I am sorry but, I have to say I will argue with anyone

[Anordinarymum]

who tells me the best toasted sarnies are not the ones you fry in butter in a frying pan.
They are a thing of beauty and I am so glad I discovered this wondeful hack.
You can keep your sandwich makers.. in fact you can have mine (I have two) and they do not hold a candle to the lovingly prepared and full of butter ones I can now whip up at the drop of a hat.

Butter is good, but if you do it the Disney way and use mayo it's even better. Mayo gives it a lovely crunch and flavour.

Cheese and chopped pickled jalapenos
Cheese and shaws caramelised red onion chutney
Cheese and shaws habanero and red pepper chutney
Cheese and reggae reggae sauce
Cheese and peri peri sauce

(All with or without ham)

Pizza toasties, tomato puree, cheese and whatever else, salami, ham, strips of pepper...

Leftover curry toasties

@LadyDanburysHat

Butter is good, but if you do it the Disney way and use mayo it's even better. Mayo gives it a lovely crunch and flavour.

I do mine in garlic Mayo- lovely!

I think it's better when there's some weight on it too. I cover sandwich with some baking paper and then use a smaller cast iron pan on top to squash it. I like mine with a smear of onion chutney on the inside, a mix of different cheeses and a few cornichons/little pickled onions on the side.

@Anordinarymum

If you're cooking them in a pan with butter it's hardly toasted, is it!

We loved these as a kid, my dad called them cheesey dreams.

I agree! Have you tried Mayo instead of butter on the outside though? Mmmm

Toast bread lightly in the toaster. Butter the insides. Fill sandwich. Thin layer of mayo on the outsides. Fry 👌👌👌

[quote SequinnedShawl]@Anordinarymum

If you're cooking them in a pan with butter it's hardly toasted, is it! [/quote]
Frying a buttered sandwich is not really any different to putting a buttered sandwich in a toastie maker, would you not still call one done in a toastie maker a toastie?

(Upthread I also said that I butter the outside and toast under the grill)

@SequinnedShawl toasted doesn’t just mean it’s been in a toaster.

It does annoy me when people say they roasted their meat in a slow cooker though…

They're lovely done in the Ninja too, I make them up the same as if they're going in the toastie machine with the butter on the outside and stick them in the Ninja on the air fry setting for 5 minutes.

@BarbaraofSeville, there is also a recipe for Indian French Toast! That's our New Year's Day breakfast cured sorted

Totally agree with you OP!

You cannot do ham and philidelphia cheese in the pan it turns into runny disappointment

Thanks for the dinner inspiration, OP.

Homemade tomato soup with toasted cheese & Christmas gammon sandwiches. Ace.

@whateveritwilltake OMG keema toasties are delicious! I like them with the grated cheddar & mozzarella mix and served with aubergine pickle

I always cook toastier in a frying pan, much easier to clean (shove in the dishwasher) the filling has to be, cheddar and chipotle relish!

You're not helping with my new leaf @MotherWol

@HanSB

I think it's better when there's some weight on it too. I cover sandwich with some baking paper and then use a smaller cast iron pan on top to squash it. I like mine with a smear of onion chutney on the inside, a mix of different cheeses and a few cornichons/little pickled onions on the side.

I use a spatula to sort of squash them down a bit as I fry them.

But a panini press (which is very easy to clean, just wipe the flat plates) has the advantage that it toasts both sides at once.

I discovered this delight when living in Canada some 35 years ago. Lunch was a grilled cheese sandwich, basically a fried cheese sandwich (albeit with their shite plastic cheese).

But you don't get the fun of breaking off the hard bits where the sandwich has been sealed in the toaster, and eating them as a sort of prelude to the main event ...

Sorry, I didn’t take a pic, but I did it.
So, mine was mature cheddar and sweet chilli sauce (don’t ask, I’m eating it with everything at the moment) in tiger bread. I buttered one side, the other one was mayo, as someone suggested. I served it with some pickles.

Now: the buttered side was amazing, crunchy, oily, yummy. That went down first. By then the cheese was not doing anything, so I took a spatula and started squashing it down. I flipped onto the mayo side and that turned slightly charred, didn’t taste as nice, obviously. But by then the cheese was gooey and OMG, that was delicious.
I needed a small pan for omelette for one, that kind of stuff, now I definitely am going to get one because I’ll be having lots of these sandwiches from now on.
Cheers for the tip!

[quote SequinnedShawl]@Anordinarymum

If you're cooking them in a pan with butter it's hardly toasted, is it! [/quote]
It's the same as a toastie maker, you butter the outside and put it on a non stick surface- pan or toastie maker.

I agree with your method.

I’ve recently been informed that my brother toasts bread in the toaster, makes a cheese sandwich with it then microwaves it to melt the cheese. Wrong’un.