I like toasted sarnies. My toasted sarnie maker was given to me yonks ago, and is difficult to clean. So I have been experimenting with toasted sandwiches "fried" in a frying pan. I follow the same process by spreading the spreadable butter on the outside of the bread, adding a small knob of butter to the pan. They are much betterer than ones done in the machine. I found the trick to squishing them, is to wait until the first side is nicely brown, and squish them once they are turned the first time. The real bonus is that they take less time this way than in the machine.
Fried this way, there are IMO much better, and you can keep the crusts on. The bread goes crispy, and is not soggified. So far I have just used cheese, but what other things do peeps put in their toasted sarnies?