I made a classic grilled cheese using 3 different appliances, and I’m never using an air fryer again
I made grilled-cheese sandwiches using three different kitchen appliances.Paige Bennett
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I used a stove, an oven, and an air fryer to make grilled cheese to find the best method.
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The air fryer left me disappointed with a burnt, chewy, and unappealing grilled-cheese sandwich.
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Although the oven made a good grilled cheese, the stove remains superior.
I’ve made many, many grilled-cheese sandwiches in my day, and I always reach for my favorite griddle pan. No matter what type of bread or cheese I decide to use, I’ve stuck to the classic stove-top method.
But with so many kitchen gadgets out there these days, I couldn’t help but wonder: Is there a better way to make grilled cheese?
I decided to test three staple kitchen appliances — the stove, an oven, and an air fryer — by making classic grilled cheeses using white bread, spreadable butter, and American-cheese slices.
Here’s how they stacked up.
First I assembled the ingredients for three identical grilled-cheese sandwiches.
I made three identical sandwiches to ensure fairness.Paige Bennett
Before I started testing the stove, oven, and air fryer, I decided to assemble my ingredients to make the sandwiches as identical as possible.
For each sandwich, I used two pieces of plain white bread with about 1/4 tablespoon of spreadable butter on one side of each slice. Each sandwich then received two slices of generic American cheese.
I started with the method I know best: the stove.
I placed my sandwich on a pan over medium heat.Paige Bennett
I was using someone else’s stove, which was an induction cooktop, and it took a bit longer to heat than my gas stove at home.
I usually set my own stove to medium heat, and the bread starts browning within a few minutes. The induction cooktop took a little longer, about six or seven minutes to heat up and brown one side of the bread.
At this point, I flipped the sandwich and turned the heat up to medium-high.
The grilled cheese on the stove started to brown quickly.Paige Bennett
It took only a few…
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