A toasted sandwich is a sandwich that has been toasted. While this can be done to any sandwich simply by using a grill, the toasted sandwich maker is a small appliance dedicated to this task. An early manufacturer of these devices was Breville and some call all toasted sandwich makers by this name. As well as toasting the sandwich, the toasted sandwich maker commonly presses the edges together to form a seal, so the filling ends up in a cavity within the bread. While this makes it convenient to eat, it can also render the filling extremely hot.
Just as in an ordinary, untoasted sandwich, the choice of toasted sandwich fillings and combinations of fillings is limited only by the imagination of the chef. Perhaps the most commonly used filling is cheese, on its own or together with tomato or ham. Pickles, jam, and even such strange bedfellows as banana and Nutella are other examples.
In Australia, toasted sandwiches à la Breville (i.e. with sealed edges) are sometimes called jaffles. The device used to create these is generically called a jaffle iron. More pedestrian toasted sandwiches are called toasted sandwiches, or toasties. Toastie is the most common nomenclature in Britain , the older Breville (as a name for the sandwich) never having been in common use.
A ready-made form of toasted sandwich with a sweet fruit jam filling is marketed by Kellogg's, called Pop-Tarts. These are heated in an ordinary toaster rather than a toasted sandwich maker.
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