# Mashed potatoes gone wrong **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [November 9, 2006, 5:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mashed-potatoes-gone-wrong/379681 "2006-11-09T05:59:17Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 5\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![Queen\_Tonya](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/4491bb/32.png) [@Queen\_Tonya](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Queen_Tonya)\ **Post date:** [November 10, 2006, 11:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mashed-potatoes-gone-wrong/379681/41 "2006-11-10T11:16:22Z")
You can also microwave them, no excess water to carry away all the potatoness. Peel chop rinse and throw in a microwave-approved piece of cookware with an appropriately vented cover of course, nuke 1 minute per potato. Very flavorful, since there’s no water to throw out. They will squeeze out a few ounces of juices, those you can fold right back into the mash for the most extreme potatoness. ---
**Author:** ![aruvqan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aruvqan/32/2891_2.png) [@aruvqan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aruvqan)\ **Post date:** [November 10, 2006, 2:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mashed-potatoes-gone-wrong/379681/42 "2006-11-10T14:24:05Z")
we boil the potatoes in their skins in very lightly salted water. The salt changes how the water reacts in cooking. Take them out and let them cool slightly, then cut them into unpeeled chunks and run through a potato ricer, which pushes them out of the peels. Add the butter first, along with salt and pepper and whip it up, then add the milk. This works along the same lines as making a roux - you coat the starch molecules with a fat so they do not develope the ‘strings’ that make the potatoes gluey when you add liquid. You add just enough milk [or sour cream, or heavy cream] to get the final texture you want. I suppose you could use olive oil or margarine and broth just as well, but we dont do it with substitutes. Potatoes, salt, pepper, butter and whole milk. ---
**Author:** ![Chefguy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chefguy/32/138_2.png) [@Chefguy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chefguy)\ **Post date:** [November 10, 2006, 3:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mashed-potatoes-gone-wrong/379681/43 "2006-11-10T15:48:04Z")
[QUOTE=lissener] That’s still too much water. I put a half an inch of water in the bottom of the pan; the potatos basically steam. [/QUOTE] I usually use one of [these](http://www.amazon.com/Trudeau-Stainless-Steel-Vegetable-Steamer/dp/B00062B0K6) to cook cubed potatoes. They’re done in about 10 minutes and never touch water. ---
**Author:** ![BMalion](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/e274bd/32.png) [@BMalion](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BMalion)\ **Post date:** [November 10, 2006, 4:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mashed-potatoes-gone-wrong/379681/44 "2006-11-10T16:24:25Z")
Add cabbage and bacon, the Irish call it _colcannon_, you’ll never go back. ---
**Author:** ![Kevbo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/e47774/32.png) [@Kevbo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kevbo)\ **Post date:** [November 10, 2006, 5:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mashed-potatoes-gone-wrong/379681/45 "2006-11-10T17:58:48Z")
[QUOTE=Exapno Mapcase] …and boiling for exactly 11 minutes … [/QUOTE] I know, I know, I know…most folks live at or near sea level. As someone who has never lived below 5000’ MSL, though, I darned near choked at 11 minutes…freakin’ rocks those spuds would be. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mashed-potatoes-gone-wrong/379681.md?page=2)