LUMVEX LUM-1: 16 cm stainless steel smash burger press

The LUMVEX LUM-1 is a stainless steel smash burger press with a wooden handle. The listing gives 16 x 16 x 8.5 cm and 590 g, silver, and describes it as "thick stainless steel" that resists rust, for home or professional use. It does not publish the plate thickness, the handle length, the type of wood or the maximum temperature. The material in the technical table says only "metal", so the stainless claim comes from the sales text.

Its place in a kamado is the griddle. Smash burgers are made on a cast iron griddle or a very hot pan, with the ball of beef flattened in the first few seconds so the crust browns: that is the technique behind the smash burger on the kamado. With the griddle on the grate and the kamado set up for direct cooking at high temperature, the press spends only a few seconds on each patty. That is little time, but the metal heats fast and the wooden handle sits close to the heat and the fat vapour. Technical judgement, not a test: press, lift and keep the press out of the chamber between one burger and the next. If the term is new, the glossary explains what a griddle is.

At 590 g it is a good deal heavier than a spatula: enough weight to flatten without leaning on it with your whole arm. At 16 cm across it covers an 80-100 g ball, the usual smash portion; flatten the patties one at a time. The wooden handle adds comfort compared with bare metal, but it is the weak point with heat: nothing says it survives contact with a red-hot griddle or a flame, so do not rest it on top. And since you use it with the lid open, as with any griddle tool, the dome height is not an issue; with the kamado running hot, though, crack the lid about 5 cm for a few seconds before opening it fully to avoid a flare-up.

What the listing leaves open: it does not give the temperature the wood tolerates or whether the handle comes off, and the "non-stick" in the title does not square with the rest of the text, which describes smooth stainless steel and mentions no coating. To stop the patty sticking, the usual trick is a sheet of baking paper between the meat and the plate; the listing does not mention it. It does not say whether it is dishwasher safe either, and with a wooden handle the prudent course is to keep it out.

It has 4.7 out of 5 across 305 Amazon reviews, decent backing for a product listed on Amazon.es since May 2025, from a brand with no further verifiable information. The listing ranks it 22nd in barbecue tools and smokers. This is a reading of the listing plus technical judgement, not a hands-on test. If you cook smash burgers often on the kamado and want a manageable press that is easy to clean, it does the job; if you want something for heavy use on a very hot griddle, a press with no wood, such as the Rösle cast iron press, takes that worry away.