Tortilla press

A tortilla press is a hinged hand tool of two flat plates and a lever, used to flatten balls of masa into even tortillas. In Mexico it is called a tortillera or prensa para tortillas.

Design

Larousse describes the press as a base, a lid and a lever, the manigueta, that drives the lid down onto the dough. Plastic is laid on both plates so the masa does not stick. Metal presses are the most common, but wooden ones exist, as do canvas presses in which turning a handle runs a cloth over the dough, and roller presses that squeeze the ball between two turning cylinders. Most presses are small and round, made of cast iron or aluminum, while the square steel style sold in Oaxaca's Mercado de Abastos inspired the press marketed by the masa company Masienda.

History

Before presses, tortillas were patted by hand or flattened with a roller or bottle. Writing in TASTE, Abe Beame cites Los Angeles Times columnist Gustavo Arellano estimating the hand press at more than a century old on the evidence of early Mexican restaurants, whose need for uniform tortillas in volume drove adoption. Tortilla machines appeared at the start of the twentieth century and became steadily more automated.

Other meanings

In Mexico tortillera also means a woman who makes or sells tortillas, and a basket or cloth used to keep them warm.

Reviews

See also

• Corn tortilla
• Masa
• Comal
• Blue corn tortilla

References

1. "Tortillera". Larousse Cocina (Diccionario enciclopédico de la Gastronomía Mexicana). Retrieved 2026-10-10.
2. "The Smushing Machine". TASTE. Retrieved 2026-10-10.