First off, I am not in the restaurant business. I bought this hamburger patty maker for home use as I like to make 5 inch replica Burger King Whoppers. Last week I made the mistake of purchasing a simple patty maker that makes 5" patties. Just a simple plunger on top of a mold. Cost around $24.00. Designs like this are a TOY!. You just can't apply enough force on those types to produce a nice round 5 inch patty. You might squeeze it out to 4 or 4-1/2 inches in some areas of the circumference. I am a male and if I can't do it, my wife surely can't do it. So today I got my 5 inch VBENLEM delivered. I tried it out and it works like a dream. It's automated and the force needed to make the patty is minimal.. I only wish I had purchased one years ago. Before buying it, I researched some other very similar units but I noticed some very subtle differences. One cost around $114.00 but it was obvious it would be more complicated to take apart. (To clean things, I want to do some disassembly and not just wipe the unit down.) (The two cap nuts can be removed for disassembly by using a 17mm open or box wrench.) As I said, I used the machine this evening. It worked like a dream and forms perfect 5 inch patties effortlessly. I made up some meatball shaped 1/4 pound or 4 oz balls of hamburger. Then I made the patties and I could easily make two patties a minute. I probably could make three a minute if I was in a rush. So I give this patty maker 5 stars! I am a cleansing nut so I do wish it had wing nuts and was a little easier to take apart to clean it. (The instructions just tell you to wipe it down after use.) That said cleaning won't be a big deal so I plan to do around 10 pounds of meat at a time giving me 40 patties. That way after storing them in a freezer, I won't have to use and clean the machine after use very often. I can see why this unit is used in many restaurants. One last thing, yes I realize this was a lot of money for household use. (A lot more then a $24.00 hand press which doesn't work very well.) But it didn't break the bank too much and works like a dream. Why spend money on a unit costing 1/7th co cost if the product won't work properly? I hesitated buying this machine because of cost, but now that I did, I realize it was a good thing to do. You only go around once! As I said, I wish I had purchased such a patty maker years ago. Buy one and you won't be sorry! Same goes for any small restaurant.
Luis E 
