FROM: It Came from Disney! Published Tuesdays

Mickey Burger Press, Part 1

With summer just around the bend, our thoughts naturally turn to... burgers! And since we are who we are, those burgers take the shape of Mickey heads. But how to pull off such a feat? Possibly with the help of Pop Art's Mickey Burger Press.

- Jessica Clawson, May 24, 2011

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I was excited to receive the Mickey Burger Press (list $19.95), because I love to cook, and because I love even more to involved Disney in my cooking!

The press looks very classy. It is made of non-stick, die-cast aluminum, and the handle is cherry wood-stained. As a bonus, the press also came with a Mickey shaped cookie press, or what the manufacturer calls a 'Bun Cutter', so you can cut your bun and toppings into the same shape as your burger.

When I opened the box, I noticed that the press does not come with directions, such as how much meat to use for each burger. I was on my own. I filled the base of the press with water, noted that it held about 3/4 cup, and so decided to start with that much meat and evaluate the results.

click an image to expand:

The Mickey Burger Press, fresh from the box and looking sharp.

A patty of raw hamburger meat in the press.

A bun about to be sliced into Mickey shape with the included bun cutter.

A Mickey burger apocalypse.

Cheese makes everything better, including Mickey burgers.

The Mickey burger looking not too shabby in its bun.

Problems with the Patty

I tried to keep the meat in a ball in the center of the press and get it to push into the Mickey form. This did not turn out so well, so I began forming the meat into the dish part itself and then pressing it with the top to make sure it was packed firm.

I pressed my first patty and was very excited - until I looked at it and realized I had no idea how I was going to get it out of the press once it was cooked! The meat is packed down into the form, and while it doesn't stick to the press, it is level with the edges and difficult to pull out without messing up the Mickey shape. Every time I made a patty, I had to push my finger into Mickey's chin and dent it to pull out the patty.

Another problem arose when I tried to remove the patty from the press in one piece. The ears did not enjoy staying attached to the head, and it was a challenge to pull them out. About 75% of the ears had to be remolded onto the patty after it was removed. I even tried loosening around the edges with a knife and then trying to pull out the patty, but that did not help at all.

Now that the burgers are together (for the most part), they went into the oven to cook. I kept out one patty so I could judge how much the meat shrank during cooking.

Battles with the Burger

As the meat cooked, it was time to test the bun cutter. The cutter itself was a little bit bigger than the roll, but I gave it a shot anyway. Overall, it did cut the roll well and did not squish it too much, though in order to cut the bread, I had to turn over both cutter and roll, then press from the bottom side, much like you would do with an apple corer and slicer.

We used cheese as a topping for the burgers, and the cutter sliced it quite well.

After playing with the bun cutter, it was time to flip the burgers. I was happy to see little shrinkage, so far, and I grabbed my widest spatula to try to flip the burgers without messing up the ears. But even my widest spatula was no match for these burgers! As soon as I tried to flip them, the ears bent and began to crack.

Disappointed, I put the burgers back into the oven to finish cooking.

In the end, the burgers tasted good, but they were not Mickey heads. This burger press ended up making little sliders, since the full Mickey head turned into Mickey parts. I was disappointed with the results. The press didn't live up to its promise.

Turning lemons into lemonade, however, I'm able to use the bun cutter to make great Mickey sandwiches, cookies, and Rice Krispie treats.

Mail from the Manufacturer

I am not one to just give a negative review and say 'case closed'. I feel it is only fair to give the vendor a second chance. So I emailed the Pop Art Toaster people and asked whether they had any suggestions for pulling the meat out of the bottom of the press, how much meat to use for a single burger, and so forth.

I received a prompt, friendly reply explaining that each burger should consist of 3/4 to 1 cup of meat, rolled into a ball. The company representative also told me that I should place wax paper in the bottom half of the press, put the meat on top, press it into th form, and then turn it over. If I did that, the patty would fall right out of the pan.

While I am still disappointed with my original results, which were caused in part by the lack of directions, the company was so friendly and helpful that I'm going to give their product another chance and press some more patties.

Will the Mickey Burger Press redeem itself?

You will have to wait until next week to find out!

Why do I suddenly feel like I'm on Survivor?

More: IT CAME FROM DISNEY!