Hello,
Well right off the bat let me say we sell them BUT my recommendation just
comes from personal experience. My first tortilla press was a cast aluminum
product. The really are just too light and don't do a good job of pressing
and quite annoying if you are doing a lot of tortillas. A good heavy cast
iron is the best "all-purpose" way to go. They are typically 6.5 to 7.5" in
diameter and frankly the one extra " does not make a big difference but go
for which version you prefer. The weight gives you extra leverage for
mashing the masa balls. Look at the overall construction -- most are sand
casted and are "OK" a couple brands are better than others. If you have
space and don't mind a "hulk" the heavy wooden ones do a very good job and
work well for enpanadas as well. As for the electric versions.. they are
"hummm".. I just prefer "human powered" when possible. We have had mixed
feedback and some seem to like them and others have trotted them right back
from whence they were purchased. Making them by hand takes a LOT of
practice. If you are "handy" or have a "handy person" around the house you
can make a wooden one -- might be a fun project if you are so inclined.
Hope this helps you out a bit.

Regards,
Barbara--
GourmetSleuth.com http://www.gourmetsleuth.com

"Blanche Nonken" > wrote in message
...
> Cymru Llewes > wrote:
>
> > As one of my friends said, I'm a back to basics gal. I want to make my
own
> > tortilla but my family likes the larger ones. Anyone know of a tortilla
> > press that is larger than 7inches in diameter? I've seen some on the web
> > that are 10inches in diameter but they come with heating elements and
cost
> > $50 at the minimum without figuring in shipping.
> > A friend of mine suggested that I use two cast iron pans. The problem
> > with that is that all of my cast iron has the little lip around the
outer
> > edge on the bottom so that won't work.
>
> It's been my experience that the "classic" tortilla presses work fine
> with masa, but not so good with wheat dough. And you'll want to use
> plastic wrap - otherwise the dough is likely to stick to the press. :-)