Shop For A Burger Press

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Why You Need A Burger Press

The reason that you need a burger press is simple – to make perfect burgers!

There’s an art to creating the perfect burger, and it all starts with the patty. Having perfectly sized and uniform patties will help you take your BBQ to a new gourmet level. Burger presses will do just that, along with a ton of other added benefits that we’ll go over in this post.

Working with freshly ground beef will taste much better than using preformed or (even worse) frozen patties.  The more that the beef is handled before it gets to your grill, the more the fibers break down and it becomes mushy.  Starting with beef that’s fresh from the grinder and putting it into your press will ensure perfect bite.

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Pounding out patties on your counter top flings bacteria all over your kitchen.  I’m not going to go into the nastiness that uncooked beef laying around your prep area can cause, but trust me e-coli isn’t something you want to deal with.  The burger press will keep everything neat and tidy inside and you can wash that instead of sanitizing your whole kitchen after hammering patties out.

So what do you need in a burger press?  There are few key elements that set the generic hamburger presses apart from the really good ones.  The construction is essential.  Plastic burger presses will break, guaranteed.  You need one that is made from heavy duty aluminum so it can stand to press patties for a lifetime and is still light enough to move around.  A nonstick inside is also crucial since you’ll probably only use patty paper on one side and without nonstick you’ll have a gnarly mess on your hands.  Aside from a heavy duty construction and nonstick surfaces the size and appearance is totally up to you.

Which patty presses are the best?  I’ll show you!  The presses below are all ones that we’ve had the opportunity to try out and recommend.  These are all available from Amazon, so you’ll be able to shop with confidence and get great rates on shipping.

Which Is The Best Double Burger Press?

Since most people don’t barbecue alone, there is a big need for a double burger press. You can certainly get the job done with a standard hamburger press, but the work is nearly cut in half when you have a press that can do double the work. There really aren’t that many hamburger presses that are designed to do double duty, but the two that are available are both of very high quality, and an excellent addition to any barbecue kit. In this post I want to break down the features of each one, so that you can figure out which one is the best for your situation.

Weston Double Hamburger Press

Weston is a brand that is famous for their high quality hamburger presses, and this is definitely not an exception to that!

The aluminum construction of this hamburger press is something that we’ve touted on this website as one of the biggest factors in having a high quality press. It’s heavy enough that it won’t slide around on you while pressing burgers or feel like it’s going to break, yet lightweight enough that you can move it around the kitchen and clean it without a struggle.

Another cool feature that this press has is it’s ability to adjust the thickness of the patty. When you are getting started with using a press, this is a very hand feature. The pros will probably set this once, and never screw around with it again, but when you’re learning it helps to figure out how the different thicknesses cook in different ways.

Any high quality hamburger press is going to have a nonstick coating so the patty doesn’t stick, and this one does as well.

If you’re looking for a very high quality double burger press for home use, this is a fantastic choice!

Norpro Double Hamburger Press

If you’re looking for a burger press that is just as high quality as the Weston one, but without all of the bells and whistles, this Norpro press is a great choice!

This press has the same important basic features that all of the high quality burger presses do, heavy duty aluminum construction and non stick surfaces, at a great low price.

The trick to getting extremely consistent burgers with presses that don’t have adjustable thickness is to weigh them out beforehand. It’s not hard to eyeball thickness when all of the patties are the exact same weight. You don’t need a fancy digital scale either, a simple ounce scale will get the job done perfectly.

With this press roll your patties into balls and put them in with patty paper and press down. The pressure that you apply will determine their thickness, and both patties should be uniform since they are pressed together.

If you’re looking for a high quality press with a low price tag, the Norpro Double Burger Press is the perfect choice!

As you can see, there really isn’t a bad choice between these two. Your budget will play a role in which you choose, as well as the features that you want, but both of them are a fantastic double burger press choice!

The Best Burger Recipe

The best burger recipe starts with cooking the beef.  If the meat isn’t cooked properly the burger will never be good.  Ever.

You would never build a house without the foundation being set properly, would you?  Exactly.

I’ve managed a number of high end burger restaurants and steakhouses over the years and there isn’t much difference in how they all have cooked their patties.  After all of my experience I’ve been able to compile the knowledge into a single recipe.

Start with freshly ground beef.  The lean to fat ratio should be between 70/30 and 80/20.  The more fat, the juicier the burger is going to be.  Get the patty and round it into a half pound ball (use a scale) and run it through a burger press for even thickness.

Once your patties are ready lay them out on a hot grill.  It’s important that the grate of the grill is hot so you can get the restaurant style char marks.  After the patty is on the grill season it with an 80/20 blend of salt and pepper, go a little heavier than you think since much of it will drip off after the burger is flipped.

From there-

  • Give the patty a 30 degree turn after a minute and a half for the diamond char mark
  • Flip the patty once the blood starts pooling on the top of it
  • After a minute and a half on the second side give it another 30 degree turn and add the cheese
  • Once another minute and a half passes the burger should be right at medium rare, pull it or leave it until desired wellness (it’s about another 30 seconds for each stage)

That’s how the finest burger restaurants cook their burgers, so why wouldn’t you want to cook yours the same?

From there you can dress it however you want.  The patty is already going to be so full of juice and flavor that it’s hard to screw it up!

Finding A Commercial Burger Press

A commercial burger press is a pain to find and that problem is compounded further if you’re working on a budget.  Let’s face it, these things are expensive!  You can expect to pay at least $300 for a quality one, but when you factor in the time that they can save over pounding patties your investment will be recouped in saved labor dollars in just a few weeks.  In this post we’ll take a look at how they work, why they’re so expensive, and show you some affordable options.

A commercial patty press is like a giant elevated lever that squishes round balls of ground beef into equal and uniform patties.  To get the best results and speed with a burger press like this is to have your prep crew weigh out portions ahead of time and roll them into balls onto patty paper.  You can fit a few dozen of these prepped balls into a shallow hotel pan.  After they’ve all been rounded run them through the press with the patty paper on the bottom.  From there they can be popped out and neatly stacked and ready to cook.  You can get 15-20 patties a minute with these once you get the workflow down.

These things are so damn expensive because they’re huge!  The models that I’ve used are almost two feet tall and have a pretty large footprint on the prep table.  They’re usually made from heavy duty cast aluminum so that they’re durable and heavy enough that they won’t tip over but light enough to still be able to move around the kitchen.

If you’re looking for a cheap commercial patty press look for used ones.  Your local restaurant supply store might have some options for you.  If not, turn to the web.  Here are some options that Amazon has.  I know that’s not the traditional place for restaurateurs to buy their equipment, but savings are savings!

What Makes The Steakhouse Burger Press So Cool?

The Steakhouse Burger Press is the new “hot” toy for big time BBQ’ers and burger fanatics.  In this post I want to take a look at how it works, what makes it different from other burger presses, and what you can do to get the same results without it.

This cylinder shaped burger press makes one patty at a time in any size and weight you can imagine.  You can make everything between quarter pounders all the way up to almost a pound.  It’s silicone treated on the inside so nothing can stick to it and your patties come out clean and even.  It’s also dishwasher safe, so cleanup is a breeze.

The real selling point of this press is the “thumbprint” that it puts into the patty that prevents your burgers from bloating while they’re on the BBQ.  Ideally, this creates uniform and level burgers that cook more evenly.  The technique is an old restaurant trick that cooks and chefs have used for years and not a lot of home cooks know about.  This works by compressing the meat fibers right in the middle of the patty that will keep it close to the same thickness after it’s been cooked as it was raw.

There are a couple of problems here though.  You have to be able to cook a burger properly before starting.  Burgers cooked from medium rare to medium work best with this technique.  Anything cooked from medium well on are going to start to curl on the edges since the entire patty is cooking at the same speed and there’s no room for the extra heat to transfer through the meat.  Having your cook time down is a necessity before testing this trick out.

Second, you (I would assume) have a thumb on both of your hands (or at least know someone who does).  You don’t need a burger press to put a thumbprint into your patties, I’m pretty sure you can figure that out on your own!

I certainly don’t want to turn you away from this press, it’s a sweet setup.  I just want you to know what you’re getting yourself into by buying and using it.  There are other hamburger presses that will do the same job in the same price range.  Unfortunately, none of the other presses have the same cool black finish that this one does…

Use A Mini Burger Press For Perfect Sliders

The slider fad might have faded in the gourmet restaurants, but they’re still delicious and perfect for home.  A mini burger press is the perfect tool for making sliders at home, and almost a necessity to get them right.  You can certainly make them without a press, but they’ll never come out as good (I’ll explain in a little bit).

Sliders are perfect for your next party.  They’re the perfect finger food and you’ll still be able to hold a beer in the other hand!  Any get together where you need to make appetizers or snacks will be perfect for sliders.  Making them is easy, and it only take a few pounds of beef to hammer out dozens of sliders.

So why do you need mini burger presses to make sliders?  There are two reasons, the first is that it’s a pain to smash out dozens of mini burger patties while still keeping them at a safe temperature (below 40 degrees) and they need to be consistent in size and thickness so that they cook evenly.  It only takes a minute or two to cook a slider which makes it tough to make sure that you don’t overcook them.  No one wants to eat a hockey puck, no matter how cute and small it is!

What makes the perfect slider?  Just like every burger you can put whatever you want on it, but there’s a tried and true combination that has graced sliders for years.  First, the patty gets cooked on a flat griddle rather than on the BBQ (blasphemy, I know!), then both sides of the bun get healthy coating of mayo, and a very thin slice of sharp cheddar goes on the patty.  The cheddar should be thin enough that you don’t have to take any extra steps to melt it, allow the heat of the patty to take care of that for you.  As for the beef, you want to start with a lean grind so that the patty doesn’t shrink too much.  70/30 is probably too fatty, most restaurants will use 80/20 or 85/15 to make sure that they hold their size.  Also, be sure to avoid kobe or anything tender like that since it will turn to mush on the bun.

Here are our choices for the best mini burger presses around.  These are all available from Amazon so you can shop with confidence and get great deals on shipping.