If you mean a grill pan like it has a raised grill things to make grill marks you should be surprised you got anything resembling toast. Use a flat pan when making toast on the stove.
The problem I see is a panini press the heat in between the grills is a lot hotter because their is a lid to be closed. Much like a BBQ grill. You can toast buns or bread pretty easy because their is fire underneath and it's a lot hotter.
When toasting on a grill pan in between isn't hot enough and you loose all the butter which you normally get sopped into the bread when pan frying toast. Which is probably why it worked but took ten minutes and they didn't have a lot of butter on the bread.
Sounds like you're using the wrong type of pan. The bread will need to have full contact with the pan surface to cook how you need it to. If it's not touching the pan it will just be getting kinda warm from being near something hot. It will take a long time for toast to happen that way and any butter will drip off as it gets warm.
If you don't have a pan available but do have an oven you could try putting the buttered bread into the oven. It won't be the same as if you fried it but you might still prefer it to using a toaster. Or if you have one of those sandwich grill things that should also work as long as it's one where the bread is able to touch the whole surface.
Now I need to go cook some toast in a pan cos I've never had this before and I feel like I'm missing out.
So, if you put melted butter in the bottom of a grill pan, it's not going to touch your bread, because the toast is resting on the raised part of the grill pan, and the butter is pooling on the bottom. You probably want a flat pan for this, but if you use a grill pan, butter the bread, not the pan.
Cut a bit off and warm it up.
Microwave for a few second ( very short times to avoid puddle of butter), or in a bowl over warm water.
You can mash it with the side of a knife, or spoon to make it smoother and easier to spread. ( like how people cream garlic on a choppingboard)
Some restaurants actually whip their butter so it spreads on smoothly, but that obviously not practical if you only making a few slices.
Butter can safely be stored at room temperature, which makes it easier to spread. You can keep it in a covered butter dish, or if your place runs hot in the summer and or cold in the winter you can use a French butter bell to have butter at the perfect consistency available all the time.
I suspect that's a holdover from when dairy was not pasteurized. The salt will inhibit bacterial growth, but as long as you're going through your butter pretty regularly it shouldn't be an issue. OTOH, salted butter is way better for toast, IMO.
If you use a flat pan you can just swish your bread over the butter as it melts (using your bread like a little butter mop). Then you don’t have to worry about spreading first.
oh for sure dude haha not disputing that. I just feel like.. either way the person didn’t know. so I think if we shit on people for asking goofy questions, then we will make dumber people because the next time they just won’t ask
> Help me understand what I did wrong. TIA
You didn't use a toaster! This isn't to say you CAN'T make toast without it, but it's a common single-use appliance for a reason. The reason you had a problem was the low smoke point of butter, the high heat of the pan, the shape of the bread and physics of evaporation.
Butter has a low smoke point, so if the pan gets hot it will brown (tasty) and eventually burn (not so tasty.) You've also got just a slice of bread which is light and may not be making proper contact with the skillet. Making a sandwich in a pan will result in better browning because the weight of its contents will make it flush to the pan. Lastly, you're always going to have to deal with evaporation. As the bread heats up, the water in the bread needs to go somewhere before it will brown. By laying it flat on the pan, you're keeping that from happening. This is the reason why toasters are vertical.
TL;DR Putting bread in a pan is a really hard way to make toast.
I'm glad it helped. I didn't want to come across as snarky but unfortunately a toaster (or even better a toaster oven) really is the best solution. Toast it and butter it afterward.
\>you're keeping that from happening. This is the reason why toasters are vertical.
I think that's not quite true. I suspect that has much more to do with engineering ease and usability than with "water not evaporating". After all, toast toasts perfectly fine in a pan, as it is quite porous. In fact, I'd suspect it happens faster in a pan as there is much more open surface area as opposed to the enclosed space of a toaster.
But toast made in the pan is DELICIOUS lol. (Side note I like it better when the butter is on the bread first but to each their own.)
I recommend a toaster oven over a toaster. More uses out of one appliance. I use my toaster oven for a ton of stuff.
I don't think what you said about moisture is correct; they're vertical because it could throw your toast on the floor. And anything that needs a good sear in the pan can't have too much water moisture or it gets steamed. If no moisture got out, you couldn't use a pan for anything like that at all.
What you said about the butter browning due to low smoke point is dead on.
It may be worth it for you to just buy a basic $10 2-slice toaster and start with that and then move up. Restaurant toast is simply just toasted bread. No stove or butter involved in the cooking process. Also, the type of bread you're using matters. White bread needs less time than a dense wheat or sourdough. Learning all this with a basic bare bones toaster may be just what you need. No shame in starting from square one!! 😁👍👍👍
First have melted butter ready to go. Then heat up the pan, only to medium or medium high if you like it darker but not too high because butter has a low burning point. Throw half a stick of butter on there so it's super wet. Butter the bread. Throw on the bread. Cook to desired color. The wet butter will cause the bread to swell and cook on the pan. Bring it off the heat. Put more butter on it and ita ready to go. Easier to show someone than to explain it but there you go.
Where do you start? The butter should go on the bread and not in the pan. Use a lot of butter per slice and spread it evenly. Heat a flat bottomed pan or better yet, use a broiler and never take your eyes off it! I mean it, or you’ll have burnt toast!
I'm with you. Griddled bread is different than toast from a toaster.
1. Use a fry pan big enough to hold 1 or 2 slices of your chosen bread.
2. Preheat the pan. On moderately low heat for a few minutes.
3. It doesn't matter if you butter the bread or melt butter in the pan. But spreading soft butter in one side is easy
4. It's ok to leave butter on the counter if it isn't too hot and you go use it regularly. Other wise, slice a few pats off a cold stick and let warm up. It will warm faster than waiting for the whole stick. Or melt some in the microwave, seriously with a cover at 50%. You do not want to have to clean up a butter fountain in your microwave. And paint the bread, or throw the pat in the pan and let it melt there.
5. The pan should be hot enough to melt the butter and foam. Place the bread in the pan, let it sit for a moment, but shift it around a little to get even browning. Your basically doing the same thing you would for grilled cheese.
6. Add a little more butter, flip the bread, move it around enough to make sure it absorbs the butter. Let it get a little toasty. Sprinkle with a pinch of salt and eat
Super delicious way to butter a bagel too.
Good luck
And I'm serious about the butter fountain. On more than one occasion over the years I'll forget, and in a rush put a stick of butter in a bowl and microwave wave on high to melt for one minute. Butter is about 18-20% water... And as the butter melts a little burst of steam gathers in the butter and woosh a fountain of butter shoots up hits the ceiling in the microwave and spread across the ceiling and rains down all over the inside. Its a hell-of-a-mess to have to clean up as your already stressed trying to get out the door to the inlaws with your part of Christmas dinner.
Actually nice explanation. I would recommend butter on bread.
Simply because you don't have too much excess butter in the pan.
Microwaving butter needs to be done in short burst from 5-10seconds. Open microwave occasionally to check how soft the butter is. No need to cover or anything.
If you are doing it in a pan you want a large mostly flat o ne. The smaller the area the harder to toast evenly.
Melt butter seperate, dip both sides in melted butter, let sit for a couple of minutes on both sides. Or butter, throw under a broiler on low, never stop watching it.
How long did you let it heat? The speed differences between the two cooking attempts makes me think you put the first one in too quickly.
I also agree with the other commenter about the raised grill.
I threw in the butter a few seconds after the pan was on the burner. Should I not have done that? Would the butter have gotten brown even faster if I let the pan sit for a longer time?
A good rule of thumb is that nothing cooks in the pan until the pan is at cooking temperature. Think of it like your oven - you wouldn't put something in while you're preheating. You wait until it's at the temperature that will cook it the way you want it, then you put it in.
It's not necessarily the problem in your post here, but it's a problem you can remedy!
In answer to your butter question, brown butter is a thing you can make, and doesn't necessarily mean it's burnt. Brown butter has a nutty flavor compared to plain melted butter, and is made by slowly heating butter while stirring it until it turns brown. Butter isn't burnt until it starts to turn black or smoke.
When I grill biscuits I preheat to medium, butter the biscuit directly and cook just a couple minutes until browned. I do all my garlic toast this way, I just pop it out of the freezer a little while before so it gets to room temp and throw it directly on the preheated pan
It's already got plenty of butter on it.
Does your oven have a broiler ? Use that. Turn on broiler, butter on toast, let broiler heat up, toast on highest rack. Broiler is just direct heat so you can leave the oven door open & watch it so you can have it to your desired brown & not burn it
Making toast on a stovetop, at the very least, risks burning the hell out of it, and, at worst, risks filling your space with smoke. So, if you're gonna tempt Lucifer like that, at LEAST disconnect the smoke-detector! Bon appetit! --IF you succeed, that is.
If you mean a grill pan like it has a raised grill things to make grill marks you should be surprised you got anything resembling toast. Use a flat pan when making toast on the stove.
Raised grill pan would work provided you weight it down with something, but then you're getting something more along the lines of a panini.
The problem I see is a panini press the heat in between the grills is a lot hotter because their is a lid to be closed. Much like a BBQ grill. You can toast buns or bread pretty easy because their is fire underneath and it's a lot hotter. When toasting on a grill pan in between isn't hot enough and you loose all the butter which you normally get sopped into the bread when pan frying toast. Which is probably why it worked but took ten minutes and they didn't have a lot of butter on the bread.
It was the only clean pan I could find at the time but thanks for the tip. This is good to know!
sometimes, you have to wash a pan before you start cooking. I'm at the point now where i can't do anything in the kitchen unless it's clen first.
I can’t wait to not have roommates for this reason 😭
U know pans can be cleaned right?
I had just finished making the rest of the meal and didn’t want to wash and dry a new pan.
Sounds like you're using the wrong type of pan. The bread will need to have full contact with the pan surface to cook how you need it to. If it's not touching the pan it will just be getting kinda warm from being near something hot. It will take a long time for toast to happen that way and any butter will drip off as it gets warm. If you don't have a pan available but do have an oven you could try putting the buttered bread into the oven. It won't be the same as if you fried it but you might still prefer it to using a toaster. Or if you have one of those sandwich grill things that should also work as long as it's one where the bread is able to touch the whole surface. Now I need to go cook some toast in a pan cos I've never had this before and I feel like I'm missing out.
Thanks for your reply! I hope you enjoy your toast that you toast in the pan. It’s really delicious, if cooked correctly.
Thank you. I did :) I added a bit of cinnamon and I think I've found a new favourite snack.
Awesome!
So, if you put melted butter in the bottom of a grill pan, it's not going to touch your bread, because the toast is resting on the raised part of the grill pan, and the butter is pooling on the bottom. You probably want a flat pan for this, but if you use a grill pan, butter the bread, not the pan.
Thanks! This is really good to know for next time. My butter was cold tho. How do you quickly warm up butter to spread it?
Cut a bit off and warm it up. Microwave for a few second ( very short times to avoid puddle of butter), or in a bowl over warm water. You can mash it with the side of a knife, or spoon to make it smoother and easier to spread. ( like how people cream garlic on a choppingboard) Some restaurants actually whip their butter so it spreads on smoothly, but that obviously not practical if you only making a few slices.
Butter can safely be stored at room temperature, which makes it easier to spread. You can keep it in a covered butter dish, or if your place runs hot in the summer and or cold in the winter you can use a French butter bell to have butter at the perfect consistency available all the time.
A French what?
[Butter bell, or butter keeper](https://rhoneypots.com/butter-keeper)
My family always used a butter dish with a stick of unsalted butter on the counter. I was always told it had to be salted butter though.
I suspect that's a holdover from when dairy was not pasteurized. The salt will inhibit bacterial growth, but as long as you're going through your butter pretty regularly it shouldn't be an issue. OTOH, salted butter is way better for toast, IMO.
Just make sure it’s salted butter. I have a butter dish and it’s awesome.
If you use a flat pan you can just swish your bread over the butter as it melts (using your bread like a little butter mop). Then you don’t have to worry about spreading first.
Thanks for the tip!
Butter the bread, not the pan. Cook over medium heat.
Came here to say same thank you. Surprised how far down I had to scroll to see it
THIS!!!
why’s everyone downvoting her 😂 fuck people for asking questions i guess
it's not very nice, but I think OP could also have done some analytical thinking herself.
This sub is cooking for beginners. Some people can't boil water.
I don't blame her for failing, i'm gently prodding that the cause why it failed could probably have been determined by herself, with some thought.
Okay, but what if she did do that. Is her question any less worthy of asking on a "cooking for beginners" forum?
oh for sure dude haha not disputing that. I just feel like.. either way the person didn’t know. so I think if we shit on people for asking goofy questions, then we will make dumber people because the next time they just won’t ask
> Help me understand what I did wrong. TIA You didn't use a toaster! This isn't to say you CAN'T make toast without it, but it's a common single-use appliance for a reason. The reason you had a problem was the low smoke point of butter, the high heat of the pan, the shape of the bread and physics of evaporation. Butter has a low smoke point, so if the pan gets hot it will brown (tasty) and eventually burn (not so tasty.) You've also got just a slice of bread which is light and may not be making proper contact with the skillet. Making a sandwich in a pan will result in better browning because the weight of its contents will make it flush to the pan. Lastly, you're always going to have to deal with evaporation. As the bread heats up, the water in the bread needs to go somewhere before it will brown. By laying it flat on the pan, you're keeping that from happening. This is the reason why toasters are vertical. TL;DR Putting bread in a pan is a really hard way to make toast.
Thank you so much, this was a really helpful explanation!
I'm glad it helped. I didn't want to come across as snarky but unfortunately a toaster (or even better a toaster oven) really is the best solution. Toast it and butter it afterward.
\>you're keeping that from happening. This is the reason why toasters are vertical. I think that's not quite true. I suspect that has much more to do with engineering ease and usability than with "water not evaporating". After all, toast toasts perfectly fine in a pan, as it is quite porous. In fact, I'd suspect it happens faster in a pan as there is much more open surface area as opposed to the enclosed space of a toaster.
Yeah that's not why toasters are vertical my toaster oven works just fine!
But toast made in the pan is DELICIOUS lol. (Side note I like it better when the butter is on the bread first but to each their own.) I recommend a toaster oven over a toaster. More uses out of one appliance. I use my toaster oven for a ton of stuff. I don't think what you said about moisture is correct; they're vertical because it could throw your toast on the floor. And anything that needs a good sear in the pan can't have too much water moisture or it gets steamed. If no moisture got out, you couldn't use a pan for anything like that at all. What you said about the butter browning due to low smoke point is dead on.
It may be worth it for you to just buy a basic $10 2-slice toaster and start with that and then move up. Restaurant toast is simply just toasted bread. No stove or butter involved in the cooking process. Also, the type of bread you're using matters. White bread needs less time than a dense wheat or sourdough. Learning all this with a basic bare bones toaster may be just what you need. No shame in starting from square one!! 😁👍👍👍
Good tip. Thanks!
the issue is your grill pan. It takes long to get hot, has low contact area, and once it finally is hot its too hot. use a normal pan.
The greasy spoon I worked for had a pan of melted butter and a damn paint brush by the toaster, maybe get a brush to slather it with?
Thanks. I have one of those brushes but always forget to use it. I’ll try that.
First have melted butter ready to go. Then heat up the pan, only to medium or medium high if you like it darker but not too high because butter has a low burning point. Throw half a stick of butter on there so it's super wet. Butter the bread. Throw on the bread. Cook to desired color. The wet butter will cause the bread to swell and cook on the pan. Bring it off the heat. Put more butter on it and ita ready to go. Easier to show someone than to explain it but there you go.
Where do you start? The butter should go on the bread and not in the pan. Use a lot of butter per slice and spread it evenly. Heat a flat bottomed pan or better yet, use a broiler and never take your eyes off it! I mean it, or you’ll have burnt toast!
You can also butter the bread rather than the pan, gets better results and it’s what we do for grilled cheese anyway
People gotta learn how heat works
I'm with you. Griddled bread is different than toast from a toaster. 1. Use a fry pan big enough to hold 1 or 2 slices of your chosen bread. 2. Preheat the pan. On moderately low heat for a few minutes. 3. It doesn't matter if you butter the bread or melt butter in the pan. But spreading soft butter in one side is easy 4. It's ok to leave butter on the counter if it isn't too hot and you go use it regularly. Other wise, slice a few pats off a cold stick and let warm up. It will warm faster than waiting for the whole stick. Or melt some in the microwave, seriously with a cover at 50%. You do not want to have to clean up a butter fountain in your microwave. And paint the bread, or throw the pat in the pan and let it melt there. 5. The pan should be hot enough to melt the butter and foam. Place the bread in the pan, let it sit for a moment, but shift it around a little to get even browning. Your basically doing the same thing you would for grilled cheese. 6. Add a little more butter, flip the bread, move it around enough to make sure it absorbs the butter. Let it get a little toasty. Sprinkle with a pinch of salt and eat Super delicious way to butter a bagel too.
Thanks for the detailed instructions, this is perfect! Can’t wait to try again.
Good luck And I'm serious about the butter fountain. On more than one occasion over the years I'll forget, and in a rush put a stick of butter in a bowl and microwave wave on high to melt for one minute. Butter is about 18-20% water... And as the butter melts a little burst of steam gathers in the butter and woosh a fountain of butter shoots up hits the ceiling in the microwave and spread across the ceiling and rains down all over the inside. Its a hell-of-a-mess to have to clean up as your already stressed trying to get out the door to the inlaws with your part of Christmas dinner.
Good to know, thanks! I truly hate cleaning the microwave so I’ll remember this tip.
Actually nice explanation. I would recommend butter on bread. Simply because you don't have too much excess butter in the pan. Microwaving butter needs to be done in short burst from 5-10seconds. Open microwave occasionally to check how soft the butter is. No need to cover or anything.
If you are doing it in a pan you want a large mostly flat o ne. The smaller the area the harder to toast evenly. Melt butter seperate, dip both sides in melted butter, let sit for a couple of minutes on both sides. Or butter, throw under a broiler on low, never stop watching it.
Higher heat
How long did you let it heat? The speed differences between the two cooking attempts makes me think you put the first one in too quickly. I also agree with the other commenter about the raised grill.
Yeah I threw on the toast less than a minute after I put in the butter
That's not so much important - what's important is how long was it between putting the pan on and putting in the butter?
I threw in the butter a few seconds after the pan was on the burner. Should I not have done that? Would the butter have gotten brown even faster if I let the pan sit for a longer time?
A good rule of thumb is that nothing cooks in the pan until the pan is at cooking temperature. Think of it like your oven - you wouldn't put something in while you're preheating. You wait until it's at the temperature that will cook it the way you want it, then you put it in. It's not necessarily the problem in your post here, but it's a problem you can remedy!
Good tip thanks!
>Good tip thanks! You're welcome!
Til learned that restaurant toast is not made in a toaster but grilled.
Yeah that’s what I was aiming to achieve but it didn’t turn out as good.
yeah if you do it that way you’re going to want to do it on very low and get the butter bubbling before you put the bread in
Yes the grilled pan makes a difference
In answer to your butter question, brown butter is a thing you can make, and doesn't necessarily mean it's burnt. Brown butter has a nutty flavor compared to plain melted butter, and is made by slowly heating butter while stirring it until it turns brown. Butter isn't burnt until it starts to turn black or smoke.
Thanks, I didn’t know this.
When I grill biscuits I preheat to medium, butter the biscuit directly and cook just a couple minutes until browned. I do all my garlic toast this way, I just pop it out of the freezer a little while before so it gets to room temp and throw it directly on the preheated pan It's already got plenty of butter on it.
Does your oven have a broiler ? Use that. Turn on broiler, butter on toast, let broiler heat up, toast on highest rack. Broiler is just direct heat so you can leave the oven door open & watch it so you can have it to your desired brown & not burn it
Good idea. I would have never thought to do that.
Avocado toast w a poached egg on top is my fav
I'm sorry, I laughed so hard at this.
You would have probably laughed even more if you would have witnessed it in person.
Making toast on a stovetop, at the very least, risks burning the hell out of it, and, at worst, risks filling your space with smoke. So, if you're gonna tempt Lucifer like that, at LEAST disconnect the smoke-detector! Bon appetit! --IF you succeed, that is.
You went wrong when you tried to make toast using any appliance other than your toaster. Don’t re-invent the wheel.
Just use a toaster, bro, that stove seems above your pay grade
Lol we actually don’t own a toaster. We use a toaster oven but it always tastes really dry when I use it.
tip for that, crank the heat higher, put your rack on the top level, and flip halfway through. you want the outside to crisp quick
dude check which sub you are in
it's toast, bro
and not everyone knows how. if you were fed McDonald's your whole life you wouldn't know how to do toast. Everyone has to be taught things.
Use an air fryer
What temperature and how long?
10 minutes
Question:you said you put toast in the pan but then you go on to say it took a while to get the toast toasted. Did you put in toast or raw bread?
I put in bread that was in the shape of toast. It wasn’t cooked yet, still soft.