Veganuary: Using a Tofu Press for the First Time

For Christmas, I was given a Tofuture tofu press as I get through a lot of tofu at uni! I was really excited to try it out, so today I decided to try making baked tofu (recipe up soon!) to put this to the test!

If you don't really eat or cook with tofu, there are multiple types that need to be treated in different ways for different purposes. For example, you couldn't really use this with silken tofu, as that's meant to be almost a liquid to use in things such as smoothies. However, for types such as firm tofu, where the tofu is meant to keep its shape, this is good for removing any excess water. 

The components of the Tofuture press

This is what the press itself comes with (I had to bin the box to save room when moving to back to uni, sorry! You can find it here though!). There's a box with holes in to place the tofu in, a larger white box to keep the brine that comes out, and the lid with elastic bands on used to press down the tofu. 

This is my favourite tofu; it's completely unflavoured so you can add your own! 

The above is the tofu I'll be using to test this appliance. It's usually £2.00 from Tesco, but I found it on offer for £1.50 - thank you Veganuary! 

It fits!

I started by draining the excess water from the packet after opening it. Then, I popped it in the container with holes in and put that in the bigger white container.

This was quite a challenge

Then, the lid goes on the top. The real challenge is getting those elastic bans over the ridges on the side, though it means it's definitely squishing it properly! The lower down the ridge the elastic band goes, the stronger the pressure on the tofu. I went for the middle one.

Then, you pop it in the fridge (either overnight or for a few hours) and leave it to press! I left it for a couple of hours and then came back to it to see what had happened to it.

The verdict: it worked quite well! I think if I had left it longer it would have drained even more, but it was more than enough to cut it into cubes to bake! I definitely found it easier than the alternative of stacking all your worldly belongings on top it of. Another bonus is that it's small enough to fit in the fridge! 

Overall, I would say if you eat tofu a lot, this is definitely worth while! It's also good if you want to save time while prepping food too.