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CNET
15-06-2025
- General
- CNET
Your Air Fryer's About to Become Your New Grilled Cheese Machine
At this point, buying an air fryer is practically a rite of passage, and if you're still only using it for frozen fries and buffalo wings, you're seriously underestimating what it can do. One of the best air fryer hacks I've stumbled across? Grilled cheese that's crispier, cleaner and somehow even better than the stovetop version. I used to swear by the skillet method, but once I tried making grilled cheese in the air fryer, there was no going back. It delivers that golden, crunchy exterior without drowning your bread in butter, and it keeps your kitchen cooler-perfect for those hot summer days when firing up the stove sounds like a bad idea. If you haven't made this switch yet, here's why your next grilled cheese should start in the air fryer. If you're a purist, I salute you, too. The old school method for making grilled cheese is just fine but it's not without flaws. Pan-fried grilled cheeses also tend to fall apart or stick to the pan if they're not cooked and flipped properly and if you don't have the heat up high enough, you'll never get that coveted crunch. If you don't own an air fryer, I recommend Ninja's new glass-bowl model. It's the best we've tested and makes a mean grilled cheese. Below you'll find tips for making the best air fryer grilled cheese of your life. Why the air fryer is a perfect appliance to make grilled cheese As you can plainly see, the air fryer grilled cheese leaves little mess to contend with after preparing. Pamela Vachon/CNET An air fryer is basically a small convection oven with nonstick surfaces, circulating hot air around whatever you put in its basket. Unlike your saute pan or skillet, it cooks from all directions at once and typically in less time. Unlike your oven, it is compact and efficient, heats up quickly and may not even require preheating. Your toaster oven could never do this. While toasted cheese is a possibility (and reheated toaster oven pizza is a revelation), grilled cheese is not. Your toaster oven is not designed to support fat on the underside of whatever you're cooking, and you'll end up with a mess too complicated to clean. For your grilled cheese, the air fryer is working on both of the bread surfaces and the cheese all at once, resulting in a quicker melt, which adheres the cheese to the bread slices together making for a much easier flip. (Flipping is still recommended but with far less drama.) The air circulation provides deep crunchiness, not only to the surfaces that received the butter or mayo treatment but to the entire crust. Any inclusions beyond cheese in the interior of the sandwich are also transforming because of the ambient heat. Simply placing a lid on your saute pan or skillet can't achieve the same results, as the components will become steamed and potentially soggy. Here's how I make air fryer grilled cheese Humble ingredients are transformed into something great inside an air fryer. Pamela Vachon/CNET Assemble a grilled cheese as you would otherwise Sliced bread Sliced or shredded cheese (I like American cheese for a basic grilled cheese and a combo of gruyere and cheddar for an upgrade.) Butter or mayonnaise for the outside of the bread slices (dealer's choice) For a basic grilled cheese, you can assemble the sandwich in the basket of your air fryer: bread with buttered side down, followed by sliced or shredded cheese, then topped with the final slice with buttered side up. Be it a simple sandwich or a fancier combination of cheese, bread and fixings, the air fryer makes a crispy, gooey grilled cheese in minutes. Pamela Vachon/CNET Set the heat to 400 degrees Fahrenheit and cook for 3 to 6 minutes on each side, flipping halfway through. The already melted cheese will keep your sandwich nicely together during the flip. You can get a lightly golden grilled cheese in less time but I recommend hanging on for 5 to 6 minutes for a deeply crunchy sandwich. Another perk of the air fryer is that you can more easily peek to see where you're at without adversely affecting the outcome. The air fryer is best for making fancy grilled cheese Add a fruit element and cured meats for a fancier air fryer sammy. Pamela Vachon/CNET This is where the air fryer really shines in the grilled cheese realm. Every element of an upgraded grilled cheese adds a degree of difficulty when trying to cook in a skillet, much of which is mitigated in the safe confines of an air fryer. Thicker bread. Thicker cheese, like hunks of camembert or brie. And think of all the great grilled cheese ingredients that can be slippery: apple slices, roasted red peppers, tomatoes, pickles, etc. Any grilled cheese with more than two components can be challenging to flip gracefully in a skillet, even for trained cooks. Bag a loaf of good bread and stuff your sandwich with upmarket cheese. Pamela Vachon/CNET To prove a point, I assembled a fancy grilled cheese with camembert, prosciutto and apple slices. (Plus mayonnaise on the exterior, because I was being fancy, and mayo gives your sandwich a little extra tang.) Because of its height, I assembled it fully outside of the air fryer and then carefully placed it in the drawer. Et voila! Pamela Vachon/CNET After 6 minutes of air fryer cooking, the flip was seamless and the sophisticated outcome belies the fact that you spent all of one minute assembling the masterpiece. The exterior of the ham even got a little bonus crisping. So the air fryer invites you to go to town with whatever you can dream up for your grilled cheese: cured or cooked ground meats, grilled veggies, various sauces and relishes -- you name it. An epic grilled cheese variation is limited only by the confines of your imagination. Do I need to preheat an air fryer for grilled cheese? A grilled cheese is a quick-cooking sandwich no matter how you do it so you don't want to add on minutes of additional time for something that only takes minutes to accomplish. That said, while preheating your air fryer may be a waste of time for certain preparations, I think putting it on for just a minute to heat up the nonstick surface that the sandwich sits on is worthwhile to get that golden crust working right away. Are there drawbacks to making air fryer grilled cheese? Depending on your model and size of air fryer, and the shape of bread you choose, it can be tricky to make more than two sandwiches at once, so it might not be the most family-friendly method for making grilled cheese. But for a solo meal or date night, your air fryer is the grilled cheese hack you didn't know you needed.
CNET
07-06-2025
- General
- CNET
Nope, That Oven Drawer Isn't a Junk Drawer (Even If You Treat It Like One)
If your oven has a bottom drawer stuffed with random pans, lids and maybe that waffle iron you forgot you owned, you're not alone. For most of us, it's become the kitchen's unofficial junk drawer -- a hiding place for chaos in cookware form. But here's the twist: That mystery drawer might have an actual purpose you never knew about. And no, it's not just for stashing stray baking sheets. Depending on your oven model, that drawer could be doing more than collecting clutter. In some units, it's a warming drawer meant to keep cooked food hot until you're ready to serve. In others, it's a broiler drawer-perfect for charring veggies or crisping up casseroles. And yes, in some cases, it really is just storage. If you've never checked your oven manual (or long since lost it), now's the time to find out what that drawer was actually designed to do. Now, if you're scratching your head thinking, "Wait, what?" don't worry -- you're not alone. Most of us have never opened the oven manual unless it was to fan a smoke alarm. But fear not! We're not about to assign homework. No dense instruction manuals here. We're breaking it down for you in plain, delicious terms. Here's how to decode your oven drawer's secret identity and how to use it without accidentally slow-roasting your muffin tins. Read more: Clever Cleaning Hacks for the Hardest-to-Reach Crevices in Your Kitchen How to clean your oven with baking soda and vinegar How to clean your oven with baking soda and vinegar Click to unmute Video Player is loading. Play Video Play Skip Backward Skip Forward Next playlist item Unmute Current Time 0:00 / Duration 1:29 Loaded : 6.62% 0:00 Stream Type LIVE Seek to live, currently behind live LIVE Remaining Time - 1:29 Share Fullscreen This is a modal window. Beginning of dialog window. Escape will cancel and close the window. Text Color White Black Red Green Blue Yellow Magenta Cyan Opacity Opaque Semi-Transparent Text Background Color Black White Red Green Blue Yellow Magenta Cyan Opacity Opaque Semi-Transparent Transparent Caption Area Background Color Black White Red Green Blue Yellow Magenta Cyan Opacity Transparent Semi-Transparent Opaque Font Size 50% 75% 100% 125% 150% 175% 200% 300% 400% Text Edge Style None Raised Depressed Uniform Drop shadow Font Family Proportional Sans-Serif Monospace Sans-Serif Proportional Serif Monospace Serif Casual Script Small Caps Reset Done Close Modal Dialog End of dialog window. Close Modal Dialog This is a modal window. This modal can be closed by pressing the Escape key or activating the close button. Close Modal Dialog This is a modal window. This modal can be closed by pressing the Escape key or activating the close button. How to clean your oven with baking soda and vinegar 3 functions of your oven's bottom drawer 1. Warming drawer A warming drawer is easy to identify. Take a look at the buttons on your oven. If one of them is labeled "Warming Drawer" then that's exactly what you have. Anytime you need to warm a pie or a loaf of bread -- or you just want to keep dishes warm while the rest of the meal finishes cooking -- pop it into the warming drawer and push the warming button. 2. Broiler Broiler drawers are typically found on gas ovens and are very shallow. Chris Monroe/CNET If you have an oven heated with natural gas, the drawer is typically a broiler. To be sure, pull open the door. If it looks more like a retractable pan than a drawer, then it's a broiler. Think of the broiler as an extra cooking area. It's best for toasting or browning foods like casseroles or breads. Any item placed in the broiler will burn quickly, though, so check on it every couple of minutes. 3. Storage drawer A storage drawer is usually much deeper than a warming drawer or broiler. Chris Monroe/CNET If there isn't a warming button and the area looks like a deep, empty drawer, then you probably have a storage drawer. As per a recent Reddit discussion, many people are unsure about what to keep in this space. This is a good place to store cast iron pots and pans, because the warmth from your oven will help keep them rust free. Just be sure not to store plastic items in this drawer, because they may become warped due to residual heat. Likewise, some older ovens have little insulation and may heat your metal cookware when the oven is on. As a precaution, always use oven mitts to remove cookware during or after your oven has been in use.
Daily Mail
05-06-2025
- Business
- Daily Mail
Coles deli worker reveals how she shreds roast chicken at 'lightning speed': 'Best thing I've ever learnt'
A deli worker has revealed the 'insider secrets' Coles employees use to shred roast chicken at 'lightning speed' – and it requires no knives or special equipment. Ellie, who regularly shares insights into her day-to-day job at the supermarket giant, posted a video demonstrating her well-honed technique for rapidly shredding chickens using just her hands. The 22-year-old deli worker's viral video showed her explaining that hand shredding multiple hot roast chickens is a standard task carried out throughout the day in-store. At regular intervals, unsold roast chickens are taken from the warmer to be shredded, chilled and sold at the deli counter as cold meat. The deli worker explained that many customers prefer to buy cold shredded chicken for a salad or sandwich, but don't want to commit to a whole chook. She originally intended for her 'chicken shredding tutorial' to serve as a guide for other deli store workers tasked with the same job. But the video has caught the attention of tens of thousands of people, thanks to its clever shortcut that simplify the daunting task of shredding a whole roast chicken. Popping on two-layers of gloves to protect her hands from the heat, Ellie explained that the first step was to pull the skin back from the chicken and discard it. 'And why is that? You want to release some of the heat (from the hot chicken)... And we don't want the skin in our shredded chicken,' Ellie said. From there, Ellie pulled the chicken apart, piece by piece, using of her both hands. Wrapping her hands around the chicken breasts, Ellie demonstrated how to neatly and cleanly lift them off before piling them on an empty tray. The next step was to grab one of the drumsticks and flip over the chicken to easily access the underside. Using both hands again, Ellie lifted each chicken thigh simultaneously, demonstrating how it 'comes off really quick' – before adding the pieces to her tray pile. 'You don't want any of the dark meat (for shredded chicken) though, so make sure, you're not getting any of that,' she advised. The deli worker explained that it's store policy to extract around '450 grams from each chicken', alluding that the breast and thigh alone were sufficient, and that the remainder of the chicken would be discarded. Ellie explained that the next step was crucial - making sure no bones were left behind in the pile of chicken pieces. 'This is what we do: we've got our gloves on (and you just) mush it down. You're pushing it down, getting it into every crevice of the (tray),' she explained. Ellie demonstrated this pressing motion, showing how the clever technique reveals any stray bones. Once she was satisfied that the chicken was bone-free, Ellie moved on to the final shredding stage. Working systematically across the tray, Ellie explained that she was simply 'squishing' and 'kneading' the chicken through her gloved fingers to pull it apart. 'There you go – quick and easy,' Ellie concluded. Her video has been viewed more than 330,000 times - with some fellow deli workers stunned that they'd never been taught the systematic method. 'I work at Woolies and couldn't help myself, might need to pass this expertise onto our deli crew,' one supermarket employee said. Many roast chook lovers said the shredding technique had transformed the daunting, messy task into something far more approachable. 'Honestly the best thing I've ever learnt from working at Coles. Comes in handy so much at home,' one said. 'I feel very prepared for chicken shredding,' another shared. Some offered an alternative method for quickly removing chicken pieces from the carcass. 'An even faster way is to massage the chicken in the bag it literally falls off the bone,' one suggested. When one Coles customer exclaimed that the technique could potentially be saving her money, Ellie helpfully chimed in that difference was marginal, detailing the pricing breakdown of hot roast chicken versus shredded deli chicken. '$12.50 roast chicken = approx. 450g shredded, that's approx. $27.8/kg,' she said. 'We sell the shredded chicken for $27/kg but have to sell it within the day so often discount it by about 7pm. But you do get the rest of the chicken with the rotisserie.' Some said they were 'mind blown' after seeing the chicken shredding technique while another joked: 'Do I work at Coles? No. Did I watch the whole thing? Yes' Others agreed that even though they had little practical use for knowing how to shred a chicken, they found it 'satisfying' to watch Ellie complete the task with ease and efficiency.
Yahoo
08-05-2025
- Lifestyle
- Yahoo
What's A Cooking Hack You Use That Has, Without Fail, Made Your Life Way Easier?
Not everyone is a natural in the kitchen. For some people, cooking is more of a chore than a pleasant pastime. For those folks, and for those merely looking to get savvier as a home chef, simple tips and hacks can go a long way. Photodjo / Getty Images/iStockphoto Perhaps your mom taught you to microwave your lemons up to 20 seconds to make them much easier to juice. Manu Vega / Getty Images Maybe your grandma would always add a little dollop of mayo to beaten eggs before scrambling them to make them extra fluffy. It's the only way you make scrambled eggs now! Aire Images / Getty Images Or perhaps you're a home baker who enjoys wowing your friends with delicious sweets. Everyone always begs you for your brownie recipe, but the truth is, you just use a boxed mix. However, rather than use water, you use cooled coffee. You find that it makes the flavor so much richer. This trick works for chocolate cakes, too! Grace Cary / Getty Images What's your go-to cooking hack or trick that makes your life easier and/or your food tastier? Tell us in the comments or share anonymously using this form! Also in Community: Choose Some Love Songs And We'll Guess Your Favorite Romance Trope Also in Community: Apparently The Average American Can't Name More Than 6/15 Of These Greek Gods, But I Believe In You Also in Community: Plan A Wedding And I'll Give You A Disney Princess Dress To Wear
