Here's the latest installment of our GastroLab series for Slate, inspired by a suggestion from Sporkful listener Corynn in Washington State. Corynn pokes holes in the bread while making grilled cheese, so that the cheese oozes through to the pan and gets browned and crispy. We tested this technique and then took it several steps further, culminating with one of the most perilous maneuvers in GastroLab history, in which Dan encases a grilled cheese in fried cheese, and nearly burns the house down in the process.

As first published in Slate Magazine (www.Slate.com).