A survey of 5 cooks discovered that Yukon Gold potatoes are your best option for mashed potatoes.There are simple solutions on the best way to forestall the potatoes from turning into watery, gluey or lumpy.Every chef shares glorious suggestions for creating restaurant-quality mashed potatoes at residence.
At first look, it’s possible you’ll suppose that mashed potatoes are only a easy and homey aspect dish, nevertheless it appears as if each residence prepare dinner has their very own spin on this basic recipe—from leaving the skins on or peeling them away, to the way you prepare dinner the potatoes (boiled, baked, or steamed) as to if you need them creamy and opulent or fluffy and cloudlike. This Thanksgiving standby is deceptively riffable. Nevertheless, earlier than making any choices about the best way to put together your potatoes, it is advisable go spud buying… and because it seems, the potatoes you select can have a huge impact in your ultimate dish.
With that in thoughts, we polled a handful of cooks throughout the nation about which potatoes are finest for mashed potatoes. The overwhelming response? Yukon Gold potatoes, that are creamy, buttery and simple to trace down. Right here’s why these cooks received’t make mashed potatoes with out ’em.
Why Yukon Golds Are Finest for Mashing
Yukon Gold potatoes are medium-sized and spherical, with skinny pores and skin and yellow flesh. The results of a cross between a North American white potato and a wild South American yellow potato, Yukon Gold potatoes have an virtually buttery style and are extremely versatile. They stability the starchiness present in russets with a little bit of waxiness normally present in white potatoes, like Pink Bliss, making it potential to roast them, fry them or mash them. “They’ve a excessive starch content material that absorbs the cream and butter very effectively, giving it a fluffy, but creamy texture when cooked correctly,” chef Logan Ramirez of Gioia Mia Restaurant in Montclair, NJ, explains.
That starch content material is essential to getting a fluffy texture in your potatoes, Ramirez explains. “Pink potatoes and fingerlings—they don’t break down or soak up fats content material in addition to Yukon Gold, because of the low starch content material,” he says.
Apart from Yukon Gold potatoes, some cooks choose russet potatoes for his or her greater starch content material and further fluffy texture. Nevertheless, these potatoes might be overworked simply, making your mashed potatoes gluey. “I do know they’re the simplest to seek out and more than likely the most affordable at your native grocery retailer, however russet potatoes are greater than doubtless why your mashed potatoes come out watery,” chef Jack Bennett at Worldwide Smoke in San Francisco provides. “They tackle a number of water within the cooking course of and are a lot better in different dishes.”
Easy methods to Keep away from Frequent Errors
The key to good mashed potatoes isn’t simply utilizing the proper potatoes—the way you put together the dish might be the distinction between creamy, scrumptious potatoes and a watery, gluey mess. The most important mistake chef Vanessa Parish, co-founder of the Queer Meals Basis, notices residence cooks make is over-mashing. “You need your potatoes to be gentle and fluffy, to not harden like cement as quickly as they contact the plate. Pushing out an excessive amount of air can lead to a thicker mashed potato with a heavy mouthfeel,” she explains.
Including chilly butter and milk to the recent potatoes can even result in a lumpy ultimate product, Chef Cedric Domenech of L’Avenue at Saks in NYC says. “I recommend to all the time mash the potatoes with milk and butter in a extremely popular temperature. In the event that they get too cool, the mashed potatoes won’t have as clean of a texture.” As an alternative, ensure that the butter and milk are heat so that they don’t immediately decrease the potatoes’ temperature when added, which tightens the starches.
Make Mashed Potatoes Like a Chef
To tug off restaurant-worthy mashed potatoes at residence, begin with unpeeled potatoes, Domenech says, and ensure to start out them in chilly water to keep away from uneven cooking. “House cooks typically peel the potatoes earlier than they’re boiled, however it’s important to boil the potatoes with their pores and skin nonetheless on in water and salt for optimum texture. As soon as the potatoes are completed boiling, the pores and skin ought to be eliminated,” he says. (He recommends doing this with a towel and gloves, because the potatoes will probably be scorching.)
In the case of fats content material, Bennett says you need to attain for cream reasonably than milk to your mashed potatoes, whereas Domenech recommends a high-fat butter, similar to Vermont unsalted butter, which is about 80% fats. It will make sure that your potatoes are further creamy.
After all, should you don’t have Yukon Gold potatoes readily available this Thanksgiving, you possibly can nonetheless make mashed potatoes. When utilizing less-than-ideal potatoes, chef Jeffrey Williams, from The Wharf InterContinental in D.C., suggests making up for the lacking starch by including in different flavors. “If I do have to make use of a non-potato of alternative, I really like a recipe the place you caramelize diced onions in butter, cream and smoked Gouda cheese. The onions and cheese add a great complement, and it compensates for the dearth of starch within the potatoes,” he says.Whether or not you’re making your mashed potatoes for a vacation meal or only a cozy, weeknight dinner, the proper potato can have your friends (otherwise you!) coming again for seconds—so select correctly on the grocery retailer.
The Backside Line
Mashed potatoes could seem easy, however there are various methods to organize them. One of the vital vital elements in making nice mashed potatoes is the kind of potato used. The cooks we interviewed agree that Yukon Gold potatoes are your best option resulting from their creamy, buttery taste and balanced starch content material. In distinction, russet potatoes are sometimes used for his or her greater starch content material, however overworking them can result in gluey mashed potatoes and a watery consistency. In accordance with the cooks we interviewed, Yukon Gold potatoes stand out as the highest possibility for reaching the proper mash.
