Starfrit Hamburger Press - Heavy Duty Stainless Steel Patty Maker for Perfect Homemade Burgers, BBQ, and Grilling - White

I've used just about every type of manual, single patty burger presses. I don't relish it - it's slow, agonizing work, with a lot of clean up. Previously, my favorite type had a chamber you lowered over the meat and then you pressed it against a cutting board. Ones that instead push the burger into a bowl can be hard to remove, and difficult to clean.This 3 piece plastic design was definitely a new idea, but I decided to give it a try, because so many of the current offerings do such a poor job at shaping the burger you might as well just use your hands. And... it's FANTASTIC! Still slow and agonizing, but far quicker to use, more consistent in shaping, and easier to clean and assemble than ANY other design I've tried! The key is that this has 3 plastic parts - a plunger, a "bowl", and a lifting spatula that sits on the bottom of the bowl - and this is key to getting the best of both designs. There's also a raised bump on the spatula that holds the meat on the center for better consistency, and a cool ridged design on the plunger that is just plain fun! (See Photo).With this set up - no cutting board is needed, and all I need to do is spray PAM on the spatula between burgers. You drop the meat on the center of the spatula sitting in the bowl and press in the plunger. This is easier than before, because the bowl keeps all the meat in place, and if you are slightly non level, you can push on the full area of the plunger with both hands to easily level it out. Then - you just lift out the spatula part and you have a little sandwich with spatula, burger, and plunger. The patty easily separates out from both - and I personally freeze the with saran wrap in between, although I know most people use paper.The patty you see above is a little bigger than my palm and thin for a 4 ounce burger - classic size you'd find in a fast food restaurant. If you want thicker, just make two and put them on top of each other.At the end, cleaning is ridiculously easy, as a little soap and water cleans it easily and then all 3 piece go into the dishwasher. And there's zero assembly/disassembly, as it naturally operates as 3 pieces.I'll be honest - I used plastic presses for awhile, and they all worked great. But I thought Stainless Steel would be better, so I tried several. And - stainless steel is just harder to clean and the designs have less consistent results. On some I even cut myself. Honestly, plastic is better, and I don't care about the price.Anyway, short of getting an automated pressing machine, this is the best press I've ever had. Only disadvantage is it's one size only - so if you wanted an insert for making sliders, you'd need to buy something in addition.