Way back when my mom-in-law introduced me to making our first incarnation of easy to make faux bacon, she taught me the way to press the water out of the tofu was to wrap the block in a paper towel and balance a cast iron skillet on it. Pretty K.I.S.S. right? Except the skillet has problems balancing for a extended period of time and the paper would get soaked to the point that it would disintegrate, coating the tofu with bits of yummy recycled wood product.
It’s been awhile now, but I recall looking at tofu presses at the local co-op and being less than impressed with the prices. At 40-60 bucks a pop they were right there with the $60 counter top compost bins on the over priced shelf (to the left of the boutique designer soft drinks section & loan dept).
Across the country in Atlanta there was a guy named Ben who was encountering the same problems. Fortunately for us, he was a little more motivated to do something about the issue than yours truly. Instead of popping the latest incarnation of Call of Halo (Halo of Duty?) in the XStation, Ben got to work designing, manufacturing & marketing an easy to use and relatively inexpensive tofu press.
Apathy aside I’d never lost my curiosity about them. It goes without saying we’ve made do in our tofu press free kitchen despite the fact the fa’con isn’t as crispy as desirable. So I was delighted when Ben offered us the opportunity to try the EZ Tofu Press, if for no other reason it was a chance to sate my curiosity about tofu presses on somebody else’s dime.
The first thing you’ll notice about the EZ Tofu Press is that it is pretty simple looking, Two boards, a couple of nuts & …. ah screw it, a picture is worth a 1,000 words so here ya’ go.
Notice the EZ Press has none of the springs, clasps & containment units of the other presses, conforming with DFV’s K.I.S.S. policy.
As the designated DFV gadget & tech guy, I looked at the beautiful design simplicity of the EZ Press and just charged in without taking a second to look at the directions, resulting in one thoroughly crushed brick of tofu. What were supposed to be TLT sandwiches turned into a TLT salad. We here at the DFV test kitchen eat our fails, literally. They can’t all be gems.
So I took :30 seconds out of my hectic schedule to read the directions and guess what? They’re K.I.S.S. too! The trick is taking your time. Armed with the pad to keep myself amused with rounds of Fairway Solitaire Golf during the 3 to 4 minute resting periods between tightening the press, I took another run at not smashing a brick of tofu. This time it worked beautifully. It’s amazing what can happen when you follow the instructions.
When properly squeezed, the brick of tofu compressed down to about 2/3 of it’s original thickness yet maintained it’s firmness and ability to be sliced. It was interesting to actually see the strips enlarge from re-hydrating the marinade while frying instead of shrinking as the water is boiled out. The final product was pretty damn tasty pieces of fa’con that looked good and were sourdough ready. By this point I was hungry and didn’t get pics, sorry.
The verdict: I love the EZ Tofu Press and I’m not giving back. The EZ Tofu Press is available from Amazon for the low low price of $26.99. If you are tired of balancing heavy objects on your tofu, but don’t want to spend an arm & leg (which wouldn’t be very vegan would it?) get yourself an EZ Tofu Press.
DFV Quick Fa’con
1 brick of firm Tofu, pressed and sliced into strips
1/4 cup of Nutritional Yeast
Oil
Marinade
5 tbs of Tamari
1 tbs each of:
Liquid Smoke
Braggs*
Maple Syrup or Bee-less honey
I’ll also add a tablespoon of BBQ Sauce and Annie’s Vegan Worcester Sauce when I have them around
Mix all the marinade stuff together.
Fry tofu strips in a little bit of oil over low to medium heat, when tofu begins to brown, cover with nutritional yeast, THEN add marinade and raise the heat to medium/medium-high. Cook until desired texture & temperature.
* Its just been brought to my attention that Braggs & Tamari are generally interchangeable and that I am being redundant here. There is a reason this is Steffi’s page and not mine…..
UPDATE: We just got word that Ben will giveaway a EZ Tofu Press to one lucky DFV reader. Please leave a comment below by Sunday night and we’ll draw a winner Monday morning. Limited to residents of U.S.A., sorry international readers.
Don't Fear the Vegan 
Holy wowzer! This gadget might actually make it possible for me to cook with tofu, since everything I’ve attempted so far has been unsuccessful, lol. I simply can’t afford to spend a fortune on a press with 2 kid, a hubby, the cat, and the dog to feed. Can you believe they actually think they need to eat Every Day?!?
This is amazing!!!
I like the looks of this. I press tofu a harder way.
What a great giveaway! I would love to have a tofu press! (Great Fa’con recipe too)
We’ve been looking for a great tofu press; pressing tofu makes such a difference!
This is exactly the tofu press I was looking to buy!
I’ve definitely wanted one of these for quite a while, and I’m glad to hear that they are as simple as they seem to be. I wouldn’t mind munchin on some of that fa’con as well 😀
very cool, that would work a lot better than the method I use now lol
Gimme dat!
I would love to have this! We didn’t realize that pressed tofu existed until recently, what a difference!!!!
Sounds great! I nearly lost my sugar canister the other day when it lost it’s balance atop my tofu last week! Glad to hear it worked so well for you!
This is AWESOME! How have I not heard about this before… my kiddo’s love tofu but not soggy tofu LOL! This would be such a great addition to my veg family!!! ❤
Pressing the moisture out of the tofu has always been a bit of a problem for me and has kept me from trying a number of recipes. Would love to try this press out (and this recipe, too)! Both the press and the recipe sound great.
My daughter liked this press on Facebook – and I love it! I totally relate to having bits of paper towel stuck to my tofu after feeble attempts at pressing. Looking forward to trying your fa’con recipe too! Thank you!!
Wow, genius! Why haven’t we heard of this before? We need one now–lol
Thanks! Just ordered 🙂
Yeah!
I would love to have that tofu press! My method of putting a gallon of water on top of the tofu just isn’t cutting it anymore! haha
Well this would certainly be a lot easier than my current method using two books. And I wouldn’t have to ruin so many good books…
I’m SO in need of a tofu press! Struggles of a vegan with no tofu press haha. Really want to try the fa’con recipe, too! Thank you so very much! :0)
I really, really, really, really, really need a tofu press!!! Really. I don’t have a cast iron skillet so I use a plate with cans balanced on top. The fall. Repeatedly. Sometimes they hit one of the dogs. The dogs don’t like it when that happens. There are three of them, one of me. I really need a tofu press before they decide to stage a revolution.
Well, my grammar and word choice kinda’ suck. “They” fall. And I probably should have said rebellion rather than revolution. Or I could have proof read.
I use the ol’ wrap in paper towel, then a tea towel, then weight down the block – usually with a full water pitcher so everything can stay chilled. But, I’d LOVE something easier and less waist-full!
This would be so cool!!!
This is a great giveaway! I’ve been wanting one but they’re so expensive.
This is a great give away! I wanted a tofu press but they are so expensive!
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