Press versus towel and a heavy pan

The question worth answering

Almost every tofu recipe tells you to press the block. A large share of them then link to a press, and very few of them mention that the free method works. The result is that people who have never cooked tofu successfully are told to spend money before they find out whether they like it.

The comparison below is the one that actually matters: not which method is best in theory, but whether the difference justifies a purchase for the way you cook.

The short answer is that the towel method removes a similar amount of water and takes similar time, and the press wins on effort, mess and repeatability rather than on results.

Side by side

Nothing in that table says the tofu tastes better from a press. That is the honest finding, and it is why this page exists rather than a straight recommendation.

Where the towel method genuinely loses

Uneven pressure. A skillet resting on a plate on a block does not distribute force evenly, particularly if the block is not perfectly flat to begin with. You get a firmer middle and softer edges. In cubes this is barely noticeable. In slabs for katsu, where you want a uniform half inch, it shows.

Splitting under too much weight. People overcorrect and put something very heavy on a soft block, which cracks it. A press applies force gradually.

The towel saturates. After ten or fifteen minutes a kitchen towel has absorbed what it can, and pressing continues into a wet cloth that gives water back. Swapping the towel fixes it and most people do not.

Long presses are awkward. An hour on the counter is fine, overnight is not, and a stack of plates and a skillet does not go into a refrigerator gracefully.

Where the press genuinely loses

Block size. Many presses are sized for a standard block and will not take a large 16 ounce one without trimming. A skillet does not care.

Cleaning. A press with six parts that is not dishwasher safe is a worse experience than a towel, and it is the single most common reason presses end up unused.

Volume. Pressing three blocks means three sessions or three presses. A large sheet pan with a towel and a heavy pan handles two or three blocks at once, which matters if you batch cook using the oven method.

It is another object. Single-purpose kitchen tools accumulate. A skillet you already own does two jobs here, since it presses the tofu and then cooks it.

The method that beats both

Freezing. A block frozen solid and thawed releases its water freely under nothing more than hand pressure, and it removes more water than either method above. It also changes the texture into something chewier and far more absorbent, which no amount of pressing achieves.

The cost is a day of notice and a freezer slot. For anyone who cooks tofu regularly, keeping two blocks frozen at all times removes the pressing question almost entirely. The freezing guide has the full method.

Super-firm vacuum-packed tofu is the other route around the problem. It has been pressed at the factory, needs only a pat with a towel, and costs a little more per gram of tofu. For a weeknight it is a legitimate answer.

Improving the free method

Most of the towel method's weaknesses have fixes that cost nothing, and applying them closes most of the gap.

• Use a rimmed sheet pan, not a plate. A plate overflows and puts water on the counter. A rimmed pan holds everything and is more stable under weight.
• Put a second flat plate directly on the block. This spreads the load from the skillet across the whole face and is the single biggest fix for uneven pressure.
• Swap the towel at ten minutes. A saturated towel stops absorbing and starts giving water back. This is the most commonly skipped step.
• Start light, add weight after ten minutes. Full weight on a fresh block splits it. Once it has firmed slightly it can take more.
• Cut into slabs first when in a hurry. More surface area drains faster, and half inch slabs press in about ten minutes.
• Tilt the pan slightly. Propping one end on a folded cloth lets water run away from the block instead of pooling under it.

Done this way the towel method is close enough to a press that the remaining argument is about mess and effort rather than about results.

A decision in four lines

Cooking tofu for the first time: towel and a heavy pan. Find out whether you like the food before buying equipment for it.

Cooking it once or twice a month: towel, or buy super-firm and skip the step.

Cooking it weekly: a press earns its place, and a spring or container design is easiest to live with.

Cooking it weekly and planning ahead: freeze blocks instead and press almost nothing.

What neither method fixes

Pressing is one of four variables, and buying a better press does nothing for the other three. A perfectly pressed block still comes out pale and soft if the pan is crowded, if the heat is too low, or if the pieces were moved before a crust had formed.

This matters because people who are disappointed with their tofu often reach for equipment when the fix is free. If your last batch was wet, press it properly with a towel and fix the pan at the same time, then decide whether anything is still missing. The diagnostic list works through the eleven usual causes in order of how often they turn out to be the problem.

Pressing also does nothing for flavor penetration, which is a separate problem with a separate solution. Marinade does not travel into a dense block no matter how dry it is, and freezing is what changes that.