Helpful Tips

 There are always a number of tips to making the perfect toasted sandwich, most of which are as a result of trial and error or experimenting by trying something different.

Some are simply down to personal taste or preference, but  the following are a selection of questions and my answers as well as tips picked up along the way.

Butter or oil?

In my opinion it depends upon your own particular taste or what you are trying to achieve. Personally, with most of my sandwiches, I prefer the buttery taste and crisp golden colour only butter can bring.

Howver, oil can also provide a good crisp outer sandwich and a lightly coloured finish where required.

Are margarines or low-calorie oils an option?

It is often recommended that margarines and some oils are not used as they have a lower burning point. That said, some of the butter "substitutes" are a lot easier to spread, and the one I use most often has all the buttery taste and no drawbacks to speak of. In fact it is "utterley" great to use (no brand names mentioned here). 😉

I have also often used an olive oil "one-cal" spray instead of butter on my bread slices and have to admit that the results were excellent (minus the buttery taste of course).

Cut your cheese or use pre-sliced?

I am often asked this question and my answer is always the same. It is more expensive to buy your cheese pre-sliced other than cutting it yourself and depending on your circumstances (and the amount that you use) this may be important.

However, my response is that I may well buy a large block of my favourite cheese (in my case an extra mature cheddar) as I use this most frequently, but I often have a few different cheeses (such as Emmental) in pre-sliced form as it gives you plenty of options when it comes to sandwich making.

As a tip, once opened, keep the remainder in your fridge in a ziplock bag with surplus air expelled. It lasts for days!

To grate or not to grate, that is the question!

There is nothing wrong with freshly grating your cheese from a block (although I always found it took longer to clean the grater than to actually produce the grated cheese!

However, as I am always "unready" and also, I hate grating, I find it much easier to buy the cheese ready grated from my local supermarket. 

I always have a few bags of different kinds of cheeses in my fridge so I'm always ready for that craving for a sandwich or a snack. These are usually supplied in resealable bags so you can just use the amount you want and keep the rest for later (up to 5 days so no need for waste).