Here's When It's Not A Good Idea To Make Grilled Cheese In Your Air Fryer

A crispy, gooey grilled cheese is an American classic. It's hands down one of the most popular sandwiches ever. When it comes to comfort food, how can you go wrong with fried bread and melted cheese? Traditionally, you make these in a frying pan, maybe with a side of tomato soup. For a slightly healthier option, air fryers have become invaluable for making grilled cheese. You get the same great crispy exterior but with less fat. Unfortunately, air fryers have a severe limitation. There's only so much room inside an air fryer, so what do you do if you're making grilled cheese for a crowd?

Your best bet for making grilled cheese in bulk is to turn on the oven. A sheet pan can hold upwards of eight sandwiches at a time, meaning you'll be able to get everyone fed without having to make sandwiches in stages. One of the drawbacks of making several grilled cheese sandwiches in a frying pan is that by the time the last one is done, the first one is cold and a little soggy. The same thing will happen with grilled cheese in your air fryer if you're only making them one or two at a time.

You can bake a grilled cheese in the oven using the same assembly you would use for frying. Butter the bread and place it face down on the sheet pan, cover it with cheese, and top it with another buttered slice. Cook for five minutes in a 400-degree Fahrenheit oven and then flip it over for another five. You're going to get wall-to-wall crispy, toasted bread with melty cheese inside.

Depending on how many sandwiches you need to make and what equipment you have available, there may be other useful options. The more old-school way is a grilled cheese assembly line. You may need a hand from the people you are feeding. If you have two to four frying pans, you can ask one person to butter bread, another to assemble sandwiches, and a couple of people to monitor the pans so you can make four sandwiches at a time and replace them as soon as they are ready.

If you have a Blackstone for your barbecue, it works just as well as a flattop at a diner and gives you a perfect surface for cooking grilled cheese in bulk. It gives you access to a large cooktop that is essentially just a big frying pan, so you can ensure crisp, well-made grilled cheese.

Finally, one quick tweak you can make to the baked method is to make an impromptu panini press in your oven. If you have a second sheet pan, preheat that in the oven. Flip the unheated pan upside down and put your assembled sandwiches, complete with any additions you like, on the bottom of it. You want it upside down so the rim doesn't interrupt airflow. Then put the heated pan on top of the sandwiches. You'll get consistent browning on both sides with no flipping needed.