Cheese toasties often burn before the cheese fully melts, but one simple kitchen ingredient can ensure they turn out golden and gooey every time. Home cook Joanna Cismaru, founder of Jo Cooks, recommends swapping butter for mayonnaise to achieve a crispier texture.
Why butter causes burned toasties
Butter gives a toastie a rich flavour, but it burns very easily. It can often cause the bread to come out of the pan scorched while the inside filling is still hard. Butter is made up of milk solids, which cannot withstand heat very well, so they tend to brown quickly before the cheese has had a chance to melt properly.
This often causes a toastie to have black burned spots on the bread, prompting people to take it off the heat before the cheese has cooked. Mayonnaise, however, is mostly made up of oils, which can endure high temperatures better than butter, so it takes longer to cook the bread.
Benefits of using mayonnaise
Cismaru said: “Mayonnaise is used instead of butter for a few reasons. It spreads more evenly than butter, ensuring a consistent, golden crust. Mayo also has a higher smoke point than butter, which means it’s less likely to burn while cooking.”
Using mayonnaise helps the bread cook at the same rate as the cheese without burning, resulting in a sandwich that is crispy on the outside and gooey on the inside. Most of the mayonnaise cooks into the bread, so it does not overpower the taste, and it gives a restaurant-quality toastie in just a few minutes.
How to make a tastier cheese toastie
To make the toastie, you will need two teaspoons of mayonnaise, 100g of shredded cheddar cheese, 100g of mozzarella cheese (optional), and two slices of bread. Cheddar is the traditional cheese for a toastie due to its strong, rich flavour, but it can be oily if used in excess. Combining cheddar with a cheese that has more moisture, such as mozzarella, Gouda, or Emmental, helps it melt more quickly and makes the sandwich more flavourful.
To begin, spread a generous amount of mayonnaise on the outer side of each slice of bread. Place a frying pan over low-medium heat, then place one slice of bread in the pan, mayonnaise-side down. Carefully sprinkle the cheese on top, and do not worry if some gets into the pan. Place the second slice of bread on top to create a sandwich.
Cook the toastie for four to five minutes until it starts to look golden, keeping an eye on it and adjusting the temperature if necessary. Once fully cooked, flip the toastie over and cook the other side for three to four minutes. The toastie should be crispy, golden, and perfectly gooey without any burned marks.
