The EZ Tofu Press Saves the Day

November 1st, 2013 by Savvy Veg

The EZ Tofu Press: Savvy Vegetarian Review

I didn’t know how much I needed a tofu press until Ben Aron sent me his EZ Tofu Press to try out.

The EZ Tofu Press works great, super easy to use, sturdy, simply made with food grade plastic and stainless steel hardware.

I’m sure it will last a long long time and I’ll still be using it when I’m 95.

I set the EZ Tofu Press on it’s side to press the tofu, as shown in the picture, but in the sink - no plate or bowl to clean.

It’s simple to use the big plastic wing nuts to squeeze the tofu. You can tighten them more as the tofu loses water - a ton of water! And tighten more on one side if your block of tofu is an uneven thickness.

Removing the tofu from the press is easy too. Just twirl the big plastic wing nuts in reverse, and let the tofu drop out into your hand. It’s fun! I love twirling wing nuts.

Then rinse the tofu press, let it air dry and stick it back in the cupboard. Or maybe yours will just live beside the sink like mine does.

What really sold me on pressing tofu?

Pressed tofu soaks up marinade like crazy! Or you can just toss it into a stir fry or stew and it soaks up all the spices and flavorings like crazy.

Unpressed tofu doesn’t do that in quite the same way - because it’s already full of water and air, and therefore not thirsty.

I was shocked and appalled that 1/3 the volume of my so-called extra firm tofu was expressed as water! Which means that in a 14 oz package of water pack tofu, I get just under 10 oz of actual tofu. What a rip!

The amount of water in tofu varies by brand, but they’re all pretty watery, except for Wildwood sprouted super firm tofu, which goes to the opposite extreme of hard and dry.

One of the best commercial tofus I’ve used is Leasa brand, which is sold at the Publix stores in St. Petersberg FL. It’s firm, with no air pockets, relatively cheap, and fresh, since it’s made locally, and comes in a shrink wrap package instead of a water pack. Of course it could benefit from pressing, but will not lose much water.

When I first started using tofu about 25 years ago, I bought American Pride tofu, made locally in our small Iowa town. That was a full one pound of tofu, very fresh, firm, well pressed, enough to feed a family of five. It cost about $1.

Unfortunately AP went out of business. Now I’m lucky to get 4 skimpy servings of soggy tofu that loses 1/3 of it’s volume when pressed - for $3 - 4.

My how tofu times have changed! And not for the better.

I recommend the EZ Tofu Press, for dealing efficiently with all that water-logged tofu.

Buy the EZ Tofu Press on Amazon for $26.95 or thereabouts