Mashed potatoes have appeared on Thanksgiving tables for generations, so after all there are quite a lot of debates about them. What’s the very best potato to mash? Ought to I exploit milk or cream or each? Is bitter cream invited to this social gathering? Ought to the spuds be easy or lumpy? Lots of my coworkers and I are Staff Clean—and to get there, we solely belief one device for the job. And no, it’s not a potato masher.
What instruments are on the market to mash potatoes?
In terms of taking your potatoes from complete tubers to the stuff of Thanksgiving legend, you may have some choices: Little question the very first thing that involves thoughts is—drumroll—a potato masher. This handheld utensil can embody a flat extruder-style floor with massive holes, or a extra rustic metallic zig-zag.
Two different choices are the potato ricer and the meals mill. Although typically grouped collectively, these two items of apparatus are completely different. A potato ricer works in the identical method as a garlic press or a handheld citrus juicer. After filling the chamber with just a few items of cooked potato, you gently squeeze the handles to extrude angel-hair-like strands of spuds. A meals mill employs a hand crank to dole out the potatoes evenly over a perforated plate to create related, shaggy strands. You rotate the crank clockwise to unfold and press the meals over the holes, then flip it counterclockwise to clear the plate.
Your final possibility is the tried and true dinner fork. That one’s fairly self-explanatory. And whereas it could do in a pinch, your Thanksgiving desk deserves higher.
The very best potato masher is definitely a ricer
If you need essentially the most velvety, plush mashed potatoes, you’re going to want a ricer. To know why, it’s essential to know what makes potatoes gummy within the first place: overworking the starches in cooked potatoes. Very similar to gluten in cake batter, it’s very important to not overmix—moderately, overmash—your taters.
A potato masher requires a number of passes to pulverize the entire bowl, at which level you’ve probably gone over the combination just a few too many occasions. You’ll additionally encounter just a few cussed lumps, irrespective of how lengthy you churn for. And whereas the feel achieved with a meals mill is an improve, the equipment is cumbersome, clunky, and contains a number of items, one in every of which you’re certain to lose.
The ricer is essentially the most environment friendly device as a result of one single cross is all it takes to get the job executed. Epicurious meals editor Jesse Szewczyk is a staunch advocate for the kitchen device: “A ricer is one thing that may’t be replicated or changed. It mashes potatoes right into a texture that is uniquely silky and fully freed from lumps. As somebody who prefers easy mashed potatoes, I actually do stand behind it.” Watch cookbook creator Andy Baraghani make his favourite mashed potatoes, and also you’ll discover he’s in a position to depart the potatoes complete, with their peels on, because the ricer can maintain each.
Our really helpful ricer
The trusted testers at our sister model, Epicurious, have executed the legwork: They put 5 manufacturers to the check towards kilos of potatoes to seek out out which is the strongest with essentially the most ergonomic design. The resounding winner was the Oxo Good Grips 3-in-1 Potato Ricer. Along with being snug to carry and requiring minimal exertion on the a part of the person, that “3-in-1” refers back to the adjustable extruder’s three settings, which let customers management how coarse or positive their mash seems.
