A burger press is a kitchen gadget that creates uniform burger patties for even cooking. It can be a simple metal ring or an elaborate machine. A grill or hamburger press is a heavy metal tool that speeds up cooking time by pushing excess fat out and keeping more surface area in contact with heat.
One of the more complicated chores of kitchen prep involves transforming a cold pile of raw ground beef into finished burgers that are ready for the grill or skillet. As meat and fat build up on your hands, it becomes increasingly difficult to produce uniform patties of roughly similar weight and thickness. Luckily, there’s a kitchen gadget called a burger press that can be a lot of work and create uniform burger patties. A hamburger press may consist of simply a well-oiled metal ring or it could be a very elaborate pressing and stacking machine.
The press allows a cook to measure raw hamburger meat and place it within a standardized ring to create a uniform set of hamburger patties. A hamburger or other ground beef patty usually cooks more evenly when it’s of a uniform thickness. A hand-pressed hamburger patty can get much thicker in the middle than the edges, which often results in a well-done burger with a raw center. Using a press, the entire surface of the meat comes into contact with the heat source.
The simplest form of burger press might still involve hands-on contact as the meat is pressed against the sides of a well-oiled metal or plastic ring. Pressing rings can be purchased in various sizes, such as a quarter pound, third pound, and half pound. A fancier hamburger press may allow the user to drop rounded balls of ground beef into oiled chambers and use a hinged press to shape them into uniform patties. Pre-cut squares of butcher paper or patty can be placed between patties to keep them separate after pressing.
There is also another kitchen aid that can be described as a burger press, but its function has more to do with cooking than preparation. As anyone who has cooked a burger at home can attest, a burger often takes a long time to reach a state of doneness. Restaurants don’t usually have the luxury of time, so they often use specialized equipment to speed up the cooking process of popular items. One piece of equipment is called a grill or hamburger press.
Just like a bacon press, a grill or hamburger press is usually made of cast iron or other heavy metals. The flat end of the burger press is placed on top of the burger patty as it cooks on a heated grill. The weight of the press pushes some excess fat out of the meat, but also keeps more of the surface area of the patty in contact with the heat. The press also provides insulation to force heat back into the patty, so the burger cooks faster. Here’s how a restaurant can serve up a well-done burger in half the time of a similar home-cooked burger.
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