Shred the washed and scrubbed potatoes. ( I use the medium shredding disk of my food processor) 

After shredding, soak the potatoes in water for 10 minutes.  (I've made these plenty of times without soaking and they turn out great, so if you're short on time you can skip this step.)

Preheat panini press. (medium -med.high if there's a setting, ours is one setting)

Squeeze out excess water from shredded potato with a clean kitchen towel. No need to squeeze to death, just majority of excess water out.

Place squeezed out potato shreds in a large bowl. Add olive oil, coat and combine just till all potato covered.

Add sea salt, pepper, onion powder, granulated garlic, smoked paprika and combine.

I do spray the grates of the panini press with a little avocado oil because it helps crisp and brown the hash browns a little more.  Use a 1/4 cup measuring cup to scoop out the mix into little piles onto panini press.  Gently press down just to squish down the rounds a tad. Leave some space between top and bottom plates just so they're not completely flattened out.

Set a timer for 8 minutes, but watch them closely in case your panini press is hotter. Ours take exactly 8 minutes, but you can let go 9 minutes if want them more brown. (Also check for potato doneness in middle)

Keep the hash browns warm in the oven on a wire rack to retain crispiness till ready to serve.

Optional- Add a little shredded cheese or a small slice of your favorite cheese and set panini press on "melt" after the initial cook is complete for just a minute for cheese hash browns.