Tofuture Tofu Press Review

Reviewed by Helen Wyatt

As a family we are fairly new to the world of vegan food, although certainly not fully vegan by any stretch of the imagination, but with one of the kids rapidly falling out of love with eating meat and ending up with a fairly limited diet as a result, we had been starting to look at different options for expanding their, and our, culinary repertoire without much success. More recently we tried cooking with tofu, and while we all found it to be acceptable, it wasn’t the nicest texture, feeling quite jelly-like, which is not the most appetising thing in a savoury dish! It put us off trying it again, so we were back to the drawing board.

But we decided to try an alternative approach to using tofu, just to see if we could find a way to make it more palatable. Interestingly enough, a small green and white box was what came to the rescue! Tofuture produce a compact tofu press which comes in 3 connecting parts, and is designed to remove the water from the tofu in a simple but effective way. I learnt that by removing the water from the tofu, you get a firmer consistency and without the additional water it makes it much easier for the tofu to take on the flavour of sauces or marinades in any recipe you’re preparing.

You simply place the block of tofu in part of the box which has drainage holes in the bottom. That part then fits neatly into the bottom of the outer box, which is the part that collects the excess water. You then add the lid and connect each side of the top to the bottom with robust elastic bands. Finally, you push down the clips to increase the stretch of the press. Leaving the tofu in the press for at least 4 hours, or overnight in the fridge, can remove 175ml of excess water. Even leaving it in the press for just 10 minutes can remove 125ml of water!

The tofu press is BPA free and complies to food safety standards. It’s also dishwasher proof and stores compactly, so is very convenient to use and clean up. You can even use the outer tub as a container for marinading the tofu, so it has a double function too.

I didn’t find the instructions in the box particularly clear so I had to go searching on the website, however it’s actually very simple. The box has 3 levels where you can hook the band, however there isn’t reference to which hook to use. I chose to use the lowest one. The website very helpfully tells you how long a pressing time you need for different recipes e.g. a short press of 15-30 minutes is suitable when you want to make sauces or smoothies, a medium 1-2 hour press is suitable when you want to make fillings for pies, and the long 4 hour to overnight press is best for when you want to make stir fries, or kebabs. The longer the time, the better the press will be and the firmer the tofu as a result.

The box also suggests the press comes with some free recipes but I couldn’t locate these. There are however several recipes on the website, so that was no great loss, and I look forward to trying some of them.

I found that I needed to tip out some of the excess water part way through the press as the box got knocked in the fridge and it spilled, but that was easy enough to do as you can just tip it over a sink and then put the whole thing back in the fridge without having to take it apart.

When you are ready to use your tofu you simply empty the excess water, move back the clips and unhook the bands, then you can take the tofu out and use it straight away. I left the tofu in the fridge overnight for a maximum press, and found it had probably lost half of its volume, bring much firmer than when I placed it in the press in the first place. The press even imprints the tofuture logo into the tofu, which is a nice touch. The tofu was so much easier to chop up into cubes when pressed, and then I was easily able to fry it up and use it in my pasta recipe. When we had used it last time, the tofu fell apart as we were using it so this was a great improvement. I can really see this press having a great future in our kitchen, and best of all my kid ate seconds of the meal I made so it was definitely a hit!

Tofuture is run by Adam and Susannah who set out on a mission to find a simple tofu press that didn’t involve heavy books and chopping boards, and they came up with the Tofuture press. The tofu press would be an excellent stocking filler for anyone who is dabbling with vegan food, or is fully vegan, as it is a simple but effective tool that would make the life of any person eating tofu much easier.

Rating: 5/5

RRP: £23.99

This product can be purchased from Tofuture here.