Maximize the cooking area and provide your food better browning for more flavor using a Cast Iron Chef's Press.Preheat the Chef's Press while the grill is preheating to ensure the crispiest skin, even cooking of burgers and bacon, and the best grilled cheese ever. The weighty cast iron is the ideal weight for cooking with and features a steel handle wrapped in wood to ensure safe operation. Make meals faster, searing from both sides using the Cast Iron Chef's Press.
A cast iron press is a kitchen essential providing quick and even heat contact that transforms how food cooks. By applying gentle, consistent pressure from above while heat comes from below, you achieve simultaneous searing on both surfaces. This dual-surface contact dramatically reduces cooking time while creating superior browning, crisping, and flavor development through the Maillard reaction.
Master the crispiest bacon and grilled cheese in a new way with this press. For bacon, the press keeps strips flat and in full contact with the cooking surface, preventing the curling that causes uneven cooking. The result is uniformly crispy bacon from edge to edge in less time. For grilled cheese sandwiches, the press creates perfect contact between bread and heat while compressing the sandwich slightly to meld cheese and bread together. The pressure also creates those beautiful golden-brown grill marks and ensures cheese melts completely and evenly.
Sear meat perfectly using the press on steaks, pork chops, or chicken breasts. The weight flattens uneven cuts, ensuring consistent thickness and therefore consistent doneness. Thicker portions compress slightly while thinner areas maintain contact, resulting in uniform cooking across the entire piece. The press also accelerates searing by maintaining continuous surface contact, developing crust faster and locking in juices. Use it to crisp the skin on fish fillets or poultry—place skin-side down and apply the press to render fat and create irresistibly crispy skin.
Makes your burgers evenly thick and cooks them perfectly by preventing the bulging that often occurs when burgers cook. The press gently flattens burgers as they cook, ensuring they stay in full contact with the grill grates or griddle surface. This creates better crust, reduces cooking time, and prevents the dome-shaped burgers that don't fit properly in buns. Some cooks even use the press to make "smash burgers"—pressing thin patties hard against a hot griddle to create lacy, crispy edges.
Made of cast iron with steel handle wrapped in wood for safe, comfortable handling. Cast iron's exceptional heat retention means you can preheat the press on the grill, then it acts as a second heat source pressing down from above while the grill heats from below. This double-sided heating is the secret to dramatically reduced cooking times and superior results. The wood-wrapped handle stays cool enough to handle safely, though heat-resistant gloves are still recommended when the press has been on a hot grill.
The weighty cast iron construction provides ideal pressure—heavy enough to flatten and maintain contact, but not so heavy it crushes delicate items. The weight is perfectly balanced for grilling applications. Too light and the press doesn't make proper contact; too heavy and it squashes food. This press hits the sweet spot for versatile cooking.
Preheat the press on the grill alongside your food for 3-5 minutes before using. The hot press sears the top surface immediately upon contact, locking in moisture and creating that coveted crust. Use it on griddles, flat-tops, grill grates, or in cast iron skillets for maximum versatility. After use, clean with hot water and a brush, dry thoroughly, and apply a light coat of oil to maintain the seasoning.
