Update! I finally found a tofu press to buy that is worth every penny and I actually bought a second one because I love it so much! It is made by Tofuture and you can get it on Amazon for around $28. It is super easy to use, fits easily in the fridge, presses tofu perfectly every time, doesn’t make a mess, and is easy to clean!
If you want to save some money, though, you can make your own tofu press for free if you have a salad spinner basket. If you don’t have one, you can usually find one for $1 to $2 at a thrift store. I found all of these baskets and the flat drainer at my local shop:
To assemble your tofu press, place a salad spinner bowl on a large plate. The plate should have a rim, or at least a deep slope from the edge. This is so the water draining off the tofu stays in the plate!
Drain the water from the tofu package, and place the tofu in the middle of the basket:
Gently place a salad plate on top of the tofu. This will help to evenly distribute the weight you are going to add:
Next, carefully place a bowl or pot on top of the plate:
Now, this part is a little tricky! Very gently add about 10 lbs to the pot. If you don’t have any hand or ankle weights, add some clean rocks or anything else that’s heavy. Make sure the salad plate is still sitting flat on the tofu. If the plate is tipped, adjust the weights until it sits flat:
Do NOT press down on the tofu while you add the weights, or you will crush it! If this does happen, make tofu “egg” salad or scrambled tofu!
After 30 to 40 minutes, you will have removed about 2/3 c of water from your tofu:
Your tofu is pressed and ready to use in any recipe!
Thank you for this post. Tofu is new to my kitchen. Can you tell me how Nasoya brand and Hodo brand compare? I can only find Hodo tofu.
I bought my salad spinner(s) at a second-hand shop, too.
I have not seen Hodo brand tofu, so I looked it up. It sounds great, and I will try to find some! I think their firm tofu should work in my tofu recipe, though you may not need to press it as long according to the info on the Hodo website.
Thanks.