6 Mistakes To Avoid When Making Grilled Cheese In The Air Fryer

When it comes to making a quick snack or late-night meal, things don't get much easier than a grilled cheese. All you need is bread, cheese, and a skillet, and you're good to go. So it might seem foolish to seemingly complicate things by introducing an appliance to the recipe, but this is a case of don't knock it 'til you try it.

Fans of the air fryer grilled cheese say they get a more consistent result, with bread that's always crispy from edge to edge without the risk of burning. The steady temperature also means the process is fairly hands-off, with no need to adjust the heat to get the ultimate grilled cheese. With an air fryer, you also have the option to use parchment paper in the basket for an easy cleanup. If you've never considered an air fryer grilled cheese or you haven't had the results you expected, there are some things to avoid if you want to get a crispy, gooey sandwich.

All the marketing around the air fryer (including the name) promotes it as a healthier way to fry your food. But it's important to remember that this appliance is essentially a mini oven. And just like what you'd get when using an oven, preheating will get you the best results. First of all, your air fryer is going to reach the goal temperature more quickly when it's empty, meaning a faster cooking process overall. Second, and most importantly, a preheated air fryer will give your sandwich a crispier exterior.

Not all air fryers have a preheat function, and some brands will tell you it's not necessary, but preheating can be done with any model. Simply select your temperature (375 to 400 degrees Fahrenheit is great for a grilled cheese) and let it run with an empty basket for 3-4 minutes. It's much quicker than preheating a conventional oven, and you can use this time to prepare your bread and cheese.

It might be true that an air fryer, in general, will let you cook your food with a lot less oil, but that doesn't mean you should suffer through a dry grilled cheese. A bare sandwich will get brown and crunchy, but it's essentially dry toast and will be crumbly and hard rather than crispy. If you care about flavor, a grilled cheese is one recipe where you shouldn't skip the fat, but you can get away with less than what you'll need in a skillet.

Butter is the classic choice for a grilled cheese sandwich, with a taste that becomes richer as it browns along with the bread. Mayonnaise is a close contender and has the benefits of a higher smoke point and a more neutral flavor. But any fat that takes your fancy should do the job, from margarine or coconut oil to a thoroughly decadent smear of bacon grease. Your fat of choice should be applied to the outside of the grilled cheese, but there's nothing to stop you from adding more to the inside as well.

This grilled cheese tip applies regardless of whether you're making it in the air fryer, the pan, or a panini press. But it bears repeating here, particularly if you find your bread is toasting faster than your cheese is melting. Each cheese not only has its own melting temperature but also a different way that it reacts to heat – some will give you the gooey texture you're after, while others will be too runny or even crumbly. It's the reason processed American cheese has been the traditional choice for a grilled cheese — its low melting point and strong protein structure provide that classic cheese pull every time.

The grilled cheese connoisseur will know that the best cheese option is a combination: one for the melt and one for the flavor. Good melting cheeses include gruyere, young cheddar, mozzarella, or Colby. These provide the structure to play with harder or softer cheeses that bring unique tastes, such as parmesan, aged cheddar, brie, or blue cheese. For dryer cheeses, grating rather than slicing can help you get a more even melt.

There are two schools of thought when it comes to making grilled cheese in the air fryer: The traditional method and the open-face method. Cooking your grilled cheese in the traditional method means layering your slice of bread with cheese, then topping with the second slice of bread, as you would in a skillet. And just like cooking in a skillet, you'll need to flip the sandwich halfway through cooking to ensure that both sides of the sandwich get that crisp exterior. Although the fan of your appliance is designed to circulate air evenly around the basket, the side that's facing down won't benefit from this completely.

Alternatively, you can cook your grilled cheese as an open sandwich. Lay out your two slices of bread in the air fryer basket and top each with cheese. Once the cheese has melted, you can close the sandwich and either eat it as is or cook it a little longer for a crispier outside. This method guarantees that your cheese will always be melted by the time that the bread has toasted.

If you opt to cook your grilled cheese in one piece rather than as an open sandwich, you might come across a problem that is quite unique to the air fryer. The fan that is vital for circulating the hot air around the basket can actually be powerful enough to blow the top slice of bread off the sandwich. You might find this happens in particular when you add extra toppings to your grilled cheese, like with this chicken and broccoli pesto option.

The simplest solution for this is to use a toothpick to secure the top slice of bread while it's cooking. If your fan is particularly strong, you might need a toothpick in two opposite corners. You can remove the toothpick when you flip the sandwich over halfway through cooking, as the melted cheese will be able to hold the bread in place. Out of toothpicks? It's a little inconvenient, but you can simply check on your sandwich periodically (every 30-60 seconds) and replace the slice of bread if it has come loose.

While the air fryer is great for being able to make more than one grilled cheese at a time, you are still going to be limited by the size of the appliance. There are some good large-capacity air fryers on the market if you're cooking for a family, but many people are drawn to these appliances because they are more compact than a traditional oven.

To ensure the air circulates correctly and you get that nice crunchy toast, your sandwiches should fit in a single layer at the bottom of the basket, ideally with a little space between them. And if you plan to use the open face method of cooking a grilled cheese, you will need double the space. This rings true for most air fryer recipes -– there are only a few occasions where it's okay to overcrowd your air fryer basket. Overfilling will cause your food to steam rather than crisp, and no one wants a soggy grilled cheese.