Mashed Potatoes

Hey All,

I'm making mashed potatoes for the holidays and am wondering what type of potatoes are best to use? In a lot of recipes, I've seen golden creamer potatoes, but I am not sure if I've ever seen those or if they go by another name?

Appreciate any advice, thanks.

I believe that golden creamer potatoes are younger Yukon Golds.

I like to use Yukon Golds for mashed potatoes. I think Cook's Illustrated had an article awhile back about the advantages to using boiling/creamer potatoes in mashed potatoes v. russets, for instance, and that was because boiling potatoes have a lower starch content and respond better to being cooked in water, as you would do when preparing mashed potatoes.

Depending on my mood I use Red potatoes(skins on), or baking potatoes(peeled) for my mashed potatoes.

I typically boil garlic cloves in with the potatoes, and they get mashed in when done, I of course use heavy cream, unsalted butter, black pepper, and salt when mashing.

Creamers are very young potatoes (they don't have to be Yukon Golds - but since you said Gold Creamers, I presume this means both, young and Yukon Gold). I'm not sure if you can get young potatoes in the winter time. In any case, Yukon Gold potatoes are widely available and work well.

Hi,

Now if you want to worry about another variable, consider whether your potatoes should be mashed or whipped? (I mash by hand for a weeknight family dinner. I mash via my stand mixer when it is large volume.)

My German Grandmother made the worst mashed potatoes. They were a soupy puree that we ate without much pleasure. She did so many things so well, it was suprising her culinary weak link was mashed potatoes.

Regards,

Cathy, what's your fat/dairy of choice?

Darren72 wrote:Cathy, what's your fat/dairy of choice?

Holidays - heavy cream (I love that half gallon container from Costco)
Every day - milk
Varietal - buttermilk
Always - butter

Regards,

Cool -thanks. We'll have to try buttermilk. My wife likes to put creamcheese in, which I like (and the funny thing is that this is the only way she'll eat cream cheese). She also likes to include a celery root in the puree (but not with the cream cheese, if I recall), which gives it a nice flavor component and lightens the texture a little bit.

Cathy2 wrote:

Darren72 wrote:Cathy, what's your fat/dairy of choice?

Holidays - heavy cream (I love that half gallon container from Costco)
Every day - milk
Varietal - buttermilk
Always - butter

You missed my favorite: Sour cream.

I always assumed you're supposed to use regular baking potatoes for mashed potatoes.

Hi,

Sour cream would be a nice addition. Never thought about cream cheese, though it could easily work.

I will have to try an addition of celery root sometime. I have mashed cauliflower by itself. For my Mom, I make mashed rutabaga with chicken stock as the liquid addition.

As for the potato choice: whatever we happen to have in the house.

Regards,

I like really starchy old russett potatoes, because you can keep adding cream and butter 'til the cows come home (or beg for mercy). The old, starchy potatoes will keep absorbing liquid without ever getting soupy. I don't eat mashed potatoes often, but when I do I want them to be as rich and bad-for-me as possible. For 4-6 people I take a cup or so of cream mixed with a cup or so of whole milk or half and half, a stick and a quarter of butter, and as many garlic cloves as possible, then I simmer that for 40 minutes and let the garlic steep a little longer. I like homestyle mashed potatoes, so I just use an old-fashioned potato masher and mash the skin-on spuds just until the garlicky fat has been incorporated. Never overwork it. Whipped potatoes are not allowed anywhere near my plate.

Cathy2 wrote:My German Grandmother made the worst mashed potatoes. They were a soupy puree that we ate without much pleasure. She did so many things so well, it was suprising her culinary weak link was mashed potatoes.

Well, I feel better.

I made mashed potatoes for Thanksgiving. I used the Mashed Potato and Root Vegetable recipe from Cooks Illustrated (can be found on their website) and added bacon and chives. My root vegetable of choice was turnips. It was fantastic. I'll be using that recipe from now on. Also, I made them the night prior, refrigerated them, and put them to warm up in the crockpot for the dinner--this worked well. The bacon I used was the peppercorn encrusted stuff from Aldi. I am quite a fan of it, especially considering the price. I think it works well in carbonara too.

PlayItGeorge wrote:I made mashed potatoes for Thanksgiving. I used the Mashed Potato and Root Vegetable recipe from Cooks Illustrated (can be found on their website) and added bacon and chives. My root vegetable of choice was turnips. It was fantastic. I'll be using that recipe from now on. Also, I made them the night prior, refrigerated them, and put them to warm up in the crockpot for the dinner--this worked well. The bacon I used was the peppercorn encrusted stuff from Aldi. I am quite a fan of it, especially considering the price. I think it works well in carbonara too.

From time to time, I'll make that same recipe (my root vegetable of choice is celeriac). You can't go wrong with a recipe that requires you to "caramelize" the celeriac first prior to adding potatoes. Great recipe.

PlayItGeorge wrote:The bacon I used was the peppercorn encrusted stuff from Aldi. I am quite a fan of it, especially considering the price. I think it works well in carbonara too.

This is our standard everyday bacon: it's meaty, thick-cut, not too salty and doesn't have any off flavors (which I can't say for the Target Archer Farms bacon) I like it in carbonara as well.

Mhays wrote:

PlayItGeorge wrote:The bacon I used was the peppercorn encrusted stuff from Aldi. I am quite a fan of it, especially considering the price. I think it works well in carbonara too.

This is our standard everyday bacon: it's meaty, thick-cut, not too salty and doesn't have any off flavors (which I can't say for the Target Archer Farms bacon) I like it in carbonara as well.

Have you tried the other types of this bacon? I think hickory smoked and something else. I have not.

Celeriac, is that the same as celery root? Sorry, I don't know, I try to experiment with vegetables as much as time permits but I haven't gotten around to them all yet!

PlayItGeorge wrote:I made mashed potatoes ... added bacon and chives.

::perk:: Adding bacon to mashed potatoes? How did I never hear about this before?

(I'd add chives too, but Sweet Baboo is antichive. (Maybe just in my half?) Actually, he's anti so many things that I'm thinking of starting a thread entitled "Things That The Dog Will Eat With Me But My Husband Won't." But don't worry, I don't let the dog eat dog chives.)

PlayItGeorge wrote:Celeriac, is that the same as celery root?

Yes.

I think the other Aldi bacon is Maple flavored, which cuts it out of most of the non-breakfast uses I have for it - so I haven't tried it. I've tried their cheaper bacon in the Oscar-Meyer grade, it's got good flavor and also isn't overly salty but it's very, very cheap meat: as it's mostly fat, not much is left when you cook it. If you're looking for a lot of bacon grease, it's a good way to go, but it doesn't do much else for me.

Oh these are all great idea, thank you, I'll have to come back and let you know how it goes.

Now if you want to worry about another variable, consider whether your potatoes should be mashed or whipped? (I mash by hand for a weeknight family dinner. I mash via my stand mixer when it is large volume.)

Now I don't have a masher nor a ricer, I mean I can go pick one up. When you say stand mixer, you mean like a Kitchen aid?

Hi,

If your potatoes are cooked enough, you can mash them with a fork. Stand mixer: I was referring to my KitchenAid. You can also do with a handheld mixer.

If you are going to buy something, the masher will be cheaper than the ricer. If you get a ricer thats like a giant garlic press, then it can be used for making spaetzle. The last time I saw one, it was around $40 a few years ago.

Regards,

Mashed potatoes I make are easy for a crowd and you can make them the night before, it really saves alot of last minute running around when you are trying to get everything ready at the same time. They transport well too. The recipe is 8-10 medium potatoes, 8oz.cream cheese, 8oz. sourcream, 1/2 stick melted butter, 1/4c. chopped chives, 1 clove garlic minced, 2 t. salt, 1/2 t. pepper and paprika. Peel and cube potatoes, cook potatoes in boiling water (if you really want to kick up the flavor use chicken broth) for 30 minutes. Drain and mash the potatoes and set aside. Beat cream cheese, sour cream, butter, chives, s&p, and garlic. Add mashed potatoes and mix well. Spoon mixture into a buttered casserole dish. Sprinkle with paprika and refrigerate overnight. Remove about 30 minute before baking. Bake at 350 uncovered for 30 to 40 minutes. Sometimes I add 1/4 c parmesan cheese or chopped bacon. I'd hate to really think of the calorie count on this one but they are to die for!

What about reheating? I've generally been happy lately with mashed potatoes made with my stand mixer (sometimes a bit too fluid, but so far, not gluey). What I'm wondering is how, if at all, to make mashed potatoes that will reheat well - and if such exists, how to reheat them. DH believes mashed potatoes are among those things that can't be successfully reheated and so should be thrown out, but I'm a child of children of the Depression, so "throw it out" is not in my vocabulary. (In this case, should it be?)

Katie wrote: DH believes mashed potatoes are among those things that can't be successfully reheated and so should be thrown out, but I'm a child of children of the Depression, so "throw it out" is not in my vocabulary. (In this case, should it be?)

I agree with DH. Mashed potatoes cannot be reheated in that form.

What I would suggest is that you make potato patties and cook them in a skillet with a little oil.

My favorite type of restaurants in this world are the southern cafeterias They use up all their leftovers and 90% of the time, you will never know it.

Katie wrote:What about reheating?

My answer this Thanksgiving was to use my slow cooker.

I made the mashed potatoes the night before, left them (in a pretty cold) garage overnight in Tupperware and loaded them into a slow cooker set on low first thing in the morning. With intermittent shots of cream, butter, and a little stir, they were just fine for a 2-ish serving time. I also set the slow cooker vessel on a trivet for serving and saved my mother-in-law from having to wash another dish.

I love mashed potatoes freshly pummeled but I have enough going on Turkey Day am that this seemed to be a fine substitute. The year before I made them the night earlier as well and really gently microwaved/stirred them to avoid any "toughening", but that was as high maintenance as just making them fresh. This method was easier and well received.

I'm not sure I'd do this with garlic/chive-spiked skin-on redskins but for the traditional creamier version, this worked well for us.

jlawrence01 wrote:

Katie wrote: DH believes mashed potatoes are among those things that can't be successfully reheated and so should be thrown out

I agree with DH. Mashed potatoes cannot be reheated in that form.

Hmm. Guess I'd better start making smaller batches. (Hate to waste the price of a potato.) Thanks, jlawernce.

DeathByOrca wrote:

Katie wrote:What about reheating?

My answer this Thanksgiving was to use my slow cooker...I'm not sure I'd do this with garlic/chive-spiked skin-on redskins but for the traditional creamier version, this worked well for us.

Now that I think of it, I've heard of the slow cooker technique. Thanks, DBO.

Katie wrote:Now that I think of it, I've heard of the slow cooker technique. Thanks, DBO.

So much for me thinking I had an original thought!

My pleasure, ma'am.

Katie-That's why I like this recipe. Even when you have leftovers, add a shot of milk and put in the microwave for a couple of minutes. I beleive all the fat items (cream cheese, butter, sour cream) help the potatoes stay creamy. I have never had a problem with the potatoes getting dry or grainy. I have made these potatoes for 20 years:)