this sounds so wrong; i can't wait to try it!

Wow. Why have I never heard of this before? I feel like I've been living in a comfort food closet!

Mmmmmmmm I want some NOW! with a nice bowl of creamy tomato soup please....

Wow - that's some next-level shiz. Also solves the problem of how to spread chilled butter onto soft bread. Locked and loaded for the next outing...

You probably won't be surprised to learn this is how Paula Deen makes her grilled cheese, too.

This is really good. My best friend in high school always made them with mayo and I've been doing it that way ever since. I wonder if it is a regional thing? She was from Connecticut...

In the south it's Duke's mayonnaise, or none at all. ;> Trying this today for lunch!

This sounds delicious, especially since I used to enjoy eating mayo on toast (sounds gross, but I loved it!). Spreading it on for grilled cheese is a genius idea.

When I was a kid and visiting my aunt and uncle, this is how my aunt prepared them. I wasn't a big fan of mayo at the time and I always had to gag the sandwich down but would certainly enjoy this now!

This is how my mom used to make grilled cheese sandwiches when i was younger.

mayo, unless homemade, freaks me out. however, growing up in philadelphia, i worked in the snack bar of a country club. this was the way i was taught to make grilled cheeses, and it just works. perfectly crispy gold brown results every time.

I tried this last night, and it turned out great. The mayo (of which I'm generally a fan anyway) just added a small extra tang. I'm going to adjust my grilled cheese making FOREVER!

Oh, I do this too. Yum. Crunchy crusty goodness from sizzling protein!

Interesting! I've tried Alton Brown's method with olive oil and didn't think much of it. I'll have to try this!

I've always noticed that restaurant grilled cheese has a texture on the outside that I can't reproduce at home. It's so dangerous that I have this information now.

My friend (who owned a panera-style cafe before panera was a household name) taught me this trick. She uses it on sandwiches made with pesto, white cheddar or other favorite cheese, and bacon. SUBLIME!

What about those of us who have no non-stick skillet? :o]

I've been doing this for years, ever since I found that tip in the often sneered upon Kraft food/recipe/promo magazine. I use way less than showed on the picture above, however.

my brain = exploded

I have done this and I have to say it's not my favorite. I'm not a big mayo fan as it is though, so maybe that's why. I'm still a butter-only kind of gal.

I have had it and it works well. It looks really good. But the taste is off. Butter simply tastes better.

I kind of gagged the first time this was suggested to me. After running out of butter one day, I tried it. It was delicious and I haven't gone back to using butter since.

While I haven't tried this method myself, The Grilled Cheese Truck (which is possibly the most popular food truck in Los Angeles) is known to use this method on their legendary sandwiches, and it's epic.

Mayo also works well to get a good sear and crust on tuna and other "steak-like" fish. I never thought to try for a grilled cheese.

Sounds very yummy - will definitely have to try this!!

Re: Paula Deen's method -- doesn't she also put an entire stick of butter inside the sandwich? ;)

hmm wife's not a mayo fan so none in the house, I wonder how miracle whip would do?

i've always liked putting mayo inside my grilled cheese (with some chopped dill pickle. and ham.) but have never thought of this!

now i will probably switch and put mayo on the outside, and butter on the inside. :)

I've used mayo on the outside of the bread when making patty melts. It worked well and tasted great!

I'm ashamed at how much I adore mayo. This sounds really good and really unhealthy! Yum

This sounds like a great idea. I don't understand the worries about hot mayo--a bazillion dishes in the south feature hot mayo :)

This sounds like a great idea for homemade mayo, too -- I'm always a bit freaked out by the idea of eating raw eggs, but grilling up a sandwich in it would kill any possible nasties. Now, I have a reason to make homemade mayo and enjoy a new spin on grilled cheese. Yum!

Kind of like an egg wash on a pie crust, the egg in the mayo makes it nice and crispy.

My mom made hers that way, too, with Miracle Whip, and no, don't knock it, mayo snobs. It has way more flavor than mayo!

I thought this was a well-known trick. Guess I was wrong!

Barlowgirl, see yesterday's post for "Magic Robot Spatula"
;)

In the immortal words of Liz Lemon, "I want to go to there!"....Saturday lunch, here we come!

Growing up I thought everyone put mayo inside their grilled cheese. I didn't realize it was odd until I went away to university.

I've always done it this way - and it doesn't take much mayo either. The other secret is to grate the cheese.

When I had to gain wieght, this is one of the suggestions to my diet, I never did try it though, instead I indulged with butter on everything.

I'd be kind of appalled/intrigued by this, except that my roommate saves bacon grease and spreads it on her grilled cheese. After seeing that, nothing surprises me anymore!

being preggers at this time, im gonna go all out on this easy food. dont feel like cooking much after working 12 hours a day.

Um, yes please! I don't care that we just had grill cheese for dinner the other night :)

Hm, I usually make mine with butter on the outside and a pesto mayo on this inside... will have to try this! Leaves more usable bread surface on the inside to slather with pesto and apple onion chutney... Yum!

I'm eating one of these as I type, and it's totally delicious. I'll have to restrain myself from making another one immediately!

This is the way my mom always made them and I continue to do the same (unless I have some Plugra or Echire butter on hand)...

This is how I've always made grilled cheese, too. I do wonder if it's regional, because I grew up in NJ. I didn't realize other people made grilled cheese with butter until I went to college. I only use Rye bread (homemade white for hubby), 1 slice of American, 1 slice of provolone, and mayo on the outside. It's even better over the campfire.

Wolfgang Puck on his HSN panini demos was always coating the outside of the bread with mayo.

When I got my Breville Panini maker I did the same--- works like a charm and tastes much less greasy than using butter or oil.

PRE-DINNER MAYONAISE, GOOD FOR YOU!

That's how I remember my grandmother making grilled cheese and I've always thought I was misremembering!! Hers were the best grilled cheese ever so it must be true.

I can't wait to try this on patty melts. It sounds like it produces my favorite toasty texture for that sandwich. I am with Lorena though. Why would grilled homemade mayo be a problem? The ingredient would certainly be cooked to a more then safe level.

I actually tried that when I was a kid (or maybe teenager) and it was not good.

My mom always made grilled cheeses this way. In fact, I thought it was weird when my husband demanded I make them with butter instead! Thank you for showing me that my mom wasn't wrong, and I wasn't weird! Momma is always right!

Another vote for "that's how my Mom did it" ! But she did it with Reubens....mayo on the outside of the bread, and Russian dressing on the inside (not too much, don't want it to slide apart). MUCH easier than trying to spread hard butter over bread. And it gives an extra tang to the sandwich. Love it.

yes!! this is how my mom always made grilled cheese, so good!

I just finished a grilled pepper jack and turkey using low-fat mayo instead of butter. Much easier than needing to melt just enough butter for one sandwich and little grease factor. I didn't get as much flavor or that crust that I expected, but maybe I needed either more mayo or full fat. Definitely recommend trying this!

Does this work as well with light or olive-oil based mayo?

O.M.G. -- Have.got.to.try.this.now.

We've been doing it this way for over 40 years.

Never spread cold butter on bread for grilled cheese. Melt the butter in the pan and drop the bread in.

Mayo's an emulsion of fat and egg, so you're basically doing a short-cut pseudo-French toast. It makes culinary sense, though my dislike of mayo means I probably won't hop on the bandwagon.

I'm out of both cheese and bread but I always have plenty of mayo- duke's is literally my favorite food. I am running out to the store first thing tomorrow to try this out! I can't believe I never thought of it...
Just yesterday I was wondering if I could cook chicken breast in mayo... Now I've got some ideas for experiments!

That's how I do it! I love how it spreads much more easily than cold butter...but I find you do have to turn down the heat or it can burn. Also, I tend to have Veganaise on hand, and it works great, too!

My ex did this... and now I do it... the relationship didn't last but the extra delicious sandwiches did!

I tried this over the weekend, and while it did make for a lovely crunchy exterior, I missed the salty flavour of the butter. It may be because I used light cheese (it's less salty and oily than regular), but I think I am going to stick to butter on the outside and mayo on the inside!

I like pouring olive oil into the pan instead of buttering the bread, but I might try this too!

Now I'm craving grilled cheese in the worst way!

I haven't tried the mayo thing but have grilled open faced and then once of the grill, slathered the inside with guava jelly before closing up.

Also from an ex, that didn't last, but 20 years later I'm still doing his guava jelly trick.

How would it be to mix some parmesan cheese in the mayo and then spread it on the outside?