Toasties are a Kiwi lunch staple. But what's up for debate is how to construct the ultimate version.

Butter or Mayo

What to spread on the outside of your toasted sandwich has become an area of real contention.

The classic butter is the way most people will have grown up with toasties being created. It goes without saying that butter makes everything taste better. When butter cooks, the milk solids are transformed into that nutty, delicious brown butter that gives a toastie that golden brown exterior crunch. But what you do have to watch is the speed beautifully browned can turn to burnt and bitter tasting.

Mayo on the other hand gives you the same golden brown, created by the egg, but it doesn't risk the same speed of burning as the oil in mayonnaise has a higher heat tolerance. Also, if you're thinking it'll give a different flavour to your toastie you'd be mistaken, it leaves a neutral flavour which some people prefer as it allows the other ingredients in your sandwich masterpiece to shine through.

So, the verdict; it's really up to you. If you love that nutty, buttery flavour then stick with the original and you'll get the timing down to an artform. If you'd prefer something lower maintenance and have a real flavour packed centrepiece to add, then mayo may be the way to go.

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Ingredients of choice

Let's start with the cheese. Whether it's a strongly flavoured or more neutral cheese that's up to your personal preference, but either way you'll be better to grate it. It'll melt the best, creating that gooey cheesy base to stick it all together.

Now, to the important part, the New Zealand pork. Most people will choose NZ ham as their starring centrepiece. And from here you'll need to decide if you go for thin, shaved ham or thicker slices.

We love a generous serve of thin sliced ham, it'll heat evenly and meld into the cheesy mix. With this mix we prefer a good crunchy bread like a ciabatta or sourdough to give it a crunchy texture

If you prefer bacon over ham then we go for cooking it first, before cutting it finely and adding it to the toasted sandwich. The crispy bacon bits will make for a delicious crunch. For this creation we lean toward the classic soft white bread, or if you want to be extra decadent, go brioche.

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Toastie machine or panini press

These days there's a huge variety of toastie creating devices. The classic toastie machine focuses heat to seal the edges of your sandwich, creating that extra crunchy crust piece and a super compact little pocket of flavour.

The panini press on the other hand evenly distributes heat and creates those perfect char marks. However you don't get the closed in edges which can lead to a bit of a melty mess (but melty mess also means delicious crunchy cheese pieces to crack off the edges). Our preference is the classic toastie machine when you're going with a standard bread, but for anything more extravagant we lean toward the panini press.

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What do our fans think

We asked our Facebook followers to weigh in on the debate and decide what makes the best toastie.

Their verdict... ham and cheese were up there in almost all responses! Other favourites included onion, pineapple and tomato.

And for those who are up for something a little different, asparagus, curry powder and tomato sauce were also in the list for some people's ultimate toastie!