I found that using a whisk like a masher (stabbing down on the taters with the tines) works the best. We have a potato masher in the resturant I work, and I've never used it in leu of the whisk. I also like melting a little cream cheese in some cream and butter on the stove then throw in finely chopped fresh rosemary to the liquid. Mash this into the taters. Good stuff.