Here's The One True Downside To Air Fryer Grilled Cheese
When you're a child, there's nothing more magical than grilled cheese. When you're a parent, there's nothing more magical than being able to make a 10-minute lunch or dinner that children love. To simplify the already super low-effort meal, it's time to tap into a budding kitchen appliance and use your air fryer to its fullest. You might be seeing where we're going here: It's very easy to make grilled cheese in an air fryer, so much so that even celebrity chef Ree Drummond turned to air frying her cheese sandwiches.
There's only one big caveat: Most air fryers are too small to make multiple grilled cheeses at once, although it depends on the model. The baskets in your typical air fryer aren't usually wide, and they're often smaller than the larger 12-inch pans you'd traditionally use to make lots of grilled cheese sandwiches at once. Some air fryer models do have extra-large baskets, but even then, these baskets are measured by volume and include more vertical height than surface area. Since you can't stack grilled cheeses while you're cooking without creating an inconsistent mess, deeper baskets won't help you here. This all assumes you have the cheaper standard basket air fryer model; if you have an oven air fryer or an air fryer with two baskets, those offer more room, although those models get much pricier.
Air fryer grilled cheese for one
If you're going to spend extra on anything, though, a higher-end air fryer is a kitchen gadget that's worth the counter space. There may also be situations where it's worth taking extra time to make lots of grilled cheese using the air fryer method. Due to how an air fryer works (a fan circulates heated air all around the food inside the basket), air fryer grilled cheese will get the proper amount of crispiness really easily. Plus, both sides of the bread are being cooked even if you should still flip it to keep the sides even.
Another bonus is that you don't need to add so much oil to air fryer grilled cheese, as you would when cooking with a pan. Most recipes still suggest adding a little butter or cooking spray to taste, or even a little mayonnaise, but you have more flexibility to tone it down. From there, you can experiment with adding other extras, and it should be mess-free so long as you steer clear of using grated cheese in the air fryer. It's all definitely worth trying if you're making a quick grilled cheese for yourself or a single child, and it's still typically worth the extra time if you're cooking up more.