Toasties are one of the most popular menu items in school food services across Queensland, and for good reason!
From the customers’ point of view, they are comforting, can be adapted to preference and are often available at a lower price point than other hot mains.
From a food service point of view, they are quick and simple to make, can be made ahead of time and often achieve a 100%+ mark-up.
Throughout our travels to Queensland tuckshops, there is one thing we have noticed about toasties… No one makes them the same!
Whether you make ahead of time or make fresh, use spray oil or spread (or nothing) on the outside, use one slice of ham or two, grill from frozen or grill wrapped in paper … everyone does it differently!
In a weeknight science experiment, we put our kids to work to make a plethora of toasties in a range of different ways.
We photographed (and ate) the evidence, but we are happy to share a few tips and tricks to ensure that having toasties on your menu is as time and cost-effective as it can be (especially given it is now toastie season!)
- Most toasties can be made ahead and frozen. Toasties with ‘wet’ additions, like tomato, cannot be frozen, but ham, cheese, chicken and mayo sandwiches can be.
- To freeze: make sandwiches and wrap individually in grease-proof paper and place all prepped sandwiches in a sealed container in the freezer. Ensure you label the container with the type of sandwich and the date that they were made.
- You can cook them directly from frozen. Place the frozen sandwich directly in the grill. You don’t need to unwrap from grease-proof paper, nor do you need to spray / spread the outsides of the bread with a spread like margarine. You will need to time how long your sandwich press takes to reheat / melt the cheese (as every sandwich press will be different).
- Toasties can be kept in the hot box until you are ready for service. Foil bags will make the toasties sweat, so add the toastie wrapped in grease-proof paper into a labelled paper bag.
- You don’t need to spray or spread the outside of the bread. See photo evidence below, there is no real difference between the colour of the toasted bread whether you use oil, spread, greaseproof paper or nothing. If you are short on hands and time, cooking already wrapped is a game changer. You don’t have time to be unwrapping, spreading, cooking and re-wrapping. Take out some steps where you can! Note: If the grease-proof paper is too thick or crumpled, it will not toast as well.
- Reminder: cook gluten-free or toasties for children with allergies first. Keeping them wrapped in paper to cook further reduces cross contamination risk.
- However you decide to cook your toasties, it is important to have a recipe card or a task sheet available for new staff or volunteers so that they can do this task with minimal instruction. Remember, everyone makes toasties different. You want every one ordered from your food service to be prepared and presented in the same way.
If you have some adventurous customers, they might enjoy some toasties that feature more than ham and cheese. Why not try:
- Creamed corn and cheese
- Mexican mince and cheese (the mince can’t be too wet though!)
- Roast beef, cheese, sundried tomato, spinach and strip capsicum
- Chick & Pick (chicken, mayo and pickles)
- The Hawaiian: ham, cheese, and pineapple
