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.

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.