A vintage cookie press is a must at the holidays and just plain fun during the rest of year. Our vintage cookie press guide gives you the straight skinny on types and manufacturers.
How Does A Vintage Cookie Press Work?
A vintage cookie press is a fairly straightforward kitchen tool and can be used for cookie making, pastry decorating, or creating appetizers.
A vintage cookie press has three main components – a hollow tube to hold your dough or whatever you are shooting out of it, a mechanism at the rear end of the vintage cookie press that forces your dough down through the tube, and a point or decorative disc through which your dough is forced. It is this disc, some of which are shown above, that creates a specific design.
Vintage Cookie Press Types
The most noticeable difference between vintage cookie presses is the method by which the dough is pushed down through the tube.
There are basically four types of presses – mechanical screw-driven, trigger driven, pump ratchet driven, and electric.
A mechanical screw-driven vintage cookie press requires a user to turn a handle or knob on the exterior of the press.
A trigger-driven vintage cookie press uses a gun-style trigger mechanism to push the dough out through the decorative disc.
A rachet-driven vintage cookie press has a handle that a user must move up and down a row of metal teeth in a pumping
action.
A vintage cookie press that is electric differs in that it uses a motor to move the dough instead of human power.
Vintage Cookie Press Brands
Wear Ever vintage cookie press
Wear Ever is distinguished by its manufacture of two different vintage cookie press types. It made a mechanical press with a trigger control. I love a good Wear Ever Cookie press in a pretty pink vintage box.
Wear Ever also made the well regarded electric Super Shooter that afficionados say is still much better than its current electrified counterparts.
Mirro vintage cookie press
A Mirro cookie press, or cooky press as they called, is a common type of vintage cookie press. It uses a screw-driven mechanism. Most Mirros have a largish round, flat knob that you turn to push your dough down through the tube.
The Mirros are made of aluminum with ends that are sometimes a standard aluminum color or a copper color. The turning knob can be aluminum, copper colored or black. Less commonly found are Mirros with a little handle that you turn instead of the big knob.
Mirro also made the Dial A Cookie that had four designs on each disc and you then “dialled in” the design you wanted.
Nordic Ware vintage cookie press
Nordic Ware’s Cookie King press is another vintage cookie press that has a little hand crank handle. They are seen in both aluminum and copper colors.
Cookie Chef Trig-A-Matic vintage cookie press
The Cookie Chef Trig-A-Matic Cookie Gun is a trigger-type mechanical vintage cookie press that is similar to the mechanical Wear Ever.
Sawa cookie press
A Sawa cookie press is a vintage cookie press that was made in Sweden. It is more precisely called the Sawa 2000 Deluxe.
The Sawa cookie press can be identified by its gold anodized aluminum body and pump handle that rachets down via a line of metal teeth. A Sawa also comes with pastry tips and can be used to inject filling into doughnuts and other baked goods.
Sears Fun Gun vintage cookie press
Not to be left behind in the mechanical cookie shooter craze, Sears also released a rebranded Wear Ever electric vintage cookie shooter called the Fun Gun.
Picking the right vintage cookie press for you
Like anything else there is no one size fits all solution. It depends on what feels comfortable in your hand and for the type of baking you do. Some people like the control of the screw-turned Mirro cookie press.
Others like the sturdiness of the Sawa, plus it can get you in the mood for making Swedish spritz cookies. Then there’s the venerable Wear Ever models that seem to go on forever. If you like an electical cookie press the option comes down to Wear Ever or Sears Wear Ever.
Whichever you choose, Happy Baking!
