved to lose.
 

zulux21

Member
Sorry folks, a grilled cheese sandwich is easy to define. It's bread, butter, and american cheese. That's it. Any other answer is straight up wrong.
.

replace the american cheese with Munster

once you do, you won't want to go back.

I used to love plain old grilled cheese with american cheese, but my local store had munster on sale one day so I tried it, and now it is the only thing I will use on grilled cheese.

on topic a bit more.
IF it has anything but cheese in it then it isn't a grilled cheese sandwich. At that point it becomes a regular sandwich. He deserved to lose.

this is mostly true. but I would allow a strip or two of bacon in there. but you then have to call it a grilled bacon and cheese sandwich.
 
Only using american cheese is doing a disservice to your grilled cheese's OP.

Throw in some cheddar, muenster and/or provolone in there some time.
 

norm9

Member
I can't stand grilled cheese with American. The cheese is 100% the star of the meal, and there's nothing to cover up the processed taste of the cheese. I didn't grow up eating them though, I think that's what makes people like them that way.

Sharp cheddar, some good bread that you can get a real crunch on, and just enough butter. Delicious.

The star is the combination of the bread, butter, and cheese. It's a team effort.

I will concede that commercials of kraft singles and campbell's tomato soup perhaps have influenced me in only using those products and to think of them as the default ingredients to use.

Kenji has already given the last word on this. Get lost.

Get some freshly sliced American cheese from a deli or cheese shop. It's wonderful.

That's a webpage on melts, bro.
 
it isn't perfect unless its fast casual served in butcher paper on a wood plank, possibly on a miniature skillet because rustic urban visceral and the name of the place is called GRLD

but where would the fries go? if i cant pick them out of a mini frying basket, what's the point?
 
And for crying out loud, stop balking at the mayo thing. I do it all the time you can barely notice a difference and the flavour is awesome. I had a monterrey jack and jalapeno cheddar grilled cheese with tomato and bacon the other day and it was delicious.

American cheddar, for crying out loud. First Trump and now this, you Yankee's are spiraling out of control down there.
 

ElRenoRaven

Member
replace the american cheese with Munster


once you do, you won't want to go back.

I used to love plain old grilled cheese with american cheese, but my local store had munster on sale one day so I tried it, and now it is the only thing I will use on grilled cheese.

Oh yes. Munster makes some great grilled cheese. Absolutely love them.
 
👏 ANYTHING 👏 BUT 👏 CHEESE 👏 BREAD 👏 AND 👏 BUTTER 👏 IS👏 NOT 👏 A 👏 GRILLED 👏 CHEESE 👏
 
I recently discovered bacon jam. You can get it from Traders Joe. Adding bacon jam takes any plain grilled cheese to the next level. Bacon jam has a slight sweetness to it, but it's also smoky and has little pieces of bacon to give that texture to each bite.
 
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