Go to the Article: In Search of Golden Brown: The Best Way to Make Toast
I'm going to have to try the coconut oil for the grilled cheese sandwiches I make in the combi oven (which I prefer over a skillet). I usually use Hellman's.
Interestingly, Apollonia Poilâne (of Poilâne, arguably the most famous bread bakery in the world) has a recipe for toast in her new bread cookbook. Crazy? Not to ChefSteps apparently!
What she does is sandwich two slices of bread (preferably Poilâne's miche, which is much better for sandwiches than the Instagrammable Tartine-style bread that is all the rage now) in a toaster. That way the outside surfaces of the two slices (eventually the outside of the sandwich) get toasted, but the inside surfaces steam and stay super moist. The only way I toast now!
Funny, sprinkles toast is apparently a traditional Dutch cuisine snack…
https://www.atlasobscura.com/foods/hagelslag-sprinkles-netherlands
CS's experience with coconut oil prompted the following post on the Anova Precision Oven (combi steam oven) groups on Reddit & Facebook:
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APO IS A GRILLED CHEESE MACHINE, v2.0!
In October last year, I posted an APO grilled cheese recipe using mayonnaise instead of butter that a lot of people picked up on. I know, why not use a skillet? But APO-grilled cheeses are just more perfect and reproducible.
Now, I'd like to share version 2 of this recipe, which I have to say makes the best grilled cheese evah! The surface crust has more of a delecate crispiness, almost elegant (hard to describe), and the interior of the bread is moister, without burned crusts. What I imagine a grilled cheese would be like in a Michelin-starred restaurant!
Here's how to do it:
1. Preheat APO 482°F/NSVM/100%/Rear/Full fan, with a cookie rack in position 4 (counting from the bottom). I would also recommend putting a sheet pan in position 1 to catch any dripping cheese (if there is none, you didn't add enough cheese, Gromit).
2. While it is pre-heating, assemble your grilled cheese sandwich using your favorite bread and cheese (in my case, white oatmeal sandwich bread, honey ham, Swiss and a smear of Maille mustard I brought back from Dijon)
3. Brush each side of the sandwich twice with a pastry brush dipped in REFINED COCONUT OIL (Wegman’s in my case). Brush it around to get it evenly spread. You may need to microwave the oil 30 sec to make sure it is liquid
4. Cook sandwich for 4 min on one side until fairly well browned, then flip and cook for 1+ min until evenly browned on the other side. If I put the sandwich in the center back right side, I generally don't have to rotate
The key changes in this recipe are:
1. Coconut oil instead of Hellman’s mayonnaise: This results in a much less greasy sandwich, but at the same time it is crisper, but that crispiness is more confined to the surface of the bread. This was inspired by a recent article from ChefSteps that tested 6 different fats to butter your toast with. And no, refined coconut oil doesn’t taste or smell like coconut.
2. 100% steam: Perhaps counterintuitive (but a lot of things about combi cooking are), this results in a soft interior to the bread (an idea I got from reading about that $300 Japanese Balmuda steam toaster), also prevents the crusts from over-cooking (which was a problem with the original version of this recipe), and may contribute to that unique surface crispiness I mentioned above.
3. Rear heating element only, the original recipe was rear + top
ENJOY! Personally, I can’t get a better grilled cheese in a pan.
All that work and summaries and I don’t see a final “here is the best say overall” but I do see coconut and a toaster leading out?
