****** - Verified Buyer
4.5
First and foremost, this press is sturdy and well designed. I had spent a few days researching and reading many reviews of different tortilla presses and was nervous to buy a press for flour tortillas. So many reviews had indicated that you just can't use these presses for flour and they will break. To prove their point, they include lots of pictures of snapped handles, hinges, even broken platers. This is enough to discourage any buyer to look for something else entirely and makes you question the quality of the metal of the product. So I searched and searched for a reliable press that didn't have such awful reviews and came to this product.Well now that I've used my press, I'm pretty sure I know why so many people broke their presses. In my opinion, what all those other reviews failed to mention is that they broke their press by pushing it beyond the normal operating limits. Let me explain...You can "feel" when the press is maxed out, pressure-wise. If you try to force it, you will break it. This is true with everything... If you don't understand this concept, then don't buy this press or any other press. Treat it with care and respect and it will work great for you. If it is maxing out, it is likely something you're doing wrong rather than something that is wrong with the press.Maxing out the press - to put it simply, when the handle doesn't want to move further down and you have a lot of resistance, don't keep pushing it down. Forcing things will only result in a disaster. It is actually pretty easy to press it down and you can feel it when it is down all the way. "It stops letting you push it down..." Also, if you look at the side of the press, you can see that the two plates are together all the way when the press is at max. You might be tempted to try and push it more if you open it up to find a not-so-flat tortilla but don't. Again, there is a problem with what you're doing, not the press. Once you figure out what you're doing wrong, it is easy to understand how and why others keep breaking their presses. Even though the press is constructed of cast-iron metal, it will still break if enough force is applied and you are using a 12" lever. That gives you a lot of torque to apply. Trust me, you can break tough metal with enough, properly applied torque and all the other reviews prove it.When I got this press, it was freaking cold because it was snowing outside so, of course, the metal press was freezing. If you want a good result, you need the press at least at room temperature. (A two-minute trip to the oven at 350F fixed that problem)I also had prepared the dough the day ahead and kept it in the refrigerator. When using the cold dough on the freezing press, it is very difficult to get a flat and thin tortilla.With that said, here is what we learned to avoid breaking our press and had amazing results. Please keep in mind that we are not professionals and this is what we learned as complete amateurs. I haven't used corn-based tortilla dough, which may be much easier, so please keep that in mind as well.- Use Heat Resistant Silicone MatsI cannot tell you how important this is. A lot of people would recommend just using a trash bag or some other plastic bag, and that will work for keeping the tortilla from sticking to the press but when you remove the flour tortilla from the surface, it will shrink. Note my picture between the small and large tortilla. If you use a heat-resistant silicone mat, you can leave the tortilla on the mat and put it right into the pan. This keeps the tortilla the same size without shrinkage. (Tortilla side down on the frying pan) Then when you see steam coming off the tortilla, pill the silicone mat off and start your next batch. (This really is a two-person effort so you can go faster and not overheat your pan, which destroys most pans)We purchased a 10-inch press and two 12-inch silicone mats (up to 425F heat resistant) and then cut them down to size. Trying to find 10-inch mats was impossible and leaving them at 12-inches caused the press to not press the tortilla all the way down.- Use room temperature doughThe warmer the dough, the easier it is for it to spread while being pressed. Cold naturally contracts while heat naturally expands. Basic science.- Bounce/Pulse the handleOnce you have pressed the tortilla initially, back off a millimeter and press again. Do this a few times quickly. This allows the tortilla to expand and become ultra-thin, which translates to a perfect (like store-bought) tortilla. (My wife says you should also rotate the tortilla and press it again for a more centered and even tortilla, but I didn't care that much, and mine was good enough without this step.)Overall, great press, and I am sure it will last us a lifetime. I would recommend it to all family and friends, or at least those who aren't overzealous, just because it is made of heavy-duty metal. I can't say this enough...
