Jamie Oliver is always full of surprises, but this one really takes the cake. Or the cheese, as it were. How do you make a crispy, warm, and bubbly cheese sandwich with nothing but a two-slot toaster? Jamie shows us how.
This tip actually comes from an early episode of Jamie's Kitchen, the British documentary where Jamie trains a group of unemployed, under-educated youths to run one of his restaurants. In the episode, Jamie is making a meal for his family before heading off to train his young chefs.
He casually flips his two-slot toaster on its side and slides a piece of bread with sliced cheese into the bottom slot while the top slot toasts another plain slice. Three minutes later, he has a grilled cheese sandwich with far less fuss than I've ever made one.
My eyes just about bugged out of my head as I watched this. I couldn't decide if it was brilliant or completely crazy. I ran to the kitchen and tried it immediately.
Here's the thing: this doesn't work in every toaster. Many toasters now have a wire cage that folds inward to brace the bread as soon as you begin toasting. Sadly, this cage will become completely coated with melting cheese if you try Jamie's method, creating a mess that is nearly impossible to clean.
You also have to be careful to position the slices of cheese away from the edges of the toast so that melting cheese doesn't drip onto the hot coils. Another impossible-to-clean mess.
So yes, take this particular tip with a dose of caution. Still, it's possible! Take a look at the toaster in your office or dorm suite - this might be just the ticket for a warm lunch.
Have you ever tried this?
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I might be mistaken, but can't you also make a little pouch out of parchment paper and toast it that way? If you have skinny bread, or a toaster that will fit a bagel, you might be able to get both slices in there.
must try! but I think my toaster wouldn't work - I may or may not have tried this with peanut butter. I'm crazy.
This wouldn't work in my toater, but I have used the method posted above by kristanapp.
One way that also works is if you use one slice of bread and a sharp knife. Cut most of the way down to the bottom of the slice of bread, but leave a little bit attached (so you are making one slice into two thin thin slices) and then slip your cheese into that bread pocket. As long as you leave a little space on the edges and put the closed part of the slice down, you shouldn't have a problem!
Seems like I saw directions somewhere for doing this with an iron. Steam or not?... don't know, never tried it. Probably don't use spray starch. Think it's a dorm room cooking trick. Try it - unless your bread is permanent press.
Use a toaster oven. That's how I make my "grilled" cheese sammies.
Probably this works with some toasters, but it's the best visual argument I've seen yet for just getting a toaster oven in the first place.
In college I would frequently toast two pieces of bread and then put a slice of cheese and a bit of ham in between them and zap it in the microwave for 30 seconds to get everything warm and melty.
This is not much more sophisticated than what I did in my dorm.
You can also buy reusable toaster bags. They were even reviewed on this site a year or so ago
http://www.thekitchn.com/thekitchn/brown-bag-meals/the-toastabag-grilled-cheese-in-the-office-toaster-product-review-125663
Genius! I usually just started a fire. @kristinapp's idea is totally usable too.
I love cheese toast. I used to eat it for breakfast every day. mmmmm.
I've used a foil pouch. satisfactory results in a pinch.
I love my toaster oven. I can make so many cheese toasts in it without ever burning the house down.
This is why I have always owned a toaster oven ;)
We have a toaster oven in the office. I don't have either at home, not enough counter space. I just stick it under the broiler.
My mind= blown.
I use pita- not the same bread effect but still mighty tasty- can also do with ham and cheese-
being a college student in an apartment with a two-slot toaster (it was free), i have learned to live without the toaster oven grilled cheeses i make at home. however, this article has changed everything.
i may have three research papers to write, but now i can do it with grilled cheese.
cheesy trick! ;-)
My family called it cheese-in-the-oven, one of my fav breakfasts/snacks growing up!
I like Jamie Oliver and all but I mean...just get a toaster oven! It toasts bread too!
Oh Jamie....*swoon*
It works much better in a regular toaster oven or under the broiler--we used to make cheese toast all the time for breakfast. I guess if a slot toaster is all you have, though, it's worth trying.
Two words: toaster oven
cool idea! my toaster has the wire cage that folds in to hold the slice of bread, but it's wide enough to hold two slices of bread with cheese in between in one toaster slot. will have to try it.
Not to be Capt. Buzzkill but this looks like a toaster fire waiting to happen.
I recently discovered that my waffle iron makes the most hilarious grilled cheeses ever.
It is also a bad idea if you have a toaster where the outside gets hot when you use it. I have one like that, but I can't complain because it was free, and I like toast.
This is *exactly* why I'll only have a toaster oven, never a top-slot toaster. Open-faced toasted cheese.
I tried it. One tip: Make sure your toaster is cleaned out, or the crumbs from the bottom tray will fall on the element and catch on fire.
maginary_girl- your moniker reminds me of a brendan benson song. I am going to make waffle iron grilled cheese sandwiches now. It sounds amazingly awesome!
My sister used to do this all the time, but it wasn't very good for the toaster. She had to replace them quite regularly...
My toaster oven does this quite nicely, I broil my cheesy bread and add a few slices of ham to heat them when it's almost done... Voila, warm ham and cheese sammich for lunch!
"Many toasters now have a wire cage that folds inward to brace the bread as soon as you begin toasting."
Yep, that´s my toaster too. But nothing an electric mini oven cannot do!
That is why I prefer and "Thumbs up" to a toaster oven like Brevile BOV650XL.
PS: One of the most thought provoking video by Jamie Oliver's TED award speech.
This may be a tasty toasted cheese sandwich but it is certainly not a grilled cheese sandwich. Grilled cheese sandwichs have the cheese on both not cooked sides of the bread and generally they are grilled with butter. Major differences here.
I've done this for garlic toast while at work. We don't have a regular toaster oven (not sure why) so I turned the toaster on the side and made some impromptu garlic toast. People stared at me like I was a freak... until they smelled the garlic and saw my home-made lasagna... :-D
BAD IDEA. Did this and the toaster caught fire. I think there's a reason the manufacturer's dont talk about this type of usage.
Phoxx, remember Benny and Joon?
"a group of unemployed, under-educated youths" ?! how about "disadvantaged" or "underserved" instead please? What year are we in?
Toaster ovens are indeed great for making toasties or grilled cheese sandwiches. I think the point of this article is however when you ONLY Have a toaster to work with.
A British company called Lakeland sells little toaster bags made for just this purpose. Regular parchments bags ignite at about 450, if your parchment bag touches the element at all, it will be up in flames.
This has been all over the internet for a while now. Especially pinterest. I doubt Jamie Oliver thought it up.
Also, fire.
While an effective novelty idea, just remember: Toasters are designed to pop up the toast when they're done. If you walk away while it's toasting, you're probably gonna end up with cheesy toast on your kitchen floor.
...this was posted on 04.13.11 at 6:00PM, is there a reason AT is recycling year-old content (that wasn't very good in the first place)?