This Air Fryer Ham & Cheese Toastie is exactly what it says on the tin. I've included a couple of tips and tricks up to help you make a toasted sandwich in the air fryer with minimal mess but maximum molten cheese and golden crustiness!
If your air fryer requires pre-heating, start this setting now.
Put the 2 Slices Bread slices into the air fryer basket.
Air-fry for 2 minutes at 200c/390f. If you have had to overlap them a bit like me, swap them over half way.
Meanwhile slice roughly 70g Cheese.
Remove the lightly toasted bread from the air fryer and flip it over onto a board so the most toasted side is face down. Spread around 2 tsp Salted Butter onto the top of the toast.
Make sure to go right to the edges and spread evenly. Use a little more mayo if needed.
Flip one of the slices over so it is butter side down - there is no way around this, just don't press down hard on this slice.
Arrange half the sliced cheese over the bread making sure it reaches the edges.
Layer in roughly 50g Sliced Ham. I like to cut larger slices into half or quarters and then arrange them with the sliced edged right up against the end of the bread - this make sure that every cheesy bite includes some ham.
Place the rest of the cheese over the ham slices. Again make sure it goes right to the edge.
Sprinkle over around ⅛ Sea Salt Flakes.
Move the second slice of butter covered toast on top of the cheese to form a sandwich.
Carefully place back into the air fryer. I do this using 2 hands rather than tongs or the cheese spills out.
Air fry for 4 minutes at 170c/340f.
Carefully turn the sandwich and air fry for a further 4 minutes at 170c/340f.
Serve hot!
Notes
The air fryer version of this recipe is tested in a Cosori Lite (CAF-LI401S) with a 3.8 litre capacity. The square(ish) shaped basket is 21cm x 21cm and 24cm on the diagonal.
Not all models advise preheating is required. Please follow the recommended instructions for your model. Mine has a specific preheat setting which is 4 minutes at 205c.
For this recipe, I can't actually quite fit 2 regular square slices of bread in the basket at a time but they're fine just a little overlapped and then shuffled about mid toast. Once made into a sandwich, there is plenty of room for one ham & cheese sandwich. This gives just enough room to allow air to circulate. You may need to check the fit depending on what type of bread you're using. You may be able to air fry more than one at a time.
As all air fryer models are a little different, you may find that you can fit more or less in at a time. Some models include stacking shelves which will increase capacity.
Required cooking times and temperatures can also vary between models and brands. If you know that your air fryer runs a little hotter than most recipes suggest, use a lower temperature. And vice versa. Equally if you find that food cooks more quickly in your machine than instructions usually state, reduce the cooking time (or check it earlier) and vice versa.