What to Use on Grilled Cheese: A Wisconsin Cheesemaker’s Melt Test
Cheese 101
What to Use on Grilled Cheese: A Wisconsin Cheesemaker's Melt Test
Everyone has opinions about the best cheese for grilled cheese. We have a factory.
So we settled it the Wisconsin way: same bread, same butter, same pan, same heat, eight cheeses, one very good lunch hour. Here's what actually melts, what actually tastes like something, & the one blend trick that beats every single-cheese sandwich we made.
Cheesy Takeaways
The best all-around grilled cheese cheese in our test: Holey-Smoked Swiss & Cheddar. Smooth melt, big flavor.
Young & medium cheeses melt best. 8+ year cheddar alone gets grainy (low moisture, crystals).
The pro move is a blend: one melter for texture, one aged cheddar for flavor.
Skip pre-shredded bags. The anti-caking coating fights the melt.
Every cheese in this test ships fresh from our central Wisconsin factory, cold-packed.
How We Ran the Melt Test
The setup: white sandwich bread, salted butter on the outside, medium-low heat, cast iron, three minutes a side with a lid for the last minute. Every cheese sliced to the same thickness with a wire slicer. No thumb on the scale.
We scored each sandwich on four things: melt (does it go smooth & molten), stretch (the pull-apart photo moment), flavor (does it taste like cheese or just salt), & grease (does the sandwich weep). One American cheese sandwich rode along as the control, because science.
Read NextWant the deeper why? Our best melting cheeses post covers the moisture-fat-age triangle that decides everything below.
Why Aged Cheddar Fights the Melt (& How to Win Anyway)
Here's the cheesemaker part your recipe blog can't tell you.
An 8-year cheddar has spent nearly a decade losing moisture & developing calcium lactate crystals, those white crunchy bits that sharp-cheddar fans fight over. Less moisture & a tighter protein structure means the cheese would rather crumble than flow. Put it alone in a sandwich & it goes grainy & oily instead of molten. We cover the crystal science in what are cheese crystals, & yes, the same trait applies double to extra sharp (see does extra sharp cheddar melt well).
Cheesemaker's Note
The fix is the blend: one layer of a smooth melter, one thin layer of aged cheddar shaved with a Wire Cheese Slicer. The melter carries the texture, the aged cheddar carries the flavor.
Wire Cheese Slicer
Shaves aged cheddar into thin, even layers for the blend. Backed by a lifetime replacement policy.
Smokin' Hot Pepper Jack plus Garlic & Herb Jack. Jack cheeses are the melt champions of the cheese world (their mellow cousins star in our Monterey Jack explainer), & these two flavored versions turn the volume up without breaking the texture. Finish with a thin drizzle of Hot Honey Drizzle on the hot sandwich for sweet heat on top of heat.
Five Rules for a Better Grilled Cheese, No Matter the Cheese
Slice from a block. Pre-shredded bags are dusted with anti-caking starch that stiffens the melt.
Medium-low heat. High heat browns the bread before the middle melts. Patience is an ingredient.
Lid on for the last minute. Trapped steam finishes the melt.
Room-temp cheese melts faster & more evenly than fridge-cold.
Butter the bread, not the pan. Even coverage, even browning.
And if you're wondering whether the color of your cheddar matters: it doesn't. Orange & white cheddar are the same cheese in a different coat, as we explain in white cheddar vs yellow cheddar.
Grocery store cheese will make a grilled cheese. Gardner's cheese will make THE grilled cheese. We're a family-owned central Wisconsin factory, 40+ years in, ranked #1 "Best-Tasting Cheese" four consecutive years, & every block ships 2-day air with cold packs.
Start with the Holey-Smoked Swiss & Cheddar, add an aged cheddar for blending, & browse the rest of the Aged Cheeses collection while the pan heats up. Free cold-pack shipping at $69+. Soup season is coming. Be ready.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is the best cheese for grilled cheese?
Our melt test crowned Holey-Smoked Swiss & Cheddar for the best combination of smooth melt & big flavor. For a classic cheddar sandwich, use a young-to-medium cheddar for melt & shave in aged cheddar for flavor.
Is aged cheddar good for grilled cheese?
On its own, no. 8+ year cheddar is too low-moisture to melt smoothly & turns grainy. Blended with a good melting cheese, it's the best flavor upgrade a grilled cheese can get.
What cheese melts the best?
Young, higher-moisture cheeses: jack varieties, young cheddar, gouda, & swiss-style cheeses. Moisture & moderate fat are what let cheese flow instead of separate.
Should I shred or slice cheese for grilled cheese?
Either works, but always from a block. Shredded melts slightly faster; slices are easier to layer. Pre-shredded store bags melt worst because of anti-caking coatings.
Why is my grilled cheese greasy?
Heat too high or cheese too aged. When cheese overheats or lacks moisture, the fat separates & leaks. Drop to medium-low & use a younger melting cheese as the base layer.
What's the best bread for grilled cheese?
A sturdy white or sourdough sliced about a half inch thick. Thick enough to hold the melt, thin enough that cheese stays the main character.
Melt Something Worth Talking About
Family-owned in central Wisconsin, 40+ years of cheesemaking, & ranked #1 "Best-Tasting Cheese" four years running.
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