Easy Vegetarian Recipes and Vegan Recipes

The last few weeks have been a source of frustration, to say the least. My host, whose name I won’t mention (hint: it begins with a “Dream” and ends with a “host”), decided to add a disallow all to my robots.txt file on one of my biggest sites (not this one, thankfully). In non-geek speak, that means they changed settings on my files (without permission) to tell Google to de-index every page on my site. Needless to say, it’s distracted me from the relaxing things I love, like trying out and making new recipes for this blog.

However…

A foolproof way to remedy a creative block in the kitchen

Oh, that’s easy. Just have a clever dad. Go on.

I have a plastic tofu press which yields a block of tofu just about large enough for one. It was great when I first bought it because I’d never made tofu prior to that point and it was a novelty. But time went on and I realised it wasn’t a very good product for a serious tofu lover. You just can’t make enough with it, for one, and it just isn’t that high of quality. It works but it’s the most bottom line press you can get, in my opinion.

I looked and looked for something wooden, something bigger, something that represented my mind’s image of the ideal tofu press. I couldn’t find it.

So I rang my father (who’s all clever and stuff with making things). I then e-mailed him some images and measurements and he knocked this up, adding a few ideas of his own. A couple of weeks later a gigantic box arrived on my doorstep and I became the proud owner of a certifiably awesome tofu press. How cool is that?

Design requests

My biggest request was a lid with a good sized handle that would sit outside of the box when pressing thin blocks of curd. This is not a traditional design, but I wanted it because the aforementioned plastic kit contained a lid which was just crap.  It was light and sat improperly on the block, with very little accessible surface area on which to place an object to aid in pressing. This meant tofu pressed with an inconsistent texture (like pockets where the liquid was not evenly pressed out).

I wanted ultimate control. The new box allows me to press the tofu to the point I determine is right for what I want as an end product. I can easily stack books or a cutting board with a bowl of liquid on top of the handle to press more (for super firmness).

Second, it’s bigger. Much, much bigger, and with a whole lot of holes for the whey to drain away (awhey? Har har. Sorry). I can press ten times the amount of bean curd as before. That’s a lot.

Yum. Can’t get enough of it. If you hate tofu, you haven’t had it fresh.

And you know how chocolate milk always tastes better from a cardboard carton than from plastic? The same applies for tofu made in a wood press versus plastic (try the chocolate milk thing though, I’m serious).

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  • richard
    i like your box. i made tofu for the first time today. i didn't have a box but i have a steamer basket that goes with the pot. I just layed down some chessecloth over the holes in the steamer basket and put a large can of tomatoes to push out the water. It worked.... only thing is that the tofu is in a circle form and not rectangle.

    I have been thinking of building a box but my kitchen is running out of space.
  • Kip
    Who cares what shape it is, so long as it works?! I know what you mean about kitchen space. I'm running out fast...
  • Mink
    I'm about to get a tofu press, and was wondering mainly about the cleaning aspects of the wood compared to a plastic press. One I could throw in the dishwasher, or at least hand wash, and feel confident that it is not accumulating bacteria. But what about wood? I want to get wood, but am worried that it will foster bacterial growth by absorbing soymilk/liquid. Opinions?
  • patrickshannon
    It is important to use stailess steel screws and a hard wood ( oak, hickory, walnut or teak)
    Teak is the best but is expensive. it is used on boats. It is good idea to remove splinters or countersink the holes so they are smooth. this will make it easier to clean and leave less areas for bacteria. any wood should be dishwasher safe and could also be soaked in light bleach water for 15 minutes or more. The design is good and I love the big handle.
  • Kip
    There's no doubt about the plastic being easier to clean if you want to go the dishwasher route, though I've admittedly not put my wooden press in the dishwasher to test how well it would stand up to that. To clean my wooden one, I scrub it lightly with soapy water before rinsing it with boiling water. I then leave it to dry on the radiator. I sort of look at the process like that of using cast iron or a trusty wok- maybe it's not the cleanest, but people have been using them for a long time and I haven't seen any cases of tofu press related illnesses ;)

    Best of luck whichever you choose! You'll love the home made tofu no matter which route you take.
  • john
    Very nice press! I'm looking to try my hand AGAIN at making a tofu press. I lived in South Korea and one thing I did for fun on my first attempt was to reverse care my name in the top so that my name (in Korean) was formed atop the block of tofu! I found that the wood I used wasn't good as it somehow soaked flavor into the tofu :-(

    Are there holes drilled in the base of your press? Do you know the type of wood used? Are those just grooves for the edge of the press to sit in, or do they also function as some sort of drainage as well? Thanks for any tips/reply to johnhobgood@gmail.com

    --John
  • Wow - that's a serious piece of equipment there - what a cool Dad, indeed! :D So are you adding up the pounds of tofu that you make with this? Could be fun to tally that.
  • Totally agree about carton milk, or soda in glass bottles compared to cans.

    This design looks like it would work great for a cheese press as well. Very cool. Kudos to your dad.
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