Squeezing Tofu- HTCE Anniversary Edition, p. 444

Why is there a picture of weights in a pan you wonder?????

I love tofu especially when it is baked and dry and slightly crisp on the top. I never knew about pressing it to get all the water out before you bake it until I read page 444 and saw the neat little picture of a type of tofu press . Over a period of two months I have been rigging all of my pots and pans to create the perfect press.
This was my first try but it kept falling over.

This one actually fell over.


This one stayed up and pressed the tofu but I felt it wasn't heavy enough.

I love my George Foreman grill but it wasn't heavy enough either.
You can see the earlier versions were quite primitive and downright dangerous. I even broke the top of my favorite red heart shaped casserole dish when the entire thing toppled over onto the floor. I was too upset to take a picture of it. It seems that tofu is not very steady especially when you have all kinds of things piled on top of it.


After many configurations, I have devised the perfect press: two five pound weights and one eight pound weight in a pan placed on top of the tofu. Sometimes I just use the two five pound weights if I have more time.
Use plenty of paper towels to catch all the liquid that comes out. I prefer extra firm tofu to start with. I then bake it for an hour at 350 degrees with a little light soy sauce and end up with delicious baked tofu.
OK so here's the challenge............ What kind of tofu press have you used??????????
Bon Appetit.
Clare.