Best Types of Cookie Press

Have you seen what you can do with a cookie press? The appliance extrude cookie dough from one end of a cylinder through a plate with a cutout design in the center. The electrical appliance may be used being an electric pastry bag permitting you to definitely rapidly and simply change out pastry tips for butter creams, icings, or savory products too.



A cookie press has 3 main components; a cylinder for holding the cookie dough, a plunger or mechanism for pushing the dough out of the tube and through the disk shapes, and cutter at the end of the tube that comes in a variety of shapes and gives the product its final shape. How these simple elements all fits in place is varied however, and are powered by muscle power or electricity.



There are two different kinds of cookie press, a manual press and an electric cookie press, each of them have strengths and weakness to consider before purchasing. The manual press has been in existence forever. Many of the original cookie companies used some kind of manual press when they got their start. In addition, hand crank type was available for the home baker forever as a time saving tool for centuries. By manual, we mean that it takes good old fashioned "elbow grease" to extrude the cookie dough either by means squeezing handle or turning a crank.



Relying on either battery power or an electric cord to provide electricity, these presses require very little energy to operate. These kitchen appliances are much newer to the marketplace and besides shown making cookies, are marketed as electric pastry bags capable of extruding deviled eggs, butter creams, etc.



Whether it is electric with all of the extra attachments or a simple manual press, each has its own set of advantages and disadvantages. How often do you want to use it? Do you have the strength to squeeze a handle a couple of hundred times? Your answers to these and other questions will determine which machine is best for you.



There are lots of different cookie shapes available for the cookie press. Each machine usually features a few different shapes and others are available at an additional price. If you are handy you could also make cutouts yourself. The electric models are wonderful if you don't have the strength to squeeze the handle of a manual device or prefer the convenience.



On the downside the types of cookie dough that can be used in a cookie press is limited. Most of the machines are made to make a Spritz type of cookie, which is a traditional German holiday cookie made up of a soft, thin dough. The other disadvantage is that particulates like nuts or chocolate chips will not fit through the machine. People have complained that the electric models are very noisy, we did not personally find this a big concern but if you had to listen to a whining electric motor for a couple of hours that might be an issue for you.



While some people prefer to use a press, some bakers would rather use a traditional pastry bag and a couple of special decorating tips. With a little experience you can easily duplicate a lot of the cookies that can be made using the press, and in a lot of cases you are able to produce a lot more variety. The size of the tube or cylinder limits the amount of dough that can be placed in it, and while this is true for a pastry bag as well, very large pastry bags can be obtained that will permit 5 or 6 times the amount of dough to be used at one time.



If you want to make a lot of holiday cookies this Christmas using a cookie press may be the answer. They are available in both manual and electrical models each having their own set of advantages and disadvantages. Users of electrical models think the convenience outweigh any limitations, while there is a dedicated group of home bakers that would not give up their manual cookie press for anything. Either model offers you the chance to press several different shapes and sizes, and changing the dough flavors and toppings adds an almost limitless variety of cookies for you to make.



Sean Lannin is the owner of Bend Cookie Company, check out their beautiful hand decorated cookies.