The Chef’s Press™ was born out of true necessity in the tiny kitchen of Bix Restaurant down a secret alley in San Francisco, where Chef Bruce Hill was at the helm of the stoves. In a small kitchen like that, every second counts. The old cast iron bacon presses used by his cooks trapped steam and were too heavy for many dishes. In 2004, Chef Hill created The Chef’s Press™ – a weight-adjustable tool that allows food to cook 20-30% faster and is vented to release moisture, yielding better results with greater ease.
In 2017, Chef Hill began producing The Chef's Press™ Professional line in Oakland California. The new version is made from USA-forged steel and sourced from Mid-American Stainless in Cleveland, OH. The steel is stamped into The Chef's Press™ by Rago & Son in Oakland, using a 100-ton press, just the way Rago has stamped steel since 1945. The custom tooling was designed and built by Precision Metal Tooling, Inc. in Oakland. The presses are then de-burred by DougCo in Oakland. The de-burring removes most of the rough edges caused by the stamping process. Lastly, Chef Hill drives the presses to his workshop in San Francisco, where each press is personally inspected by Chef Hill himself.