Tortilla Presses
A tortilla press makes offering fresh-made tacos, burritos, chalupas, and other Latinx cuisine favorites simple and speedy. These tortilla makers perfectly form portions of corn masa or flour dough into discs of consistent thickness for toasting or frying.
Tortilla Makers: What You Need to Know
Offering house-made tortillas can be a great selling point but getting them right can be tricky. An electric tortilla maker forms perfectly flat tortillas, ensuring your bake goes as planned and your tortillas come out right every time. We carry manual and automatic-assisted versions, and many of our tortilla presses can double as pizza presses, which could prove useful for a business that sells both.
Cast iron tortilla presses bring a traditional feel to the pressing process and are heavy enough to flatten the dough without excessive user effort. Offering house-made tortillas won't do your business any good if the tortillas aren't better than what your competitors buy. If your dough is too thick, your tortillas can end up undercooked, and if it's too thin, they can be burned or torn during use. Improperly baked products must be thrown away, and with them, money. We'll answer common questions about tortilla presses below so your establishment can avoid these pitfalls and produce high-quality tortillas every time.
Common Questions About Tortilla Presses
Why would I need a tortilla maker?
Electric tortilla makers are a niche item that won't fit in every restaurant, but if your establishment needs one, they can make a huge difference in production speed. Shaping tortillas by hand is a labor-intensive process subject to the experience and attentiveness of the person doing the job. Tortilla makers can be adjusted to certain thicknesses, so if you insert the same size dough ball into every press, you'll end up with the same result. Operators can adjust the amount of dough, the prescribed thickness, and the baking temperature and time to experiment with different final products until they get the exact tortilla they want. Without the consistency provided by a tortilla maker, it's much more difficult to adjust the quantities, time, and temperature to achieve a regular product.
Labor savings is the second reason an establishment would want to add an electric tortilla press. Rolling tortillas by hand can be a time-consuming process, and dropping a dough ball on a press and squishing it is much faster and more accurate. The time saved in this process can enable you to redirect that labor elsewhere and get other chores done quicker, saving money in overall labor costs.
Should I choose an automatic or manual tortilla press?
None of our electric tortilla makers are fully automatic – all require an operator to put dough in the press between each use. However, automatic units provide the pressure required to flatten the dough into a tortilla, meaning the operator doesn't have to pull a lever and reach a certain level of force each time.
Why are some platens heated?
Some of our electric taco presses have heated platens for smooth dough pressing. Heat loosens the composition of the dough, leading to an easier press. Adjustable heat ensures your tortillas won't get scorched by the platens and guarantees you have a workable dough after pressing. Consult the product specification page to ensure you have the appropriate electric outlet for a tortilla press, as some require more than standard outlets provide.
Shop KaTom's collection of the best tortilla presses to find the right pieces for your operation.