Bacon presses are the best devices many of us have never heard of. The versatile cast-iron devices aren’t only for gourmands or bacon-eaters. Even casual vegetarians can benefit from these useful presses.
Bacon presses help cook meat evenly and in half the time. Professional and casual chefs alike praise the impact of bacon presses on flavor, texture, and the overall preparation experience.
Read on to learn the seven reasons to grab your wallet and buy a bacon press. These culinary rockstars are certain to change your entire cooking routine for the better.
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Bacon Presses Keep Your Bacon Flat
A bacon press keeps bacon slices flat. Bacon naturally curls as it cooks. While this may not seem like a problem, bacon should lay flat to cook evenly. When bacon cooks unevenly, you risk parts of the meat drying out while other sections are undercooked or raw. The bacon press keeps the slices flat, ensuring it heats evenly.
A Bacon Press Works on Several Kinds of Meat
Despite the name, the bacon press isn’t limited to everyone’s favorite cured meat. The same rules apply to pork chops, steaks, and sausages. These cuts need to be heated evenly or risk uneven cooking, random burnt spots, and drying out.
The bacon press works on pretty much every conceivable meat. Whether you’re cooking burgers, roast beef, or pork chops, the bacon press helps deliver a consistent, perfect cooking finish.
Bacon Presses Make Perfectly Prepared Paninis and Quesadillas
Bacon presses provide a fun way to make delicious paninis and quesadillas. Make sure your cheese melts evenly by applying the steady and even weight of a bacon press. In fact, the bacon press facilitates the preparation of any flat food.
Get the Best Taste With a Bacon Press
Bacon presses make your food taste better! Well and evenly cooked dishes taste the best. Nothing is more disappointing than one delicious, perfectly crisped bite of bacon chased by a raw, gummy nip, followed by a dried-out, leathery chunk. A bacon press ensures your meat is cooked evenly and your cheese is uniformly melted.
Cut the Fat With a Bacon Press
Bacon presses help drain excess fat from meat cuts. The weight pushes down, allowing the fat to literally melt away as your dish cooks. The handle allows you to push down on the press as the meat heats. This gives you agency in how much fat you choose to keep and dispose of.
Cut Your Cooking Time with a Bacon Press
If you heat the bacon press before cooking meat on a grill or griddle, you can use it as another heat source. Place your pork chop or burger on the grill, then top it with your hot bacon press.
This allows you to evenly cook both sides of the meat simultaneously. You won’t need to worry about flipping your steak or your burger since the bacon press is cooking the top while the grill heats the bottom. In addition to ensuring a more evenly cooked dish, this cuts your cooking time in half.
Bacon Presses Save Money and Space
The bacon press fulfills the role of several different cooking devices. You can ditch the panini press and quesadilla maker, the bacon press makes both. This saves you money and space. Bacon presses are versatile, and their usage is limited to your imagination.
Frequently Asked Questions
Now that you know the many reasons to invest in a bacon press, let’s find the answers to some frequently asked questions.
What is the point of a bacon press?
Bacon presses apply even weight to bacon, steaks, burgers, and other cuts of meat and foods. The device ensures a dish cooks evenly by applying uniform weight and laying the food flat.
Do you flip bacon when using a bacon press?
Yes. Although a bacon press helps bacon cook faster, you’ll still need to flip the slices about halfway through the cooking time. Once you’ve flipped the bacon, return the press to the meat until it’s crispy and cooked through.
Do you preheat a bacon press?
Whether or not you preheat a bacon press depends on your intentions. If you simply want the bacon press to lay meat flat, encourage cooking times and uniform heating, or drain fat, there’s no need to preheat the press.
However, preheating the press allows you to cook both sides of a dish simultaneously. If your purpose is to cut cooking time, then yes, you should preheat the device.
Are grill presses worth it?
Absolutely. Bacon presses serve multiple purposes. The clever device allows you to cook more evenly and faster. Not only does a bacon press make crispy bacon, but it also allows you to cook steak, burgers, and chops evenly.
Bacon presses also make delicious quesadillas and paninis. One bacon press eliminates the need for at least two other devices.
Bestselling Bacon Press Options on Amazon
- THE SECRET TO THE BEST BACON: Take control of tangly bacon on the pan or grill with the ideal solution for flawless searing. With this specially crafted 3 lbs press the next bacon, steak or sandwich you cook will sear evenly, eliminating raw or overcooked sections. Sized to be able to fit nearly any area you cook in.
- FOOD GRADE PRESS | 100% HEAVY-DUTY CAST IRON: Avoid harmful PTFE or PFOA chemicals that other presses use with our food-grade iron cookware. The Bellman Bacon Press might just be the most indestructible cooking tool you use. Made with heavy-duty cast iron, the press can also be seasoned like cast-iron skillets to create a non-stick surface (instructions included).
- EQUALIZED WEIGHT DISTRIBUTION FOR PERFECT GRILL MARKS EVERY TIME: Pre-heat your beautiful Bellman Bacon Press on the pan. Then apply the equalized 3 lbs pressure to your food of choice for a short time. When you remove it, smile at the beautiful creation you’ve made. Share it with loved ones or have it all to yourself.
- STAY-COOL HANDLE: THINK SAFE | ACT SAFE | COOK SAFE: Press and lift without fear or need of cooking gloves. We manufactured our press with a stylish all-cool wood handle. Because you only have two hands—protect them with Bellemain.
- LESS TIME COOKING, MORE TIME EATING: Got people coming over, and want perfect, consistent bacon, quick? The Bellemain signature iron grill press is 8.75-inch in diameter and presses down on your favorite thin meats to make them cook faster and more evenly.
- HIC Kitchen’s Cast Iron Bacon Press flattens bacon to prevent curling and shrinking so bacon cooks evenly with more crispy surfaces and less mess
- Made from cast iron with stay-cool wooden handle; distributes heat evenly; 6.75-inches x 4-inches cooking surface; preheat for faster cooking time
- Easy to season before first use; wash and dry thoroughly, coat frying pan and Press lightly with cooking oil, heat in the pan on low 20 minutes
- Press paninis, keep steaks, burgers, and pork chops from curling or remove unwanted fat, press out whey when making cheese, thick yoghurt, and more
- Easy to use and clean; hand wash in warm, soapy water; rinse and dry thoroughly
- UNCO cast iron grill press is composed of 100% food-grade cast iron with no toxic coatings that can leach into your food, and it's strong and corrosion-resistant. This 8.5" x 4.1" grill press with a large surface can flatten and shape more food at once, preventing bacon, steaks, and pork chops from curling after pressing.
- Our bacon press is heavy enough to place on meat without holding and makes your hands free. The equalized weight distribution of the press helps to cook the meat evenly on both sides, and the non-stick bottom of the press is designed with the line grooves to form beautiful grill marks on the meat, increasing the visual appeal.
- Reduce cooking time by preheating the meat press before using it on burgers, bacon, ham, grilled sandwiches, hamburgers, panini, and chops. The meat press can press out extra grease or liquid for a healthier diet and aid in cooking meat more uniformly, and reduce cooking time.
- The meat press's handle is made of natural wood, which is heat resistant and smooth without any burrs. Its ergonomic design reduces hand fatigue while ensuring a secure and comfortable grip. The wooden handle is firmly attached to the cast iron bottom with two screws, preventing it from falling or losing.
- UNCO cast iron grill press is a professional indoor and outdoor grill tool created for cooking enthusiasts and chefs. The grill press can be used on various surfaces, including grills, griddles, flat tops, teppanyaki, skillets pans, and induction stoves, allowing you to enjoy delicious dishes in the kitchen, restaurant, or while camping.
- CAST IRON CONSTRUCTION: The durable cast iron construction is perfect for retaining heat and will hold up for years to come.
- COMMERCIAL XL SIZE: The 10" x 10" face of the press is ideal for pressing 6 burgers, 4 sandwiches or 2-3 pieces of steak or chicken at a time.
- GRILL MARKS: Even on a griddle, this press will allow you to leave expert-looking grill marks on steak, chicken or vegetables.
- HEALTHY EATING: Use the press to press out any unwanted grease and oils from your food.