I tried making 2 grilled cheese sandwiches in my air fryer, and they were so dry I wouldn't do it again
Frank Olito
- I made grilled cheese sandwiches in my air fryer to see if it was a quicker and tastier cooking method.
- After cooking the sandwiches for 12 minutes, I found them to be too dry and too crunchy.
- I wouldn't use the air fryer again for grilled cheeses because it's neither quicker nor healthier.
Air fryers are often touted as a quicker and healthier alternative for crispier food, so I decided to make grilled cheese sandwiches in my air fryer to see if it was better than grilling.
Air fryers are quickly becoming one of the most popular kitchen appliances, with many home cooks latching onto the idea that air fryers are a great way to make quick and crispy meals.
Since I had all the ingredients to make a grilled cheese, I decided to see how easy it would be to cook one in the air fryer for a quick lunch.
Since I had two types of cheese in the house, I decided to try them both out in the air fryer.
In my opinion, the type of cheese you choose for a grilled cheese sandwich is very important. I typically like a sharp cheddar when cooking it on the stove. I wondered if that would still be the case in the air fryer, so I also made a sandwich with provolone cheese.
Next, I placed the sandwiches on the air fryer tray and buttered both sides.
An air-fryer recipe I followed said I needed to heavily butter both sides, which surprised me. Typically, one purpose of an air fryer is to use less oil and butter so that the food is healthier.
The recipe also said I needed to put toothpicks into the sandwiches because the top piece of bread could fly off in the air fryer as the hot air blows. Since I didn't have any toothpicks, I decided to try my luck anyway.
The recipe said the sandwiches need to be placed in the air fryer for seven minutes at 380 degrees.
I used the recipe instructions on Mom's Dish.
After a couple of minutes, I realized the toothpicks were more important to hold the bread in place than I expected.
The top piece of the bread on one of the sandwiches shifted, so I had to take it out and put it back in place. Once back in the air fryer, the cheese started to melt, acting as a glue and keeping each piece of bread in place.
Once I saw one side of the sandwiches had browned, I took them out a second time and flipped them.
After five minutes, I was surprised to find the other side completely undercooked.
After 12 long minutes, the grilled cheese sandwiches were finally ready to come out.
I was surprised to find that it took a long time to brown both sides of the bread. It has never taken me 12 minutes to cook a grilled cheese on the stove.
When I cut the sandwiches open, the cheese had melted, but not as much as I would have liked.
When I make a grilled cheese on the stove and cut it open, the cheese usually slowly pulls apart like one of those Kraft commercials. With the air fryer, however, that wasn't the case. The cheese had melted, but it wasn't as stringy as my dream sandwich. Perhaps adding more cheese would have helped.
Although an ideal grilled cheese is crispy, I thought air frying left the bread too dry.
Yes, I did eat both sandwiches in one sitting, but I couldn't eat the crusts because they were so dry. Of course, the perfect grilled cheese is crispy, but this sandwich crossed the line and became too crunchy.
In hindsight, I probably needed more butter to make the bread softer.
In the future, I'll be cooking my grilled cheese sandwiches the usual way.
After eating the two grilled cheeses, I realized there were no benefits to cooking them in the air fryer. They did not cook faster than a stovetop, and they weren't healthier in any way. In fact, I needed to use more butter than usual so that the bread wouldn't be so dry.
Sometimes the old, traditional way is the best way, and nothing will beat a grilled cheese made on the stovetop.
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