Prep Tools

Tostonera Plantain Press

A hinged wooden or plastic press that flattens fried plantain chunks into tostones.

A tostonera is a hinged press, usually wood or plastic, used in Caribbean and Latin American cooking to flatten partly fried plantain pieces before they are fried a second time into crisp tostones or patacones. The cook sets a hot plantain chunk in the press and squeezes the lid down to smash it into a flat disc. Some models double as a tortilla press for shaping dough.

The tostonera is a small hinged press built around a single purpose: flattening a chunk of partially fried green plantain into a uniform, coin-sized disc for a second fry. Where most kitchen tools multitask, this one does almost nothing else — and that is exactly why it earns a place in any kitchen that makes tostones, patacones, or any other twice-fried green-plantain preparation. The design is brutally simple. Two flat faces, often lightly textured or gridded, are joined by a pivot, with a handle above to deliver controlled downward force. A piece of plantain is laid between the faces, the cook squeezes, and the chunk compresses from roughly an inch and a half of thickness down to a tidy quarter-inch round ready for crisping.

What sets the tostonera apart from improvised smashers (a glass, a heavy plate, the bottom of a mug) is consistency and safety. A glass under uneven pressure can crack and shower shards into hot oil; a plate or mug is hard to grip and tends to slip. The tostonera, by contrast, gives the cook a firm handle, a defined pressing surface, and the leverage to compress a hot plantain in one clean motion. The shallow grid that traditional wooden presses leave on the plantain surface is not decorative alone — those small ridges and channels increase surface area, so the second fry yields more crisp, golden-brown territory per bite. In kitchens across Cuba, Puerto Rico, the Dominican Republic, Venezuela, and Colombia, the tool is so embedded in daily cooking that it is sold alongside spoons and spatulas in markets, not in specialty shops.

Mechanically, the press is a small lever, and like any lever it rewards good technique. Plantains must be pressed while still hot from the first fry; cold plantains resist and crack. The faces should be lightly oiled so the mashed disc lifts away cleanly. And because the food and the oil are at well over 300°F at the moment of pressing, the press itself becomes a hot-handled tool that needs a moment of respect, especially the heavier wooden models that retain heat longer than their plastic cousins.

Alternatives

Bottom Of A PlateFlat Bottomed CupTortilla Press

Types & varieties

Wooden tostonera (traditional)

Hand-carved from tropical hardwoods; the classic form and a common cultural craft item. Provides firm, even pressure and leaves the characteristic shallow grid that crisps beautifully in the second fry.

Plastic tostonera (modern)

Injection-molded, dishwasher-safe, inexpensive, and the most common commercial and home-kitchen version. Functionally identical to wood, though lighter in the hand.

Single-plantain press

Presses one chunk at a time; the standard home-kitchen form and the easiest to control for consistent results.

Multi-cavity press

Holds two to four plantain rounds in parallel slots; favored in busy restaurants and for batch cooking where throughput matters more than the precision of a single press.

Decorative hand-carved press

Artisan versions with carved handles, patterned faces, or motifs from the Caribbean and Latin America; often sold as souvenirs but fully functional.

Metal or combination press

Less common; aluminum or stainless-steel faces sometimes paired with a wooden handle, valued for heat resistance and durability.

Why the press replaced the improvised smasher

Before dedicated presses were common, cooks flattened first-fry plantain chunks with whatever was at hand: a flat-bottomed glass, a heavy ceramic mug, a small plate pressed by hand, even a tortilla press used sideways. Each had a real drawback. A thin glass under uneven load can crack; a mug has no defined pressing surface and tends to slip, smearing the plantain rather than flattening it; a plate offers almost no leverage. The tostonera solves every one of these problems at once. Its handles lift the pressing force directly over the food, the flat face applies pressure evenly across a defined area, and the hinge keeps the two faces parallel so the round comes out uniform. For cooks making tostones more than once a year, the press quickly pays for itself in speed, safety, and consistency.

A heavy glass can shatter under uneven pressure, sending shards into hot oil — a genuine burn and contamination hazard.
A mug or plate is hard to grip, especially with oily hands, and tends to push the plantain sideways rather than compress it.
A tortilla press works in a pinch but its larger, heavier faces are awkward for small plantain chunks and apply pressure unevenly across the surface.
The tostonera's shallow grid imprint creates micro-channels that crisp into extra texture during the second fry — a feature no improvised tool offers.

Choosing between wood and plastic

The choice between a traditional wooden tostonera and a modern plastic one is mostly about feel, maintenance, and aesthetics, since both produce excellent tostones. Wood is heavier, hotter to the touch after pressing, and demands hand-washing and occasional oiling, but many cooks prefer the heft and the way a wooden press leaves a slightly more pronounced grid on the plantain. Plastic is lighter, dishwasher-safe, cheaper, and easier to replace. For a first tostonera, a plastic model is the practical choice; for cooks who make plantain dishes weekly, a well-made wooden press is a long-term kitchen workhorse.

Wood: heavier hand-feel, more pronounced grid, requires hand-washing and oiling, longer heat retention.
Plastic: lighter, dishwasher-safe, more affordable, easier to grip when hands are oily, cools faster.

Common uses

Flattening fried green plantain chunks into uniform tostones for a second fryMaking patacones, the Colombian and Venezuelan cousin of the tostone, by the same press-and-fry methodPressing tostones to a consistent 1/4-inch thickness so the second fry crisps evenlyReplacing improvised smashers like glasses, mugs, plates, or bottles that can shatter, slip, or apply uneven pressureLightly crushing garlic or flattening other small fried starchy items, as some cooks do with a wooden tostonera

Tips & pitfalls

Press the plantain while it is still hot from the first fry — cooled plantains resist compression and crack along the grain instead of flattening cleanly.
Lightly oil the press's flat faces before each press so the flattened disc lifts away without tearing or leaving half its flesh behind.
Apply firm, even pressure straight down; rocking or twisting the press will split the round and send plantain into the oil.
Keep a kitchen towel or heat-resistant glove within reach — the plantain and the oil clinging to it are well above 300°F when you press.
For wooden presses, never soak them; wash briefly under warm water, towel-dry immediately, and air-dry upright so the grain does not split.
Do not substitute a glass bottle or a drinking glass — the pressure is unpredictable, the surface is small, and broken glass in hot oil is a serious hazard.
Use only green or just-tinged-yellow plantains; fully yellow or blackening plantains are too soft and sweet for traditional tostones and will turn to mush under the press.
Cut plantain chunks on a slight bias at about 1.5 inches thick so each round has enough length to flatten into a generous disc without breaking at the edges.

Good to know

Origin: Traditional Latin American and Caribbean kitchen tool, used across Cuba, Puerto Rico, the Dominican Republic, Venezuela, Colombia, and other regions where tostones or patacones are staple foods
Also known as: Plantain smasher, plantain press, pataconera (Colombia and Venezuela), plancha para tostones (Dominican Republic)
Primary material: Traditionally carved hardwood; modern versions are injection-molded plastic; occasional metal or metal-and-wood combinations exist
Mechanism: Two flat pressing surfaces joined by a hinge or pivot, with a handle above for controlled leverage
Typical capacity: Single-piece presses handle one plantain chunk at a time; multi-cavity models press two to four simultaneously
Resulting thickness: Produces flattened plantain rounds approximately 1/4 inch (6 mm) thick
Related dishes: Tostones (Caribbean) and patacones (Colombia, Venezuela, Ecuador) — twice-fried green plantain slices
Cleaning and care: Plastic models are typically dishwasher-safe; wooden versions need hand-washing, immediate towel-drying, and occasional food-safe oil to prevent cracking