Re: Need Help for Mashed Potatoes

Ainhisg · ‎03-09-2010

@mizree wrote:
overworking the starch may cause this result. i have best results by ensuring potatoes are very dry (remove water and put potatoes back in hot pot) and use a ricer and warm milk and butter. i normally use russet potatoes,

What @mizree said. If you used a hand or stand mixer, that could be the culprit, too. Mashing them by hand with a potato masher won't overwork the starch if you don't have a ricer.

Chessa35 · ‎01-27-2015

I use Yukon gold, and they come out fine . Tip: mash and add the butter first , then the milk , etc .

chickenbutt · ‎03-09-2010

@Ainhisg wrote:
@mizree wrote:
overworking the starch may cause this result. i have best results by ensuring potatoes are very dry (remove water and put potatoes back in hot pot) and use a ricer and warm milk and butter. i normally use russet potatoes,
What @mizree said. If you used a hand or stand mixer, that could be the culprit, too. Mashing them by hand with a potato masher won't overwork the starch if you don't have a ricer.

This was my exact first thought. I've always thought that mashers made with a mixer end up like baby food or, if mixed too much, gluey baby food.

I use a hand-masher. Yeah, as I age and have trouble with my hands/wrists, it's not as easy as it used to be. But I will go to the effort to make a much better product.

I don't put milk in mine but that probably isn't something that hurt your end product. I just use a fair amount of butter and some hard cheese, like asiago (my fav) or parm. Add s&p, and that's it. I also leave the skins on the potatoes.

Icegoddess · ‎03-19-2010

Maybe I don't know what non-fluffy or gluey potatoes are, but I use my stand mixer and they come out great. Even my Grandfather who wouldn't touch potatoes had 2 helpings of mine. I do a quick mash with the potato masher, put them in the bowl with some butter, add buttermilk, and use the stand mixer on low speed, adding more buttermilk as needed. I put salt in the cooking water, never after they're cooked.

happycat · ‎09-18-2010

I usually get the Idaho potatoes and I add a little butter and milk or cream. I think mine are fluffier when I use the mixer to beat. Either handheld or kitchenaid.

happycat · ‎09-18-2010

@Carmie wrote:
A teaspoon of baking powder helps fluff up mashed potatoes.

If potatoes were stored in an area that was too cold like a refrigerator or left in a truck in freezing weather, they will get pasty and mealy. There is nothing you can do about them. They will have the consistency of glue.

I hadn't heard that about the baking powder, thanks for the heads up, @Carmie

Flatbush · ‎07-18-2015

Russets for me. Never had a problem with them. I also hand mash.

SurferWife · ‎12-12-2010

Secret ingredient...8 oz. cream cheese...now it's no longer a secret.

Time is just a drop in the bucket compared to eternity. It isn’t how long you live that matters; it is how well you are prepared to die. ~~Colonel Robert B. Thieme, Jr.

Nonametoday · ‎03-09-2010

Mayo, sweet mayo; sweet cream, real butter, cream cheese.

Harpa · ‎03-10-2010

Lots of remedies on line to read about.

I never have this problem, and have not followed any of the sage on-line advice.

In a pot of salted water, the washed, unpeeled potatoes are cubed and cooked until tender. While they cook away, I skim off any starch that floats to the top.

Potatoes are drained, but not overly drained. (The on-line advice says to drain well.) They are put back into the pot, where I add a stick of softened butter, which melts pretty quickly around the hot potatoes.

Into the pot goes the cream....a little at at time, and I begin to mix with the hand mixer, slowly at first. I add cream to the consistency I want, and speed up the mixer to the highest speed. (Sometimes I heat the cream perhaps with a sprig of fresh rosemary...)

As soon as all lumps are gone, I stop the mixing.

I don't know if it's the butter, or the skimming, or just plain luck, but they always come out perfect!