And today in "how not to make a grilled cheese," we have this: Suzanne Dale of Manchester, England, burned her toaster trying to make grilled cheese after seeing a "hack" on social media suggesting she do so. The hack recommends turning your toaster on its side, putting thin slices of cheese on a piece of bread, sticking the bread into the toaster sideways, and turning the toaster on. When Dale tried this, however, the toaster caught fire (and the grilled cheese burned to a crisp, but given the whole flaming toaster thing, I'm assuming you already knew that). According to the Manchester Evening News, Dale threw the toaster out her window into the garden to avoid setting the entire house on fire; it ultimately took 20 minutes to put out the blaze. Usually, I would say that anything is worth a grilled cheese, but I'm now reconsidering to exclude "toaster catching fire" or "almost burning my house down."
There are a few lessons we can learn from this incident: One, never use a household appliance in any way other than its intended purpose; two, always vet your "life hacks" carefully, because the Internet can't always be trusted; and three, there are a lot of safe ways to make a grilled cheese sandwich that don't involve putting your toaster on its side, so you may as well go with one of those instead (many of which involve different kinds of cheeses, deep fried goodness, and even macaroni. Yum!). If you're looking for alternative grilled cheese cooking methods, check out this list of four ways to to make your sandwich — none of which involve a toaster.
1. Break Out the Panini Press
If you happen to have a panini press lying around, you can find a grilled cheese panini recipe to toast your bread and melt your cheese. What's better than the marriage of grilled cheeses and paninis? If your answer is "nothing," you'd be correct.
2. Try Waffling It
Waffle irons are good for so much more than just waffles, as shown by this waffle iron grilled cheese recipe that teaches us how to make gooey, crispy, buttery grilled cheeses using a standard breakfast appliance. Will it waffle? Yes, it will.
3. Use a Good Ol' Oven
If you don't have a fancy panini press or waffle maker, throw your grilled cheese in the oven for 10 to 12 minutes on 400 degrees to get a classic grilled cheese. It takes a little more time than the microwave, but the wait is definitely worth the gooey crunch.
4. Turn On Your Broiler
Slate swears by using a broiler for the best grilled cheese. They also say to make the grilled cheese open faced... sacrilegious, but tempting.
