Potato Mashers

[liuzhou]

20 minutes ago, JoNorvelleWalker said:

 

Through to the keeper.

 

For those who mash with forks, do you mash on a plate?  I can't see how you could use a fork to mash potatoes in a pot.

 

 

Yes. On the plate for me.

 

[JoNorvelleWalker]

9 minutes ago, FlashJack said:

KInd of. Sides, bottom. Press tines through potato. Potato breaks up. Squish it until you're happy.

 

The fork will not make the world's most sublimely smooth mash but I don't like mash that's over smooth (nor washing a tammis or any other kit). It also won't over-mash them: too much action in there can make for stodgy/gummy/starchy mush in my book.

 

Go on. It's a potato or two. Give it a go and you will have eliminated another uni-tasker.

 

Admittedly I failed geometry in high school, but how do you press a fork through a potato in the bottom of a pot?

 

[FlashJack]

1 minute ago, JoNorvelleWalker said:

how do you press a fork through a potato in the bottom of a pot?

Use the force, Jo.

 

Whadda ya want to do? Press through the bottom? Just get in there and gently beat them up. Press, press, mash, mash, scoop, mash.

 

This is clearly way too easy for you!

[FlashJack]

10 minutes ago, liuzhou said:

On the plate for me.

@liuzhou why is that? I can't see much advantage to a plate but would like to know your thoughts.

[FlashJack]

4 hours ago, btbyrd said:

My preferred masher is a Foley fork.

Sleep with one eye open. As soon as I find your address I'm going to be over your fence, in the kitchen and out through the window with your fork. It's adorable.

[liuzhou]

3 minutes ago, FlashJack said:

@liuzhou why is that? I can't see much advantage to a plate but would like to know your thoughts.

 

Do you eat them from the pot, too?

[FlashJack]

1 minute ago, liuzhou said:

Do you eat them from the pot, too?

My good man, what do you take me for?

 

OK, I see now. I was imagining mashing on the plate as a separate step to serving. Pot -> plate. Rather than pot -> plate -> dinner plate.

 

(I have been known to take the odd forkful from the pot but I promise not to do that if ever you come for dinner.)

 

 

[JoNorvelleWalker]

3 hours ago, FlashJack said:

Use the force, Jo.

 

Whadda ya want to do? Press through the bottom? Just get in there and gently beat them up. Press, press, mash, mash, scoop, mash.

 

This is clearly way too easy for you!

 

 

And this works how?

 

[FlashJack]

16 minutes ago, JoNorvelleWalker said:

And this works how?

That's not a fork Jo.

 

It's a lovely photograph but a fork -- my fork, which I use to mash a couple of potatoes -- looks like this.

 

Simple. Useful. Gets into the corners of a pot.

 

Give it a go.

 

Sorry for so utilitarian a picture; your's is terrific. 🙂

 

[weinoo]

Now that I think a bit more about it, I think my use of the ricer for potatoes is limited to gnocchi. For which a ricer comes in handy, and does one of the better jobs. 

 

Speaking of ricers (and who doesn't), the Farmer's Almanac (!) has (all) this to say, and you can see just how important one can be!

 

 

Quote

 

A ricer does its magic on more than potatoes, though. Consider it a food press that does double duty for many things that a food mill does:

• Applesauce. Force cooked apples (keep the skins on) through a ricer for perfect applesauce,
• Guacamole. Avocados pressed through a ricer results in creamy perfection.
• Cooked squash, pumpkin, sweet potatoes, for the smoothest pies and side dishes.
• Tomatoes. Use the ricer to crush tomatoes for sauce or canning, just be sure to cut the tomatoes into manageable chunks rather than trying to rice a whole tomato.
• For cooked frozen spinach or other greens where you need to squeeze out any excess liquid to use in a recipe, the ricer is perfect.
• Baby food. You can rice any vegetable that’s cooked soft enough to make delicious and nutritious meals for baby.
• Hummus. Press cooked chickpeas through a ricer to make your hummus a bit more exciting with the addition of some actual texture. Likewise, try things like cooked white beans or cooked celery root for gourmet pureed side dishes.

 

[btbyrd]

10 hours ago, JoNorvelleWalker said:

For those who mash with forks, do you mash on a plate?  I can't see how you could use a fork to mash potatoes in a pot.

My fork is kind of bowl shaped, so the tines easily sit flattish (remember, they’re wonky) against the bottom of a pot or bowl.

 

 

[chromedome]

1 hour ago, weinoo said:

Now that I think a bit more about it, I think my use of the ricer for potatoes is limited to gnocchi. For which a ricer comes in handy, and does one of the better jobs. 

 

Speaking of ricers (and who doesn't), the Farmer's Almanac (!) has (all) this to say, and you can see just how important one can be!

 

 

Number 5 on that list - squishing excess water from greens - is what mine primarily gets used for, though I do use it occasionally for potatoes.

For actual mashing I mostly use the kind with the S-shaped wires, unless I want 'em extra-smooth for a specific purpose (then the ricer comes out). I also have one of the other old-school variety with a flat face and square holes, which I use for mashing things like carrot and rutabaga (or a combination of the two mashed together, which is a common side dish here in Atlantic Canada).

[weinoo]

2 hours ago, chromedome said:

I use for mashing things like carrot and rutabaga (or a combination of the two mashed together, which is a common side dish here in Atlantic Canada).

 

Cartabaga? That old dish??!

[Margaret Pilgrim]

From all of these posts I get the idea that smooth mashed potatoes are not a goal.    Shall we call non-riced potatoes "homestyle"?     What's the aversion to using a ricer?

[rotuts]

extra work

 

uniform ( less interesting ? ) texture ?

[gfweb]

I don't like the too-fluffy ricer texture.  I want no lumps though.

 

The ones I mash (with a properly designed and used) masher are smooth as silk.

 

Re a fork.  One could certainly use a fork...or a mortar and pestle...or even squash them between the fingers ( I believe Martha S would advocate this. She's gotten risque due to all the pot she's smoking with Snoop Dog).  But a good masher is the thing

Edited December 1, 2021 by gfweb (log)

[rotuts]

electric , hand held mixer

 

old fashioned beaters , not wire beaters

 

done.

 

any texture you like

 

its up to you.

[JoNorvelleWalker]

10 hours ago, FlashJack said:

That's not a fork Jo.

 

It's a lovely photograph but a fork -- my fork, which I use to mash a couple of potatoes -- looks like this.

 

Simple. Useful. Gets into the corners of a pot.

 

Give it a go.

 

Sorry for so utilitarian a picture; your's is terrific. 🙂

 

 

What is the length of your mashed potato fork?  My table forks, which look much like yours, are 7 inches and fit the potato pot no better than the kitchen fork I pictured.  My bacon forks less well.  I have oyster forks that would lie flat on the pot bottom but they are more suited to prize a delicate anchovy fillet from a narrow jar.

 

I can see @btbyrd's fork working for potatoes.  However I do not have a fork like his.

 

[weinoo]

1 hour ago, gfweb said:

I don't like the too-fluffy ricer texture.  I want no lumps though.

 

The ones I mash (with a properly designed and used) masher are smooth as silk.

 

Re a fork.  One could certainly use a fork...or a mortar and pestle...or even squash them between the fingers ( I believe Martha S would advocate this. She's gotten risque due to all the pot she's smoking with Snoop Dog).  But a good masher is the thing

Snoop Dog’s mashed potatoes are da bomb!

[JoNorvelleWalker]

1 hour ago, Margaret Pilgrim said:

From all of these posts I get the idea that smooth mashed potatoes are not a goal.    Shall we call non-riced potatoes "homestyle"?     What's the aversion to using a ricer?

 

My favorite mashed potato texture is achieved by ricing and passing through a tamis.  The aversion is having to wash the ricer and the tamis, and having cold potatoes.

 

[Margaret Pilgrim]

4 minutes ago, JoNorvelleWalker said:

 

My favorite mashed potato texture is achieved by ricing and passing through a tamis.  The aversion is having to wash the ricer and the tamis, and having cold potatoes.

 

I guess I’m slovenly.   Just ricing works for me (snd mine).

[JoNorvelleWalker]

6 minutes ago, Margaret Pilgrim said:

I guess I’m slovenly.   Just ricing works for me (snd mine).

 

A more committed chef would pass her riced potatoes through a tamis and then press though a chinois.

 

[Anna N]

9 minutes ago, JoNorvelleWalker said:

 

A more committed chef would pass her riced potatoes through a tamis and then press though a chinois.

 

Might be fine for a chef reaching for another star but for a home cook? I suggest he or she ought to be committed. 

[JoNorvelleWalker]

1 minute ago, Anna N said:

Might be fine for a chef reaching for another star but for a home cook? I suggest he or she ought to be committed. 

 

I can't recall the author of the method but she said in her restaurant she used a ricer, tamis, and chinois for her potatoes.  Whereas at home she often skipped the chinois.

 

[Tropicalsenior]

Before we moved to Costa Rica, one of my favorite foods was mashed potatoes. Because all we can get here is waxy, watery potatoes, they are impossible to make. I bought every type of potato on the market and nothing works. When we first moved here they did have a purple, almost black potato that made passable mashed potatoes but the color was so bad that I couldn't get anyone to eat them. In 30 years I have only seen imported russet potatoes twice.

I have tried every method on the internet and every potato masher known to man including mixers and food processors (the worst!) and nothing works.

A couple of years ago I found the solution. Costa Rica does make darn good instant potatoes. My potato masher is now a fork.

I saved one of the old potato mashers that has a flat head and holes because it makes great refried beans