Quick answer
Start with the flat hot surface. Add the press, spatula, and parchment only when you are ready to complete the basic setup. This is a buy-in-order checklist, not a demand to buy everything today.
The first setup: simple enough to grow into.
Heat is the first purchase. The rest removes friction once you are cooking regularly: a press makes contact, a spatula protects the crust, and parchment keeps the press clean. Buy them in order, cook with them, and only then decide what is missing.
01
A flat, heat-holding surface
Cast iron or carbon steel inside; a dedicated flat-top if you cook outdoors for a crowd.
Choose surface
What can wait
Thermometers, domes, weighted presses, burger molds, and bundled tool sets. They may eventually be useful, but none of them should be your first purchase. The crust arrives from heat, contact, and a clean release.
