The perfect mashed potatoes are a study in technique. Sure they require a limited number of ingredients (all of which are modestly affordable pantry staples) but they are so much more than the sum of their parts. Their simplicity belies the difficulty of getting them just right. And with so few elements there’s nothing to hide behind. A small mistake in preparation can result in lumpy sticky potatoes instead of silky fluffy ones.
| Channel | Publish Date | Thumbnail & View Count | Actions |
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 Mashed | 2022-05-22 01:00:05 |  28,591 Views |
Mistakes Everyone Makes When Making Mashed Potatoes
Properly prepared mashed potatoes should be evenly seasoned and have just enough fat to add richness without being heavy. They should be warm. They should be slightly creamy and buttery. They should never be heavy leaden or doughy. And while that may seem like a tall order the magic of perfecting your mashing technique comes down to understanding and taming the starches in your potatoes. Starch is what determines the consistency of your mashed potatoes. Learn to control how much starch is released during the cooking process and you’ll be on your way to great mashed potatoes.
As potatoes cook they release some of their starch into the water. Think of it like pasta: the water in the pot becomes a deliciously starchy liquid that makes a perfect base for thickening sauces. You might think that cooking potatoes whole would be better—after all you don’t want to save all that starch when it’s so useful. Not in this case. Potatoes are much more starchy than pasta and excess starch is what makes some mashed potatoes tough and sticky. The trick to perfectly silky mashed potatoes is finding the right balance of starch. Too much makes for an inedible dense dish. Just enough makes for a fluffy pile of potatoes. Slicing your potatoes before cooking releases just the right amount of excess starch; aim for a 2-inch dice on your potatoes for the optimal ratio of water to surface area.
Now that we’ve established that the secret to great mashed potatoes is all about finding the right balance of starches let’s get to peeling. After the potatoes are cooked you add butter (or another fat) and milk to get that deliciously creamy texture that you can scoop up with a spoon. If you peel the potatoes before you cook them you’ll remove their protective layer. This creates two problems.
