Add Butter First for Silkier Mashed Potatoes It is important that your dairy is warmed up before adding it to your mash and that you add the butter first. The amount of water in the half-and-half combines with the starch molecules, which makes the potatoes gluey.
Butter helps make the starchy texture of potatoes richer and eliminates that "cling" some potatoes get when they're freshly mashed. You shouldn't let butter be the only dairy you use, however.
A word about butter: Don't melt butter before stirring it into the potatoes because the milk solids and fat will separate. You can add cold butter to your hot potatoes since the butter will melt as a whole and distribute the fat and milk solids evenly.
Whether you like your mashed potatoes country style, extra smooth, or covered with gravy, you can't go wrong with the addition of butter and cream. Without the two ingredients, you miss out on a lot of flavor and richness, not to mention it just doesn't taste the same.
When it comes to ridiculously creamy restaurant style mashed potatoes, there's not much to it. The secret is just loads of cream and butter. The creamier the mashed potato, the more cream and butter it has in it!
Cover the potatoes with water and season with 1 teaspoon of the salt. Boil the potatoes until they are fork tender. Drain the potatoes and return them to the saucepan. Add 1/2 cup of the butter, hot milk, sour cream, and salt to taste; mash thoroughly with a potato masher until very creamy.
According to Serious Eats, when your mashed potatoes end up with a pasty or a gluey consistency, it's due to an excess of starch. As a result, limiting the amount of starch in your dish is the key to nailing perfect mashed potatoes. Luckily, there's an easy way to do this: Don't overwork your potatoes.
Transfer the mashed potatoes to the slow cooker, and set to LOW. Keep warm for up to 4 hours, stirring once an hour. Stir before serving. The mashed potatoes will stay warm and creamy.
They need to be soft all the way through (or you'll have lumps!) Should I soak my potatoes before making mashed potatoes? You can, but I don't. If you do – just soak them for 5 minutes and rinse.
Too much butter, it'll be too rich and you won't be able to eat a lot of it. Not to mention, it doesn't taste much like potatoes but just butter. Same thing with seasoning. Too little, it becomes bland.
Butter has a fat content that hovers at 80%, which explains why it makes everything taste so much better. Its high fat content is exactly what we need to emulsify into milk in order to create a heavy cream substitute.
If you've added too much milk to your mashed potatoes, try adding a small amount of potato flakes or sour cream to thicken them up. You can also add more cooked potatoes to balance out the excess liquid.
The yolk emulsifies water and fat to create a cohesive, velvety bite, while providing a little fat and body of its own. You can add an egg yolk to nearly any existing mashed potato recipe.
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.
For the very best result every time, always gently warm the butter and milk before adding to the potatoes, rather than adding cold dairy straight from the fridge.
Whisk a little cornstarch into the warm potatoes, only a teaspoon at a time, until the potatoes thicken to your liking. The potatoes must be warm. You can also use tapioca starch or potato starch, although most cooks are less likely to have those products on hand.
A: The individual potato cells are susceptible to breaking down based on the amount of starch in the potato. Higher solids (starch) potatoes have larger cell size and tend to not break down as easily when over mixed versus a low solids potato (such as a red or yellow skinned variety) which has smaller potato cells.
The trick to the most fluffy mashed potatoes is to add a leavening agent like baking powder or baking soda. Just a pinch of baking powder added to the drained, cooked potatoes can help make them so fluffy. Make sure that your baking powder is fresh (check the expiration date!).
Add a Leavening Ingredient
Baking soda needs to be combined with an acidic ingredient of some kind (buttermilk, lemon juice, vinegar, honey, yogurt) to create carbon dioxide, a gas that emits small bubbles and makes the goods fluffy.
Warm Heavy Cream – gives mashed potatoes a super creamy consistency. Butter (room temperature) – adds flavor and creaminess. Cream Cheese (room temperature) – adds rich, tangy flavor and smoothness. Cream of Tartar – makes mashed potatoes smooth and fluffy and helps achieve almost a meringue-like consistency.
Foster says she keeps small potatoes whole and cuts larger ones into big chunks. Just keep the chunks about 1 1/2 inches thick; if you cut them smaller, Foster says, they'll take in too much water, start to look transparent and won't soak up the other ingredients later.