Having Fun With My Burger Press

Many years ago, I first used a burger press when I was cooking at a restaurant. The idea is simple. The device has a round form and a press that fits into it. When you put ground beef into the mold and press it down, it forms nice, round burgers that are uniform in height. This makes them easier to cook and it adds to the visual appeal, once the burgers are done. 

Burger presses have evolved quite a bit over the years. The first one that I used was made in the 1970s, so this isn’t surprising.

We already have a nice electronic kitchen scale that can measure ounces, pounds, and metric. It wasn’t especially expensive, but it is great for measuring out amounts by weight for the foods I might be cooking.

Late last year, during a shopping trip, I noticed that a package of 12 quarter pound hamburger patties cost $15.99. Except for being pre-made, there was nothing special about those patties and I’d actually purchased them before. However, it occurred to me that I’d been paying $5.33 per pound for the hamburger, each time I bought one of those packages.

Hamburger in this little town tends to be expensive and usually costs about $2.99 per pound. That is still far less than buying the preformed patties. I had the scale, so measuring out quarter pound portions wasn’t difficult. The problem was in getting a uniform thickness and hamburgers that were actually round. Then I remembered the burger press I’d used over 40 years earlier.

It was easy to find a press on Amazon and I bought one for around $10. I knew that it wouldn’t take long to the press to pay for itself, which it definitely has. 

This burger press does more than just making a plain old uniform burger and this is where the fun comes in. You see, the press comes with a standard 5-inch diameter mold. However, it also comes with both a 5-inch and a 3-inch plunger or press. This makes it simple to make stuffed hamburgers.

For example, last night, I measured out 3-ounces of burger and put it into the press. Using the big plunger, I get a uniform 5-inch burger. Using the smaller plunger, I then put an indentation in the burger. Last night, I filled the indentation with cheddar cheese, but a person can use bacon, onions, mushrooms, peppers, or whatever they want as a stuffing. Once the stuffing is added, another 3-ounces of burger is added to the top and the large plunger is again used.

The result is a burger that is about a third of a pound, with fillings on the inside; a stuffed hamburger. These are cooked like any other hamburger. For the three of us, I make 5 of these hamburgers for one meal and separate the patties with waxed paper so they are easy to take apart for cooking.

Of course, I can also make plain old quarter-pound patties, separated with waxed paper or parchment paper, then put into a bag and frozen for later use. Doing this is a lot cheaper than buying the patties that are premade. However, it is rather fun to make the stuffed patties. I love noting the reaction when people eat them and get the unexpected extra flavor when they bite into the burger.

Although the burger press didn’t cost much, it is one of the best cooking investments I’ve made in the past decade. For people who like to cook and to eat, this is a device that I’d recommend.