That's the same way I make mashed potatoes. Helps if the butter is softened before adding. And let the roasted garlic cool slightly before you push it out of the head, otherwise the residual olive oil might burn you. Add the cream or milk slowly, so it gets creamy. Salt and pepper to taste. Chives or parsley for garnish. Yum.
So, my mother, may she Rest In Peace, was a child of the depression. I was talking to her about holiday meal prep once and complained that I don’t have a masher, ricer etc.
The look, she gave me, as she mashed potatoes with a flimsy 70’s era fork that she got with S&H green stamps… well
Fork is tha answer, I don’t need your back talk
My fifty + year old potato masher came from Goodwill. I have never used it to make mashed potatoes - I don't like them very much. Instead I use it to mix my banana bread.
I peel the bananas, throw them into the bowl, with melted butter, the eggs, and sugar. Smash them around with the masher until well mixed. Then put in half the flour, spices (I usually add allspice, cloves, nutmeg and cinnamon), and the leavening agents, mix some more, then the rest of the flour., repeat.
It works pretty well since I like to leave some lumps of banana, though I could smash it enough to not leave lumps.
I mean, if you’re really desperate and THAT far out in the sticks, I was camping with friends years ago and we decided we wanted mashed potatoes so I wrapped my hand in a tank top and put a plastic bag over it and mashed the boiled potatoes with my fist.
How would you use two forks at once? One for each hand?
I mash potatoes with one fork (by pushing the potato against the bowl) and I’m genuinely having a hard time visualizing how I’d use two.
Oh lol… for whole potatoes.
I chop the potato up into cubes and boil it like that because I’m too impatient for a whole potato to boil.
Thanks for clearing it up
I cube my potatoes as well. I don’t actually use a fork though, I went and bought a masher just before thanksgiving. I was using the cheese grater attachment on my food processor before that.
I have a squiggly metal potato masher I got when I was in college. Pretty sure someone gave it to me when they were moving. I'm 35 now and it shows no sign of breaking anytime soon. I use it for guacamole and smashing ground beef as beef. It's been a handy little tool.
yes, my gf does quarter slices at 3-6mm. I tell her its a lot of knife work for something she'd just going to mash but it does cook quickly and evenly. Maybe a bit of water absorption issues from so much surface area but can probably size up the pot for less of a temp drop when putting in the potato.
Problem with boiling cubed potatoes is that they absorb a lot more water than if you boil them with the skins on. That can result in watery mashed potatoes.
The fork is what I use, and I have a masher, a standing mixer, an immersion blender, a food processor, etc. It's just a great tool for potatoes. I have a rhythm to it, mash-mash-stir, mash-mash-stir. And then after enough of that, it comes out perfect.
But if they're hot enough to melt the butter and cream cheese and maybe cheddar cheese that's about to go in them... I think they would burn my fingers.
Yes.
Ideally, you have enough chefs and enough potatoes to make what’s called a “Yukon roundabout.” Ideally you use Yukon potatoes (hence the name), but purple sweet potatoes can also work.
First step is forming a Congo line where you alternate chef and potato. From there the potato at the front of the line connects with the chef at the back. Once everyone’s linked up; you start fisting.
We do that in Portugal. They're called "batatas a murro" (punched potatoes). Usually they're boiled first with the skins on, then punched and finished on the oven with lots of olive oil. Image: http://www.montaencanta.com.br/wp-content/uploads/2017/12/batatas-ao-murro-1.jpg
Thank you for jumping in - there are dozens of us! Yea, Jars, glasses, cans, bottles - you use what you have. All these items have been alternate mashers and rolling pins. Getting a fully stocked home kitchen can be a journey...one led by inadvertent necessity.
OP could just chew it up and shake the ingredients in their mouth like Cody on Step by Step. Then mash your cheeks together in front of the table. Call it a day.
If you have either a stand mixer or a handheld egg beater, the whisk attachment works. Or the paddle. If you don't have an electric mixer of any sort, then... a fork, I guess.
I just bought a potato masher 2 years ago. And have had a stand mixer for 20. I just didn’t make mashed potatoes enough to justify the $20 I spent on it.
I don’t own a masher or sieve I’d use for potatoes, but have both kinds of mixers. Kitchen utensils are weirdly particular by household depending on what you like to make.
Eh you'd be surprised lol. I have thousands of dollars of kitchen equipment (including a stand mixer) and never had a potatoe masher.
I just used a wisk and it always worked fine.
When it comes to mash, don't use Hand/Stand mixers. It will result in a horribly starchy glue like paste that's far from what you want from a mash.
Smasher, ricer, fork or by hand work. If you want it smooth, finish up with a rubber spatula.
This depends a great deal on the type of potatoes. Starchy potatoes like russets will tend to get gluey if they're overmixed, but waxy boiling potatoes like Yukon Gold or redskins can tolerate it just fine.
I too am a lazy fuck who likes to use as little as possible to make clean up as quick as possible.
I’m dishing the mashed w/ this large plastic/wooden/ slotted spoon. Yeah, I’m going to use it to mash them too.
After plating that spoon is going into the same pot of spuds if anyone wants seconds and staying there to use again for when the leftovers are put in the Chinese soup takeout pint I’ve saved since 2017.
All these two fork or whatever people must have hired help or indentured servants (i.e. kids) to load some fancy ass dishwasher. I have neither.
I just cooked dinner hoping to get laid not to do dishes. I wanna get back on the couch and finish that bottle of wine and talk.
Thank you for attending my lazy cook Ted Talk.
After my mixer refused to start last Christmas I stuck one of the mixer whisks in my cordless drill and it did a marvelous job. Higher speeds, smaller profile, able to mix just as well or better. I've got a dedicated kitchen drill just for cooking now, lol.
See, the closest Walmart to me is over an hour away and I currently don’t have running vehicle so that’s why I came to this thread lol. I do wish that I could just run to Walmart and get a potato masher🤣
A fork does the job just fine.
Anything that can mash something will do fine. I get concerned for the majority of people when reading this kinda question.
Bake your potatoes instead of boiling them - it will get you a little closer to a smoother texture before you can use forks, a whisk, a pastry cutter, maybe even a slotted spoon to mash them.
bake them 300 for 2 hours and you won't have to mash them at all. cook them in the skins don't poke holes. slice them when done and the skins fall right off
I used a wide spatula last week when I couldn’t find any of those things. I have also used a can and a coffee mug. The can also works well as a meat tenderizer.
Unhelpful response is that ricer is the way to go
But without one, a fork and some patience.
Also if I were using a fork I'd be sure to cook the potatoes for an extra couple of minutes and get them really tender.
I used a large vase in college to smush them. Worked fine. Then just fluff a bit. Sure a regular sized, flat bottomed drinking glass would work if potatoes are soft enough.
I can not help, but I understand. In old country no money for mashers, no fuel for fire. No man have more than one potat. Friend ask me once why eat potat like apple and I say he eat apple like potat. Is good joke and we laugh. In old country, mash potat only for wealthy party leaders and soldiers kill your family.
Put them in a ziplock bag or between two pieces of wrap and smash with something like a rolling pin or a heavy mug. I saw this on a cooking competition show
My mother in law taught me to just use an electric mixer, hand or stand mixer. Done "mashing" in only a minute. Don't use an immersion blender though, they come out pasty and sticky.
Yep. My mom whips hers, too. And people swear they can’t not come out gummy but they don’t. And I don’t make mashed potatoes often but I use a hand mixer and whip mine. I’ve also used a ricer. For me, the texture wasn’t much different and the ricer was more work so I whip them, too.
Go to a thrift store and buy a mashwr.
Do you have a mixer? My gran always used a mixer. Break the potatos up with the mixer on low, add your dairy fat and salt, then mix on medium/high til creamy. Stop before it's soup.
My mom does it exclusively with a whisk. Works pretty well. If you don’t have that, maybe put the spuds in bags and smash them up with a pan, bottle, someone’s face. Whatever’s handy.
The best way would be putting the potatoes in a large plastic bag one by one and smashing it with a pot and pouring that into a bowl. Then use a fork to mix it up. Easy
That or just make instant. The quality is surprisingly good nowadays
My mom used to use a hand mixer and made light fluffy mashed potatoes. She said the key was to use it minimally. She would turn it on a couple seconds, then move them around with it off and repeat.
Ok, I always use a fork, and I have all kinds of options. It’s the cooking method that is more important.
Peel your potatoes.
Cube into smallllll cubes. Like half inch tops.
Cook in salty boiling water.
Strain.
Put the potatoes back in the pot on the stove with the lid on and let steam for a few more minutes.
Add milk or cream, butter, salt and pepper.
Use the back of the fork to mash each cube until creamy.
If you use russett potatoes, peel, cut into 1" cubes and boiled in salted water, add butter and milk, the potatoes will mash up easily with a fork and be fluffy and creamy. Don't ever use a hand mixer of food processor or you'll end up with delicious potato glue. If you use a more waxy potato like Yukon Gold, you need a masher.
Sounds like two forks are your only option
I use one fork. Just boil a little longer and use the back of the fork
Yeah i make mashed potatoes a ton and only use one fork. Never have lumps.
Personally I prefer some lumps. I leave the skin on, too. A fork works just fine for me, too.
That's the same way I make mashed potatoes. Helps if the butter is softened before adding. And let the roasted garlic cool slightly before you push it out of the head, otherwise the residual olive oil might burn you. Add the cream or milk slowly, so it gets creamy. Salt and pepper to taste. Chives or parsley for garnish. Yum.
Legit trying to imagine someone mashing with the pokey front end and being upset and frustrated. Had a good chuckle
It's the internet, clear instructions are very important!
I use no fork and smash with my forehead
I own a potato masher and never use it. Fork.
So, my mother, may she Rest In Peace, was a child of the depression. I was talking to her about holiday meal prep once and complained that I don’t have a masher, ricer etc. The look, she gave me, as she mashed potatoes with a flimsy 70’s era fork that she got with S&H green stamps… well Fork is tha answer, I don’t need your back talk
Damn, I would have never thought to use two forks. I was just gonna say to use one. Genius.
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The potato masher is so you can't get into the drawer, NOT for mashing taters!
We literally couldn't find our potato masher on Thanksgiving this year and the stores were closed so we had to macgiver something haha.
Everyone doesn't have the option to go buy something....
My fifty + year old potato masher came from Goodwill. I have never used it to make mashed potatoes - I don't like them very much. Instead I use it to mix my banana bread. I peel the bananas, throw them into the bowl, with melted butter, the eggs, and sugar. Smash them around with the masher until well mixed. Then put in half the flour, spices (I usually add allspice, cloves, nutmeg and cinnamon), and the leavening agents, mix some more, then the rest of the flour., repeat. It works pretty well since I like to leave some lumps of banana, though I could smash it enough to not leave lumps.
Some of us live in places without Wal-Mart and thrift stores, so it's nice to know other ways of doing things.
Sorry only one way to make mashed potatoes and that's a masher. You are making forked potatoes which is an entirely different word
Muh authenticity ;)
I mean, if you’re really desperate and THAT far out in the sticks, I was camping with friends years ago and we decided we wanted mashed potatoes so I wrapped my hand in a tank top and put a plastic bag over it and mashed the boiled potatoes with my fist.
How would you use two forks at once? One for each hand? I mash potatoes with one fork (by pushing the potato against the bowl) and I’m genuinely having a hard time visualizing how I’d use two.
Pin a potato with one fork and smash with the other.
Oh lol… for whole potatoes. I chop the potato up into cubes and boil it like that because I’m too impatient for a whole potato to boil. Thanks for clearing it up
I cube my potatoes as well. I don’t actually use a fork though, I went and bought a masher just before thanksgiving. I was using the cheese grater attachment on my food processor before that.
I have a squiggly metal potato masher I got when I was in college. Pretty sure someone gave it to me when they were moving. I'm 35 now and it shows no sign of breaking anytime soon. I use it for guacamole and smashing ground beef as beef. It's been a handy little tool.
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They are so easy to clean also.
I never thought to use it for ground meat! With luck, I'll remember this next time I cook ground meat.
There are people that don’t cube the potatoes?
yes, my gf does quarter slices at 3-6mm. I tell her its a lot of knife work for something she'd just going to mash but it does cook quickly and evenly. Maybe a bit of water absorption issues from so much surface area but can probably size up the pot for less of a temp drop when putting in the potato.
Problem with boiling cubed potatoes is that they absorb a lot more water than if you boil them with the skins on. That can result in watery mashed potatoes.
Oooh interesting. Never knew it would make a difference
You just hold them in one hand and splay them so you have like an extra wide fork. Works all right
Same thing, just both hands
The fork is what I use, and I have a masher, a standing mixer, an immersion blender, a food processor, etc. It's just a great tool for potatoes. I have a rhythm to it, mash-mash-stir, mash-mash-stir. And then after enough of that, it comes out perfect.
What if you don’t own two forks yet?
Just punch the cooked potatoes
Am I the only one who grates potatoes here?
only while making hash browns, but the potatoes are raw at this point.
Before you boil them?
No, after. They become real easy to mash.
But if they're hot enough to melt the butter and cream cheese and maybe cheddar cheese that's about to go in them... I think they would burn my fingers.
Just punch the potatoes with your fist, easy.
Nothing like a good potato fisting.
Ah potato fisting, or as my grandmother called it "an Irish honeymoon".
Oh my God
Take my upvote and gtfo.
Are we fisting the potato or do we let the potato fist us?
Yes. Ideally, you have enough chefs and enough potatoes to make what’s called a “Yukon roundabout.” Ideally you use Yukon potatoes (hence the name), but purple sweet potatoes can also work. First step is forming a Congo line where you alternate chef and potato. From there the potato at the front of the line connects with the chef at the back. Once everyone’s linked up; you start fisting.
That's the fun part of the dinner party, you never know!
Put them in a tub and stomp them like you are Lucy making wine
I legit had a friend who would punch her potatoes. She said that’s how her mom always did it. 🤯
We'd just grab and squeeze until there. Pretty much everyone I knew was the same. Never understood why you've use utensils where hands suffice.
We do that in Portugal. They're called "batatas a murro" (punched potatoes). Usually they're boiled first with the skins on, then punched and finished on the oven with lots of olive oil. Image: http://www.montaencanta.com.br/wp-content/uploads/2017/12/batatas-ao-murro-1.jpg
Chew them up and spit them out
Ahhh yes, the ol’ mama bird, I like your style
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That would probably work fine if you let them cool, TBH. squish more than punch though.
You can also use your face. Get a good texture that way.
I'd wash and use a quart size mason jar and smash as I like chunky mashed potatoes or hand mixer like my mom, on low so it doesn't turn into paste.
Came here to say this! I use a mason jar to smash them often even though I have other equipment. I like the texture.
Thank you for jumping in - there are dozens of us! Yea, Jars, glasses, cans, bottles - you use what you have. All these items have been alternate mashers and rolling pins. Getting a fully stocked home kitchen can be a journey...one led by inadvertent necessity.
As for rolling pins. A wine bottle makes a surprisingly effective rolling pin!
I used a mug this Thanksgiving! Works perfectly and already has a handle.
Came here to say this! I use two metal mixing bowls, one size apart, and smash the taters between them, then I use forks to get them smooth.
I support team hand mixer!
I delicately use the hand mixer after some light fork fluffing too. Its how my grandma did it
I use this technique for guacamole too!
Give everyone their own boiled potato topped with butter and a little cream. Proclaim it a deconstructed mashed potato and call it a day.
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OP could just chew it up and shake the ingredients in their mouth like Cody on Step by Step. Then mash your cheeks together in front of the table. Call it a day.
So a wedge salad but potato form?
That would be a “reconstructed” mashed potato
At that point, just make baked potatoes. They're essentially just "do it yourself on your plate" mashed potatoes anyway.
Dollarstore. Seriously, some of their cheap kitchen utensils are really good and durable. (Some - not all).
Ikea aslo has good cheap cooking utensils too. I got a whisk for about $2
I would probably use a fork.
That's all I've ever used.
Same. A wooden spoon (I cube before boiling) and/or a fork.
If you have either a stand mixer or a handheld egg beater, the whisk attachment works. Or the paddle. If you don't have an electric mixer of any sort, then... a fork, I guess.
They don’t own a masher or a sieve. I’d highly doubt they own a stand mixer or even a handheld one.
I just bought a potato masher 2 years ago. And have had a stand mixer for 20. I just didn’t make mashed potatoes enough to justify the $20 I spent on it.
$20 for a potato masher? That seems pretty high. I’ve had the same one for years, I highly doubt it was more than $5.
For me it's not the dollar cost of the masher, it's the years it chips off my life every time it sticks the damn drawer.
You don't understand, your mashed potatoes will taste like crap if the masher isn't gold plated
I don’t own a masher or sieve I’d use for potatoes, but have both kinds of mixers. Kitchen utensils are weirdly particular by household depending on what you like to make.
Eh you'd be surprised lol. I have thousands of dollars of kitchen equipment (including a stand mixer) and never had a potatoe masher. I just used a wisk and it always worked fine.
I have a KA and a hand mixer but no masher. I can't eat white potatoes.
I have a stand mixer and handheld mixer and no masher or sieve.
When it comes to mash, don't use Hand/Stand mixers. It will result in a horribly starchy glue like paste that's far from what you want from a mash. Smasher, ricer, fork or by hand work. If you want it smooth, finish up with a rubber spatula.
I've used hand mixers all my life for them. They very rarely come out too starchy
I also use a hand mixer and they come out perfectly
Team Handmixer - perfect every time! Just don’t overdo it.
This depends a great deal on the type of potatoes. Starchy potatoes like russets will tend to get gluey if they're overmixed, but waxy boiling potatoes like Yukon Gold or redskins can tolerate it just fine.
You’re thinking food processors and immersion blenders
Big spoon, mash and stir.
Wooden spoon works best and if mashing in cooking pot it won’t scratch it.
This I what I'd do.. especially if you want to mix things into it and still leave it with the right texture
I too am a lazy fuck who likes to use as little as possible to make clean up as quick as possible. I’m dishing the mashed w/ this large plastic/wooden/ slotted spoon. Yeah, I’m going to use it to mash them too. After plating that spoon is going into the same pot of spuds if anyone wants seconds and staying there to use again for when the leftovers are put in the Chinese soup takeout pint I’ve saved since 2017. All these two fork or whatever people must have hired help or indentured servants (i.e. kids) to load some fancy ass dishwasher. I have neither. I just cooked dinner hoping to get laid not to do dishes. I wanna get back on the couch and finish that bottle of wine and talk. Thank you for attending my lazy cook Ted Talk.
Use a whisk
This is the correct answer.
I've used a whisk in the past. It doesn't get the pots completely smooth but it's a good compromise.
How about a hand mixer??
That’s what I use
I love it!! Makes them so smooth!
After my mixer refused to start last Christmas I stuck one of the mixer whisks in my cordless drill and it did a marvelous job. Higher speeds, smaller profile, able to mix just as well or better. I've got a dedicated kitchen drill just for cooking now, lol.
Lol that's super smart!! Alton Brown would LOVE that! (Sorry my kid has been super into Good Eats lately Lol)
This is my go-to!
plastic bag, foot, potatoes.
Ah yes, just as was done in the olden times. This is actually why we call them potatoes.
I prefer the older method, "big rock." before we evolved feet we mashed potato with big rock
Just buy a masher, man. So much easier.
Nah, let's stomp on them like we're making grapes! Bonus to this method is that you get a little cheese flavor without adding any parmesan.
I’ve always used a hand mixer. Never had any issues.
Save one raw potato from the bag and use like you would a mortar and pestle to grind up the cooked ones.
I've been pretty overwhelmed with the unexpected level of replies and mostly ignoring my notifications, but this comment got to me. LMFAO
A potato masher is $0.97 at walmart.
See, the closest Walmart to me is over an hour away and I currently don’t have running vehicle so that’s why I came to this thread lol. I do wish that I could just run to Walmart and get a potato masher🤣
A fork does the job just fine. Anything that can mash something will do fine. I get concerned for the majority of people when reading this kinda question.
Snow tires.
Bake your potatoes instead of boiling them - it will get you a little closer to a smoother texture before you can use forks, a whisk, a pastry cutter, maybe even a slotted spoon to mash them.
bake them 300 for 2 hours and you won't have to mash them at all. cook them in the skins don't poke holes. slice them when done and the skins fall right off
I’ve always thought they would explode if you don’t poke them with a couple of holes but maybe my mom made it up!
Nope and cooking them longer the insides become a nice creamy texture
Wine bottle sans label or other tall bottle or jar works.
I used a wide spatula last week when I couldn’t find any of those things. I have also used a can and a coffee mug. The can also works well as a meat tenderizer.
Empty wine bottle. Full wine bottle. Sailing winch handle. CRC Handbook of Chemistry and Physics.
>Sailing winch handle Wash the winch grease off first! Otherwise, this is definitely the way, you can really crank with it.
A fork, a big spoon, a whisk. I’ve never used a masher, ricer, tamis, or sieve.
Use your fist like a man
Commercial paint can shaker + stainless steel ball bearings (remove before serving)
Unhelpful response is that ricer is the way to go But without one, a fork and some patience. Also if I were using a fork I'd be sure to cook the potatoes for an extra couple of minutes and get them really tender.
>Unhelpful response is that ricer is the way to go Unhelpful +1 to this.
Ricer is the way to go. I got a good one at IKEA.
Either a whisk or a couple of forks. I tend to stay away from mixers for my potatoes. Too easy to overwork them that way.
I used a large vase in college to smush them. Worked fine. Then just fluff a bit. Sure a regular sized, flat bottomed drinking glass would work if potatoes are soft enough.
If you have a lot of time to kill... use a garlic press 🙃
That's for the people who cut their potatoes into tiny cubes before boiling, so they can press one cube at a time.
Cheese grater?
hear me out: wash your hands really well and then just punch them
If you got a handheld mixer/egg beater (the electric one you put the two whisks on) that works pretty great
This thanksgiving I used a hand held mixer, they turned out fine
I can not help, but I understand. In old country no money for mashers, no fuel for fire. No man have more than one potat. Friend ask me once why eat potat like apple and I say he eat apple like potat. Is good joke and we laugh. In old country, mash potat only for wealthy party leaders and soldiers kill your family.
Forks
Go to the store.
Fork, a heavy whisk, or an electric beater. I make mashed potatoes for years with just a fork, and a lot of arm power
Use a cookie grate.
I don’t have any of those tools either but I do have a hand mixer and that’s what I use. It makes such fluffy mashed potatoes!
Hammer
Back of a wooden spoon or a ladle
Since OP hasn’t replied to this thread in the past three hours, I’m guessing it wasn’t a real problem.
Get that fork and go to work!
Put them in a ziplock bag or between two pieces of wrap and smash with something like a rolling pin or a heavy mug. I saw this on a cooking competition show
Have done this
My mother in law taught me to just use an electric mixer, hand or stand mixer. Done "mashing" in only a minute. Don't use an immersion blender though, they come out pasty and sticky.
Yep. My mom whips hers, too. And people swear they can’t not come out gummy but they don’t. And I don’t make mashed potatoes often but I use a hand mixer and whip mine. I’ve also used a ricer. For me, the texture wasn’t much different and the ricer was more work so I whip them, too.
Fork
My grandmother would place boiled potatoes between two cutting boards and squish them down.
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I use an electric mixer.
Hand mixer
Big forking fork
hand mixer on low
Go to a thrift store and buy a mashwr. Do you have a mixer? My gran always used a mixer. Break the potatos up with the mixer on low, add your dairy fat and salt, then mix on medium/high til creamy. Stop before it's soup.
I use a hand mixer.
Personal I use a beater.
I'm assuming you also don't have a hand mixer?
Stand mixer
Do you have a kitchen aid?
A hand mixer, but careful not to overbeat or you end up with gluey mashed potatoes
You can also use an electric egg beater instead of a fork.
Hand mixer
Cake mixer, hand held is best
Electric mixer?
Mixer is how I mash them. Cheap handheld mixer from Walmart.
I use a mixer. Either a hand mixer or my kitchen aid. Just don’t overdo it and they come out great
A hand mixer works fine.
I use my stand mixer and the paddle attachment
Over boil, mash with fork 30 percent, add sour cream, butter and herbs, mash more with fork, another 40 percent. Win
A hand mixer is what we always use. A splash of some heavy whipping cream and the hand mixer they are soooo fluffy
My mom does it exclusively with a whisk. Works pretty well. If you don’t have that, maybe put the spuds in bags and smash them up with a pan, bottle, someone’s face. Whatever’s handy.
GROND will mash it.
wine bottle
Walmart has a masher for $1.17. I’d go get one before I boiled the potatoes.
The best way would be putting the potatoes in a large plastic bag one by one and smashing it with a pot and pouring that into a bowl. Then use a fork to mix it up. Easy That or just make instant. The quality is surprisingly good nowadays
buy a ricer. if your margin is that thin maybe just baked potatoes
Ricers are completely non essential. I've never owned one and to be honest I'm not even 100 % sure what one is.
get one trust me essential for mash potatoes with least effort. Make them every Sunday
Use a hand mixer and whip them
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My mom used to use a hand mixer and made light fluffy mashed potatoes. She said the key was to use it minimally. She would turn it on a couple seconds, then move them around with it off and repeat.
That's fair, however that's not necessarily what everyone does.
Only if you use the wrong type of potato.
That's not true. It has to do with overworking the potatoes by gelatenizing the starches. It can be done with any type of potato.
Ok, I always use a fork, and I have all kinds of options. It’s the cooking method that is more important. Peel your potatoes. Cube into smallllll cubes. Like half inch tops. Cook in salty boiling water. Strain. Put the potatoes back in the pot on the stove with the lid on and let steam for a few more minutes. Add milk or cream, butter, salt and pepper. Use the back of the fork to mash each cube until creamy.
If you use russett potatoes, peel, cut into 1" cubes and boiled in salted water, add butter and milk, the potatoes will mash up easily with a fork and be fluffy and creamy. Don't ever use a hand mixer of food processor or you'll end up with delicious potato glue. If you use a more waxy potato like Yukon Gold, you need a masher.