Masienda Tortilla Press Assessment

I discovered find out how to make tortillas once I was a prep prepare dinner at a restaurant. We nixtamalized dried corn earlier than grinding it, then I’d spent about an hour mixing and shaping the masa into balls able to press throughout service. They have been really particular, ultra-fresh tortillas. Whereas I don’t work in eating places anymore, I nonetheless like to make contemporary tortillas at dwelling. It’s much more enjoyable to serve them to family and friends, who are sometimes awestruck at how good they’re.

Making a corn tortilla from scratch is a tactile expertise. Seize a handful of the moistened masa and squeeze it to see if it’s soaked up sufficient water. If it’s too dry, it’ll crack because it squishes by your fingers. If it’s good, it’ll maintain collectively because it extrudes. Whereas getting the masa correctly hydrated is one a part of a corn tortilla’s success, urgent it to the proper measurement and thickness is the opposite. That is the place the Masienda tortilla press is available in. This weighty steel press lets me churn out tortilla after tortilla, all pressed to the proper even thickness. 

Why the Masienda Tortilla Press Is My Go-To 

After I examined tortilla presses, I questioned how totally different they could possibly be. And the reality is, most tortilla presses are fairly comparable. They’re typically fabricated from enameled forged iron or metal (and generally wooden) and have two sides you deliver collectively after which press down on with a lever-like deal with. It was the small print that set the Masienda aside. 

One of the best factor about it’s its extensive, 8.5-inch sq. floor. This offers me the wiggle room to make petite tortillas for empanadas or bigger tortillas for really superb quesadillas. Among the different tortilla presses I examined have been small and spherical, which meant I needed to get that ball of masa simply the best measurement or I risked masa squeezing out the sides. 

The hefty weight is one other boon: The Masienda was the heaviest press I examined at 10.8 kilos. When urgent a corn tortilla, you want even weight distribution with sufficient oomph behind it to flatten the masa as shortly and evenly as attainable. Light-weight presses couldn’t present the identical even flattening movement, leading to uneven or too-thick tortillas. The deal with can be good on the Masienda, easily swinging over the press with out wiggling round, letting me get even stress once I push down on the 2 plates. Oh, and this can be superficial, however the Masienda is available in some attractive colours, together with a pistachio inexperienced espuma and a wealthy blueberry azul. You possibly can wow your folks along with your tender corn tortillas and your eye-catching press. 

Why We’re the Consultants

• Grace Kelly is an editor at Severe Eats, the place she’s been testing gear for greater than two years. 
• She used to make contemporary tortillas when she was a prep prepare dinner. 
• She makes use of the Masienda tortilla press to impress her family and friends and to additionally simply make actually good contemporary tortillas.