No Lumps

A Comprehensive Guide to Mashed Potatoes

There aren’t any universally recognized poems about the night before Thanksgiving. I’m not going to write one, but someone should. Let’s take a minute to visualize together. It’s Thanksgiving morning, the parade is on in the background, maybe some of your kids are still asleep, maybe they’ve been awake for hours. If you’ve followed my advice up to this point, your turkey is on lock. (If you haven’t listened to the podcast on how to cook your turkey you can find it here.) For the intermediate cooks in the class I’ve provided fantastic recipes from Sara and Matt which you can find here and here. This brings us to mashed potatoes. The side everyone eats in bulk, and the side everyone judges, sorry it’s true.

The good news is they’re simple to pull off well, the bad news is simple doesn’t mean easy. If you’re like me, connecting the dots and pulling in skills you’ve learned from other recipes, is what’s going to bring the idea of cooking a solid meal into clearer view. Remember in Steak and Spaghetti when we talked about salting a pot of water to flavor the pasta? Guess what, we’re gonna do the same thing here.

First, let’s talk potatoes.

When I decided to drop my apron strings and walk away from restaurant life, I found myself in a job selling produce. I enjoyed my job, and it spoke to the chef in me, very much still a part of my psyche. I enjoyed a modest amount of success as I was happy to learn on the job and figure out my place in the pecking order of a small company. Out of the blue my phone rang one afternoon, and my Fortune 500 ranked competitor was on the other end. Fast forward into the the warp speed paced and almost beyond comprehension scale of big time food service. From my role as a “Produce Specialist” I was given a crash course in big time produce. How it’s grown, purchased, moved, and delivered. The metaphor “drinking through a fire house,” has never been more appropriate.

Point being the way food moves in this country is a complex tight rope act, especially with produce. The clock starts ticking the day that product is pulled from the ground, and it doesn’t stop until it reaches your plate. Take a moment to think about the scale of what’s required to get that potato in your hand.

Potatoes are grown in two crops, or cycles. Don’t quote me, but if memory serves, something like 90% of potatoes in the United States come from Idaho. They’re pulled from the ground where they age in silos as they’re slowly drained for all the French fries, mashed potatoes, hash browns etc, until the bin is empty, just in time for a new crop of potatoes to fill it back up and start the process over again. Potato hits a trough of quality during the transition process, as suppliers literally hit the bottom of the barrell.

The good news? That transition from Norkotah to Burbank potatoes is now complete. If you’re holding an Idaho russet potato in your hand on Thanksgiving morning, it’s new crop. Fancy right?

The bigger the potato in this situation the better. Less surface area to peel. Now that’s not to say that Yukon gold or red potatoes are out of line as a substitute here. That being said I recommend sticking with a traditional approach here, which means whatever you grew up eating and enjoying is what you should do. If that means red potatoes with the skin on, go for it. Keep in my method is for a russet potato.

Peel those suckers and run them with cold water when you finish to get the dirt and grime, as well as a little starch off of them. Take one of your two heavy bottom stock pots (more on that here), and fill it half way with water, and add salt until it’s a flavor reminiscent of sea water. As the water boils you’ll be flavoring the potatoes. Put the potatoes in the pot and bring to a boil.

I don’t have a time here for you. There are too many variables in play (whether or not you have a gas or electric stove, the temperature of the water you’re putting in the pot, size of potatoes, thickness of your pot etc). You want the potatoes to be fork tender, meaning a fork will easily split the potato.

Taking care not to burn yourself, drain the potatoes into a collander placed in the sink. They should break apart as they hit the the resistance of the collander. If you see what almost looks like a crystal sheen on the inside of the potato, congratulations you hit the nail on the head. If you don’t, that’s okay, as long as you salted the water they will still be delicious.

Assuming you followed instructions to this point, the rest is relatively easy. The potatoes are already seasoned by the salt water seeping in during the cooking process, (taste them and add more salt as needed, remember you can add more but you can’t take it out). Take the potatoes and put them in a bowl, or if you’re a pro, the bowl of your stand mixer. Now we’re gonna add butter. Joel Robuchön (RIP), was famous for his potatoes, adding a nearly 1 to 1 ration of butter to potato. You don’t need to go that far but I’m going to recommend a 20% fat (butter or margarine and cream) to potato ratio. This will allow your potatoes to be flavorful and fluffy without being just the consistency of a boiled potato.

Grab your potato masher, or fork, or spatula and begin to work the potatoes together with your fat source. You can add a little granulated garlic here as well, or if you’re really advance and have some garlic confit, you know what to do. The potatoes should be cooked enough so this doesn’t require much effort. If you have a stand mixer, turn it on a medium setting and pour yourself another drink you’re almost done.

We don’t want to over mix or mash the potatoes. Especially if you’re using a Yukon gold or a red potato. The starch content is high in these potatoes, and much like mixing flour to form gluten strands for dough, the starch in these potatoes will start to bind and you’ll end up with gummy potatoes. Trust your senses you know what mashed potatoes are supposed to taste like, and look like. Keep a spoon handy to taste test and when you’re finished, pat yourself on the back. You’ve just crossed the finish line the most important side of the Thanksgiving holiday and it wasn’t even that hard.

I hope cooking for your family this Thanksgiving brings you the level of joy it brings me each year. To me, there’s no greater act of love or service, than preparing a meal with care for the ones you love most. I hope everyone has a safe and happy Thanksgiving.