(imagine a picture of mashed potatoes here--blogger is not cooperating)
For several years, I have made mashed potatoes only at the holidays. I like eating them a lot, but I don't particularly enjoy the multi-step process involved, so we usually have baked potatoes. I do eat them at my folks' house a couple times a month, though.
When I have made them, I've referred to my trusted Bittman cookbook, which has this to say on the subject of mashed potatoes (in part--he actually devotes two text-filled pages to the subject): "If you like yours lumpy, mash them with a fork; if you like them smooth, use a food mill or ricer. But whatever you do, keep them away from mixers, food processors, or blenders, because they will become gummy, and almost no one likes them that way."
Pretty strong words, eh? So over the years I dutifully hand-mashed pounds of potatoes, that ended up heavy and somewhat lumpy. This year I enlisted Alex to mash with a masher and beat with a spoon, and even with his force we were not satisfied with the results.
So on our recent trip to Michigan I had Grandma coach me through using the electric hand mixer to mash the potatoes. Guess what? It took less than two minutes and the results were pronounced fluffy by all, including Alex, who said they were similar to his late grandmother's (reputed to be the best of all by his family).
I am left to conclude that either Bittman's statement that mixers produce gummy potatoes is wrong, or that my entire family and Alex's entire family is in the select group of "almost no one" who "likes them that way." Either way I'll be using a mixer from now on.
And I'll be a bit more skeptical of dogmatic cookbook statements.
2 comments:
Well, then my family feels the same and I guess we like gummy potatoes as well!
I use an electric mixer for ours though my kids do not like potatoes and I really do not make them very often.
A few times a year at best here.
I just use a masher and do it by hand. I don't mind a few small lumps, but as long as you cook them long enough and mash a bit, it's fine. I've never used a mixer, blender, etc....probably because my mom never did, either. I've never found them to be a really difficult thing to make, but then again maybe I'm not a mashed potato connoisseur either.
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