Grilled Cheese Cook-off/Grill-off/Throwdown

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It’s National Grilled Cheese Day! My personal humble opinion is that a grilled cheese sandwich is comfort food at it’s finest – especially when accompanied with tomato soup. Grilled Cheese + Tomato Soup = Happy Anne!

So when my handsome hubby showed me this article this morning, I KNEW what I’d be having for lunch today. (The things I do for this blog.) Unfortunately the article wasn’t pinnable (is that a word now?), so I had to find a similar one to make things official. This is PINtesting, after all. Thankfully, the folks at the Kitchn had already obliged and I found this pin on the topic.

Grilled Cheese Cook-off - Original Pin

The articles said that using mayo rather than butter would give the sandwich a nice crust, one described as french toast like, and also a nice tangy flavor that butter didn’t provide. These are the qualities that I’m looking for in this grill-off.

So with no further ado, on to the Pin Test!

Grilled Cheese Cook-off - Ingredients - Pintesting

This had a total of 4 ingredients; the cheese (Sharp American), the bread (whole wheat), butter and mayo.

Grilled Cheese Cook-off - The Cheese - Pintesting

I used 2 1/2 slices of cheese per sandwich. This keeps an even amount of cheese on the whole sandwich for better cheesey distribution.

Grilled Cheese Cook-off - Mayo vs. Butter - Pintesting

The sandwich on the left was spread with mayo, and the sandwich on the right was spread with butter. (Outside only for both sandwiches.)

Grilled Cheese Cook-off - First Side - Pintesting

I preheated the pan to medium-high so that it would be warmed, then reduced the temperature to medium before dropping the sandwiches in to grill.

Grilled Cheese Cook-off - Second Side - Pintesting

Each sandwich was dropped into the pan within 5 seconds of each other.

Grilled Cheese Cook-off - Grilled Mayo - Pintesting
Grilled Cheese Cook-off – Grilled Mayo
Grilled Cheese Cook-off - Grilled Butter - Pintesting
Grilled Cheese Cook-off – Grilled Butter

Each sandwich was flipped in the order in which they went in to keep the cooking time even; about 2-3 minutes on each side.

Grilled Cheese Cook-off - Grilled Cheese Sandwiches - Pintesting

The bread was toasted nicely for both sandwiches. There wasn’t a noticeable distinction between the butter or mayo “greased” sandwiches. Neither gave a crust like french toast. The cheese was evenly melted on both sandwiches, as well.

Grilled Cheese Cook-off - Grilled Cheese Taste Tested - Pintesting

The only discernable difference that I could tell was the taste. The buttered sandwich had the traditional grilled cheese taste that I’ve known since childhood. The mayo-ed sandwich had a bit of a tang; not overpowering, but definitely there.

Honestly, I don’t think either one had a huge advantage over the other. But if you ever run out of butter and HAVE to have a grilled cheese sandwich at that very moment and don’t want to run out to the store, now you have options.

So here are the official Pintesting results.

Overall Rating: 4 Pins

4 Pins Overall

 

Accuracy: Both articles gave promises of an unbelievable crust that would come with using mayo rather than butter, described as french toast like in one article, and also a tangy flavor. While I definitely got a nice tang with the mayo, the crust was not any different than the buttered sandwich. Because the crust was not elevated to heights of glory, this gets 4 Pins.

Rated 4 Pins

Difficulty: The method for making a grilled cheese sandwich with either spread is exactly the same. Since neither is difficult, 4 Pins.

Rated 4 Pins

Time: The total time to make either version is about 5 minutes from start to finish. 5 Pins

Rated 5 Pins

Cost: I had to run to the store to pick up the cheese, because we don’t normally buy any kind of American sliced cheese. However, I think it’s the best to use for a grilled cheese sandwich because of the superb meltability. It was on sale for less than $3.00 for the 16-slice package. Add the cost of 2 slices of bread and a schmear of butter or mayo (all of which were on hand) and you’re looking at about $1 per sandwich. 5 Pins

Rated 5 Pins

Practicality: I don’t know that I would go out of my way to grab mayo vs. butter for a grilled cheese sandwich unless I was making something more gourmet that would be accentuated by the tang that came with the mayo. Adding tomato and bacon might make it a better choice, for example. If you were out of butter, this is a helpful trick. Since this is such a toss-up I’m going right down the middle and giving it 3 Pins.

Rated 3 Pins

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Pinterest addict, award-winning baker, and cookbook contributor - I'm Anne and I'm so glad that you've found Pintesting. This is where we test, review, and rate Pinterest pins on a weighted 5-point scale and sometimes share our own recipes, tips, and tricks.

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