my first experience with a pie iron

This is a square pie iron.

I recently wrote about the possibility of using two wonder skillets as a pie iron, which didn't exactly work out.

I had never used a real pie iron before, so I decided to try it out.

They're meant to be used over a campfire, but I used the stovetop.

I quickly realized that I should have used a back burner.

Because I used a front burner, I had to stand there and hold the handle; Otherwise it would have fallen off the stove.

I also realized that it might have been better to put the Lodge trivet on the burner underneath the pie iron, to help catch any drippings from the side.

I'm still up in the air about preheating the iron first.

I didn't this time, because I didn't want to risk burning myself when applying the food to the iron, nor risk overcooking the food.

But if I had preheated, it would have cooked faster. I'm still not sure; up to you.

There are many pie iron recipes out there, but I started with a basic grilled cheese sandwich.

Which would have certainly cooked faster on a preheated griddle, but anyway, it was fun.

I held the pie iron over the stove burner, turning over periodically and checking for doneness.

The grilled cheese sandwich, tasted like a grilled cheese sandwich. Which is good, if you like grilled cheese sandwiches.

Apparently you can cook all kinds of things in a pie iron.