6 Best Burger Presses of 2026, Tested and Reviewed

Tested by Jessica Harlan

Making the perfect burger is a quest passionately pursued by any American cook worth their kosher salt. And while the right seasonings, condiments and buns play a big part in the finished product, it all starts with shaping the burger before and during cooking.

Burger presses and smashers can be valuable tools in your burger-making arsenal. The best burger press — a kitchen tool used to shape and mold ground meat — will yield uniformly sized burgers at the optimal thickness, so they'll cook evenly. It can also minimize the handling of raw meat, which keeps it cool to the touch and minimizes the potential for cross-contamination. Presses can speed up preparation, especially if you're cooking for a crowd. Burger presses can also enhance flavor and texture, since the meat is quickly shaped without overworking, maintaining the tenderness of the beef and keeping the marbling intact.

A good burger smasher — a kitchen tool used to flatten a ball of hamburger meat — is the best way to replicate the smash burger style that's spawned entire restaurant chains based on its popularity. These burgers are known for their crispy edges, thin profile and caramelized exterior, achieved by using a flat tool or spatula to quickly smash a ball of ground beef on a screaming-hot griddle into a thin patty. Burger smashers, often referred to as a grill press, can also be used to make quesadillas, panini, grilled cheese, smashed potatoes and much more.

How We Tested

After researching all the burger presses and smashers on the market, we chose 12 products to test in our home kitchen. We began by unboxing the products, noting whether they came with instructions, tips, and use and care information. Included in our analysis was what each item was made of, whether the construction seemed sturdy enough to stand the test of time, and whether it would store conveniently in a drawer or cabinet. We also considered any other claims the products made, such as whether a burger mold could be used to store patties in the refrigerator or to make a stuffed burger, or if presses could be used for other tasks.

Burger Press Test: To evaluate burger molds and presses, we used each product to form quarter-pound patties of 85 percent lean ground beef. Using instructions, if available, we tested whether the presses were easy to use, if the press formed a round, uniformly thick patty, and whether the patty was easy to remove intact from the mold. We measured the size and thickness of the burger patties, then cooked them on a hot griddle to see what size and shape the burgers became after cooking to medium doneness.

Burger Smash Test: For smash burger presses, we tested each using a quarter-pound ball of 85 percent lean ground beef. On a hot griddle, we used the presses to make a smash burger, observing whether the press could successfully smash the beef into a uniformly thin and fairly round burger, if the beef stuck to the press, and whether the press was an appropriate size and shape to form a smash burger.

Comfort Test: For all the products, we considered comfort and ease of use, determining whether handles were comfortable to hold, how much effort was needed to use the tool, and, for the burger smashers, whether handles got hot or were too close to the cooking surface.

Performance Test: We assessed whether the products made good on their promise, noting whether the product was easy to use and if it had any issues or flaws in its performance.

Use and Care: Finally, we washed each item according to use and care instructions to determine how easy it would be to clean either by hand or in the dishwasher, and if any of the items were damaged in the cleaning process.

What to Consider When Buying a Burger Press

Material: The presses we tested came in a variety of materials. Smashers were cast iron or stainless steel. Patty makers were cast aluminum or plastic. While this is largely a matter of preference, consider that plastic and stainless steel are the easiest to care for since they're dishwasher-safe, and that metal of any kind is more durable than plastic.  

Type: Whether you choose a smasher or a patty maker — or both! — depends on your needs. A patty maker can be great to prep a bunch of burgers for parties, and is also invaluable to make uniformly portioned and shaped burgers for optimal cooking. Some types of burger presses can also double as storage containers for refrigerating or freezing patties until needed. A smasher is best for making smash burgers on a griddle or in a pan. These tools help cook a burger quickly and evenly, and can also help make a smaller portion of ground beef go further — a quarter-pound smash burger will fill a bun better than a traditional quarter-pound burger cooked on a grill or griddle, which is likely to be thicker but smaller.

Design and Ease of Use: Look for a patty maker that's easy to use and has features that facilitate release of the patty, such as a removable bottom plate or an ejection lever. For either burger smashers or patty makers, consider the design of the handle, ensuring it is comfortable to use and, for smashers, that the handle won't get too hot.

Care and Maintenance: Not all burger presses and patty makers can go in the dishwasher. If this is a dealbreaker for you, seek out products that are plastic, silicone or stainless steel. Also consider whether a product has a lot of parts to disassemble for cleaning or to keep track of. Several of the items we tested had many small parts that might be easily lost. Storing the items is another factor. If pantry space is limited, choose a press or patty maker that is compact enough to fit in a drawer or a cabinet shelf — most of those we tested won't take up much space.

Frequently Asked Questions

Are burger presses worth it?

Certainly, burger patties can be formed by hand, and smash burgers can be made with the back of a spatula. However, specialized patty-making tools can minimize the need to handle raw ground beef, creating uniformly shaped and sized patties every time. If you make a lot of burgers at once, this can be a time-saver and give your finished burgers a restaurant-caliber result.

Can you use a burger press for other foods?

A press purchased for making smash burgers just might become your new favorite kitchen tool. These grill presses can be used to press paninis or grilled cheese sandwiches, smash potatoes, cook quesadillas and flatten bacon during cooking.

Why put an ice cube on a hamburger while grilling?

Putting a small ice cube or chunk of frozen butter on or inside the ground beef patty is a burger-making secret that will prevent the burger from drying out while cooking. This trick is especially good for thinner burgers, such as smash burgers, or burgers that are cooked to medium-well or well-done temperatures, which can often turn out dry.

Is cast iron or stainless steel better for a burger press?

Both cast iron and stainless steel are good materials for burger presses since they're durable and can withstand high heat levels. In our tests, we preferred stainless presses over cast iron because they are easier to care for: they're dishwasher-safe and won't rust if they don't get dried right away.

Other Burger Presses We Tested

It was difficult to choose just a few winners from the many presses we tested, but several didn't make the cut due to certain design flaws or performance issues. For instance, while we're usually fans of Lodge Cast Iron, the Lodge Cast-Iron Burger Press is designed with a rim, rather than being perfectly flat, which prevented us from being able to make a true smash burger (we also didn't like how small and low the handle was).

The Made In Stainless Steel Grill Press looked great and was similarly designed to our Best Overall pick, the Breeo Stainless Steel Griddle Press. While we loved the idea of the removable leather handle cover, we found the exposed edges of the leather made for an uncomfortable grip, and the price put it nearly twice as much as the Breeo.

We were intrigued by the Weston Burger Press, which features a knob to adjust the height of the mold and a spring-loaded "ejector." It worked fairly well, but cleaning was a chore since the whole thing needed to be disassembled and hand-washed, with tiny pieces, including a small spring, that could easily get lost.

The Shape + Store Burger Master Burger Press can make and store eight patties in a silicone lidded mold that can be stored in the fridge or the freezer. It works great if you're using the recommended two pounds of ground beef, but not as well for just a few burgers.

Why You Should Trust Our Tester

Jessica Harlan, the tester and author of this review, is a cookbook author, food writer, recipe developer and culinary educator. A graduate of the Institute of Culinary Education in New York City, Jessica has been writing about food, cooking and kitchen equipment for more than 25 years. She's tested everything from peelers to the viral Ninja Creami ice cream makers. She has also written nine cookbooks.

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