Tip #3: Don't Overcook or Undercook the Potatoes If you overcook them they disintegrate and your potatoes will be soupy. The specific cooking time depends on the size of your potato: a perfectly cooked piece of potato should give no resistance when cut with a knife, but shouldn't crumble into a million pieces.
Too much — or too vigorous — mashing will produce gluey potatoes. Your best tool is an old-fashioned masher, fork, ricer or food mill. If you've already done the damage, turn pasty potatoes into a casserole: Spread them in a baking dish, drizzle with melted butter and sprinkle with grated cheese and breadcrumbs.
Health experts have warned that overcooking foods such as toast, roast potatoes, chips and vegetables can lead to cancer. The Food Standards Agency says that starchy foods cooked at high temperatures for too long form acrylamide - a compound thought to be carcinogenic.
Overcooked potatoes aren't always dry and hard, as it's possible to overboil a potato too. When you do so, more water is absorbed by the potato. Then, when you go to mash them, the water releases, resulting in that sad, soupy mess you may want to toss in a compost pile far, far away.
But be warned: even starchy potatoes can turn to a sticky paste if they're overworked. The lesson here? Don't overmix the potatoes! For mashed potatoes that are smooth without being gummy, a potato ricer is your best bet.
Visual signs: The potato skin will start to wrinkle when over cooked. The potato, when wrapped in foil or placed on the bottom of a pan will have a dark brown spot on the bottom, a sure sign of over cooking.
You can leave them in the ground until needed, and they will keep growing larger, but the longer they're in the soil, the more likely they are to get damaged by slugs. Dig up potatoes carefully, inserting your fork at least 30cm (1ft) away from the base of the plant to avoid spearing the tubers.
Whipped or Mashed, Just Don't Overwork
Starch is released when potatoes are mashed, smashed, or whipped, and, if too much starch is released, the potatoes are gummy and unappealing. Limit the amount of time you handle the potatoes, mashing or whipping only until the potatoes reach the desired consistency.
Overcooking can affect the quality of food - firstly it makes food harder to digest and metabolize, and secondly, charred and burnt foods contain carcinogenic substances. However, there are ways to cook and reduce the negative affects.
A potato's cell walls contain pectin, and these pectin chains remain stable when they come into contact with acids. This means that potatoes will remain hard if they are in a dish that has a lot of acid (for example, a dish you've added wine to). Salt is needed to dissolve these pectin chains.
If you cook potatoes in water, it's likely they will become mushy after a while. To fix this and keep your potatoes intact, pour a little bit of vinegar (white, wine or cider) in cooking water. It works like magic! Don't forget to rinse your potatoes afterward.
Here's how this sticky state of affairs happens: Cooking causes the starch granules within the potato cells to absorb water and swell. Some cells will inevitably burst, releasing tacky gel that helps give mashed potatoes their cohesiveness.
Let them sit for three to five minutes, then mash. If you like your potatoes chunky, Foster advises using a masher (for more lumps, use the wavy-lined style masher; for fewer lumps, choose a grid-shaped one). For smooth potatoes with a whipped texture, use a hand mixer, which incorporates air into the dish.
Turn the heat to high and bring the water to a boil. Reduce the heat to low to maintain a simmer, and cover. Cook for 15 to 20 minutes, or until you can easily poke through the potatoes with a fork.
You can store peeled potatoes in water in the refrigerator for about 24 hours. Peeled potatoes left out by themselves at room temperature, on a refrigerator shelf or wrapped in foil or plastic wrap will still get dark overnight, so submerge them in a bowl of water, cover and refrigerate.
We usually recommend no more than 24 hours. You can keep the potatoes from absorbing the water by making sure the water is not salted, and is chilled (you can even add ice to the water). To keep the potatoes from turning black from oxidation, add 1 teaspoon of lemon juice or white wine vinegar to a gallon of water.
Peeled, sliced, submerged, and refrigerated potatoes should be cooked within 24 hours. Another thing to consider is the size of your slice. The smaller the potato piece—i.e., a dice versus a wedge—the more quickly it will oxidize, which means small pieces should be stored for less time.
Tip #3: Don't Overcook or Undercook the Potatoes
If you overcook them they disintegrate and your potatoes will be soupy. The specific cooking time depends on the size of your potato: a perfectly cooked piece of potato should give no resistance when cut with a knife, but shouldn't crumble into a million pieces.
It is difficult to try and soften potatoes that have already been added to a dish, but if your potatoes haven't been, then there are a few things you can do. You can parboil, steam, or put them in a slow cooker. If you have them in a dish already, add ½ tsp of baking soda into the dish.
But what if they're just a little soft, or have a few sprouts? As long as the potatoes are still mostly firm, they're fine to cook. Potatoes are 80 percent water, so softness is usually just a sign of dehydration. But if they're extremely mushy or shriveled, do not pass go.
Too much starch is what makes mashed potato gluey and ruins its fluffy texture. If you want to keep your mashed potatoes from getting gummy the best way to do this is using a potato ricer. Otherwise, you can still make classic fluffy mashed potatoes without a ricer by using a Food Mill instead.
If you've been adding too much milk or butter, try cutting back to achieve the perfect consistency. Let your mashed potatoes sit for a few minutes before serving. As they cool, they will thicken up slightly.