Potato Puree, Mashed Potatoes, Pommes

[paulraphael]

Has anyone compared flavor / texture of potato puree made with retrograded starch methods vs. single-step cooking?

[JoNorvelleWalker]

12 hours ago, paulraphael said:

Has anyone compared flavor / texture of potato puree made with retrograded starch methods vs. single-step cooking?

 

I tried the retrograded method but it did not do much for me.

 

[gfweb]

I compared riced vs traditionally mashed Yukon golds tonight. 

 

Each has virtues. 

 

Riced are smoother and accept the cream better. But they near the border of gumminess, like you get from food processor mashed. This is a classy restaurant product,  but somehow lacking. 

 

Mashed incorporate the cream with difficulty, but taste ....cleaner...with no hint of gumminess.  

 

The best product was when I mixed mashed and riced 50:50 

 

Thoughts?

[JoNorvelleWalker]

22 minutes ago, gfweb said:

I compared riced vs traditionally mashed Yukon golds tonight. 

 

Each has virtues. 

 

Riced are smoother and accept the cream better. But they near the border of gumminess, like you get from food processor mashed. This is a classy restaurant product,  but somehow lacking. 

 

Mashed incorporate the cream with difficulty, but taste ....cleaner...with no hint of gumminess.  

 

The best product was when I mixed mashed and riced 50:50 

 

Thoughts?

 

Philistine.  Rice russets.  I put my russets through the ricer then scrape them through a tamis.  Incorporate warm milk, then butter.  Lots of butter.  But milk first.  Or Herve This will haunt you.

 

[gfweb]

24 minutes ago, JoNorvelleWalker said:

 

Philistine.  Rice russets.  I put my russets through the ricer then scrape them through a tamis.  Incorporate warm milk, then butter.  Lots of butter.  But milk first.  Or Herve This will haunt you.

 

Ewww. Russets. 

Herve T has  a fine book. But 

Lots of work to make Russets acceptable....rice, scrape, tamis. 

Heston Blumenthal likes Yukon golds. I like Heston 

[KennethT]

I like to use fingerlings in a ricer,  then I dry in a pan on the stovetop and then beat in only butter... no milk or cream for me.  After the butter is incorporated, this mixture goes through the tamis, and then finally thinned with a bit of the starchy potato boiling water.

Edited September 22, 2018 by KennethT (log)

[Mullinix18]

I make my puree by placing halved potatoes  (peeled or unpeeled, you'll see why in a bit) in cold, and heavily salted, and bring it to a simmer until they are sufficiently soft, then I strain into a metal colander with a mesh of small holes, shake to dry and then push them through this same colander with a large pestle or spoon and add around tablespoon of butter per potato and also cream cheese, and fold in pepper, garlic powder, and salt. I then sometimes fold in cheese, but that's optional. The skins are removed by the colander. I find cream to be too thin, and not as rich as cream cheese, as I like a solid quenelle rather than a soupy puree. 

[kayb]

Y'all are awfully complex. I hit mine with the potato masher, then stir in cream and butter with a spoon. Works for me.

 

[gfweb]

1 hour ago, kayb said:

Y'all are awfully complex. I hit mine with the potato masher, then stir in cream and butter with a spoon. Works for me.

 

 

Me too. Unless I'm doing fingerlings or new potatoes which I ain't peeling...them, I rice. 

 

And i prefer a firmer texture. Shouldn't slump on the plate in most situations. They aren't grits after all.  

 

 And if whipped as opposed to riced or mashed..they ought not have a slimy sheen ...which takes a finer hand with a food processor than I have. 

[jmacnaughtan]

7 hours ago, gfweb said:

 

 And if whipped as opposed to riced or mashed..they ought not have a slimy sheen ...which takes a finer hand with a food processor than I have. 

 

Why don't you use a whisk?  You could probably just chuck it in a Kitchenaid and leave it to whip.

 

I've never had good results from a blender or food processor.

[gfweb]

2 hours ago, jmacnaughtan said:

 

 

 

I've never had good results from a blender or food processor.

 

That was my point.

 

A whisk, to me, is a pain to use for potatoes unless they are really loose.

[jmacnaughtan]

4 hours ago, gfweb said:

 

That was my point.

 

A whisk, to me, is a pain to use for potatoes unless they are really loose.

 

Ah.  You may need more butter then   I find if you use cold butter, it lightens up well and doesn't go runny, even when you reach 50/50 levels.

[gfweb]

45 minutes ago, jmacnaughtan said:

 

Ah.  You may need more butter then   I find if you use cold butter, it lightens up well and doesn't go runny, even when you reach 50/50 levels.

 I tend to use cream. Butter might be just the thing.

[JoNorvelleWalker]

Just a thought; I stumbled over something new last night.  I was cooking on my Paragon induction unit.  I boiled my quartered (more or less) russet potatoes as usual, riced them, passed them though the tamis -- then let them rest in a warm oven while I heated the oil for frying my sous vide chicken thigh.

 

In the oven the potatoes dried out a bit.  Had I to say, they looked a little like instant mashed potato flakes.  (Not that I should know.)  But what's remarkable, when mixed with warm milk a la Herve This and with a bit of tempered butter they were possibly the best mashed potatoes I have tasted:

 

 

[lemniscate]

I just pre-cooked a 3qt IP full of russets (~3lbs) with milk, braised celery and some its stock, butter and green onion for tomorrow's champ.  Never did the cook in milk/broth method, no drain method before.   Excellent results for me, butter, another splash of milk and salt added after 10 min pressure cook.  I discovered I don't have a real potato masher, but I have an old wire pastry cutter, worked pretty much the same.   That's all I have to  do for the StPatDay cook, someone else is doing the other StPatDay "stuff".     I'm not usually interested in StPatDay but this year it was thrust upon me.  I like the champ potatoes, first time making them.