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Most grilled cheese recipes call for the outward faces of bread to be buttered, while the inside faces have the cheese inserted.

However, this tends to cause your hands to become very oily when eating them. What's the motivation behind buttering the outside, as opposed to the inside with the cheese?

Peter Mortensen
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thesilican
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    As an alternative, I've got things called "toasta bags" that are non-stick pouches. You use them in a pop-up toaster (one with fairly wide slots) and don't need to butter the outside – Chris H Jan 03 '23 at 16:34
  • ...and now I want a cheese toastie.... – Criggie Jan 03 '23 at 20:48
  • it's not.. you can use oil as well, don't worry about it.. but butter tastes better. The reason of course why it is buttered is obvious.. not everyone has brand new non-stick pans, and, even if they did it would still taste better buttered. And of course as people point out, the texture/taste is different. You could always try to make them in a sandwich maker without butter or oil, but those are an entirely different species of cheese sandwich I'd argue. – ycomp Jan 03 '23 at 21:30
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    Buttering the actual bread is too much for me to handle, at least - too greasy. I just throw some butter in the pan and a little more when flipping. – RIanGillis Jan 03 '23 at 23:06
  • I butter both sides and fry/toast/etc. both sides - even better taste/texture! – Joe M Jan 04 '23 at 00:38
  • I do this: Butter the slices of bread as normal, put them together with butter inside. Get your fillings (usually cheese) place them on top of the 2 slices. Pick up the top slice with all the fillings balanced on top and place it into the toastie maker. Pick up the bottom slice and place it on top (butter will be facing up). No mess at all. The butter acts as oil to prevent sticking, gives the outside shell a crispier texture, and adds a bit of flavour, but it is not essential. – Martin Jan 04 '23 at 13:43

1 Answers1

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The part that is buttered is the part that comes into contact with the cooking surface (a pan or a toastie maker). By adding fat the surface of the bread is fried rather than merely toasted, giving a different flavour and texture.

dbmag9
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    And the butter makes the toast maker surface more "non-sticky" so that the bread doesn't stick it to it when cooking, and we get perfect sandwcihes instead of broken ones. – sfxedit Jan 02 '23 at 16:58
  • In some countries, we do not use butter that much. I guess the same effect is for olive oil? I always do it that way and the flavour is very nice, although I woulnd't say "fry". That would take a lot of the fat/oil, right? Just grilled (?). – M.K Jan 03 '23 at 12:27
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    @M.K it's still be fried, just not deep fried which specifically refers to submersing your food in cooking oil. – Nils O Jan 03 '23 at 13:31
  • @M.K everything works the same with oil, minus some of the "buttery" flavors. But most of the effects of butter come from the fats in it, which can be replaced with any other oil/fat used in cooking. – Hobbamok Jan 03 '23 at 15:22
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    @M.K (in the UK) it's common to use "spread" (AKA margarine) rather than butter here as well as in sandwiches, baking, stopping cakes sticking to their tins, etc. This isn't really thick cooking oil, but it might as well be in this context, and is easier to apply (if using a toastie maker, it might be easier to brush oil on the relevant surfaces of the machine instead of the bread). BTW the verb is still "butter" even if using margarine – Chris H Jan 03 '23 at 16:33
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    Mayonnaise also works quite well and is convenient if you did not have the foresight to leave some butter out to become soft. – vir Jan 04 '23 at 18:55
  • @M.K 'Grilled' is a bit of a misnomer here. Grilling is generally over some sort of open flame. – JimmyJames Jan 04 '23 at 21:17
  • If that is true, then it is a language confusion from my side! My apologies! In Spanish, when we cook with a little bit of oil (mostly meats, sanwiches when toasting them, a Bikini f.g), we say "a la plancha", which traslated is "grilled" but the literal translation would be "to the [iron](https://cdn.thewirecutter.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/10/Irons-2x1-7961.jpg?auto=webp&quality=75&crop=2:1&width=1024)/" @JimmyJames – M.K Jan 04 '23 at 21:31
  • @M.K It's one of these terms which has different meanings in different contexts, including between different regional varieties of English. The classic American grilled cheese is cooked *a la plancha*, or using a cast-iron skillet to substitute. – dbmag9 Jan 04 '23 at 21:40
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    @M.K That's interesting. No worries though. It's not strict rule, by any sense. But if someone invites you over and says they are 'grilling' it means they are going to be outside. It's not uncommon for a large flat metal surface to be called a 'grill' in a restaurant, though. Spanish is a lot more logical than English, IMO. – JimmyJames Jan 04 '23 at 21:42
  • @JimmyJames If someone says they are 'grilling' *in the United States* it means they are (probably) going to be outside. In the UK that activity would be called 'having a barbeque', whereas 'grilling' would be what Americans call 'broiling'. As I said in my other comment, 'grilling' is a term with lots of different meanings! – dbmag9 Jan 04 '23 at 21:48
  • @dbmag9 Thanks for that clarification. I had no idea. English (or Mericun) is crazy but that's sort of the fun of it. – JimmyJames Jan 04 '23 at 21:50
  • @JimmyJames That is technically a flat-top grill (as opposed to a BBQ grill), but one of the main points of language seems to be to leave half of everything implied. I wouldn't doubt that a large flat-top heating element, with no parallel bars in sight, being coined a flat-top grill was the idea of some marketer. And in a few years I wouldn't be surprised at people having this same conversation when discussing the similarities/ differences between a horno de conveccion and an (air) fryer. "Where I'm from we just call that a convection oven." – RIanGillis Jan 04 '23 at 23:51