When potatoes are mashed, starch is released. The more you work the potatoes, the more starch gets released. When too much starch gets released, the potatoes become gummy, gluey, and unappetizing.
Once mashed potatoes reach the glue stage, there's no going back. Your potatoes may taste fine, but the thick, gloppy texture could be more than your guests can stomach.
Sprinkle some bread crumbs over the dish to add some flavor.
To save time, try using store-bought breadcrumbs for this part of the process. Use ¼ cup (25 g) of breadcrumbs for every 2 large potatoes used. If you have some extra time on your hands, consider making your own breadcrumbs.
It turns out, then, that contrary to internet opinion, it is possible to redeem your potato leek soup if somehow it becomes gluey. Ladle some into a freezer bag, freeze it flat, thaw it, and pour off the water.
Overcooked or insufficiently drained potatoes can become sticky, as can the wrong kind of potato. But the main problem is overworked spuds. The science is simple: Boiled potatoes develop swollen starch cells. When ruptured during mashing, the cells release starch.
You don't take the potatoes' temperature.
You're aiming for a temp in the sweet spot between 205°F and 212°F. Below that, the texture may still be too dense, and above that, it may become a gummy mess.
Here's how to do it: For every pound of potatoes in your mash, drizzle 1 tablespoon of melted butter over the dish and fold it gently into the potatoes. If the mash is still too gluey for your liking, repeat the process with another tablespoon of butter.
The potato pathogen Clostridium puniceum produces a pink slime that harbors clostrubin A. When potatoes are infected by Clostridium puniceum, the pathogen produces a nasty pink slime that destroys the valuable food crop.
Raw potatoes should be firm to the touch with tight skin that's free of large bruises, black spots, or other blemishes. If a potato has become soft or mushy, you should throw it out. Though it's normal for potatoes to smell earthy or nutty, a musty or moldy odor is a hallmark of spoilage.
Lenticels swell when tubers are exposed to highly moist soil or standing water for several days. When the bacteria enter the tuber, the cut, abrasion, or lenticel begins to discolor, decay, and even liquefy.
"It pokes holes in the skin, which allows steam to escape. Otherwise, they could explode—it doesn't happen all the time, but it happens every once in a while. The potato is full of water it's trying to turn to steam, or water vapor. The skin acts like a pressure vessel.
If there's mold growing on it, or if the appearance of the dish has changed significantly, you should throw it away. Mold on food looks like dark spots or fuzz growing on the dish. It can be brown, red, white, black, or blue-gray in color.
Once there is too much starch in your mashed potato mixture, the texture will quickly turn from fluffy to gummy. Instead of using an electric hand mixer, food processor, or blender — all of which will overwork the potatoes — use a ricer, food mill, or hand masher to gently break down the spuds, per The Spruce Eats.
They are gummy because they were either over baked, under baked, or wrapped while baking. To make fluffy twice baked potatoes, you need to start by baking the potatoes perfectly the first time because when you return them to the oven for the second time it is only for 10-13 minutes.
If you find your mashed potatoes are soupier than normal, it's likely because you overcooked them, Buzzfeed says. 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.
Rotting potatoes give off a noxious solanine gas that can make a person unconscious if they've inhaled enough. There have even been cases of people dying in their root cellars due to unbeknownst rotting potatoes.
Don't store potatoes in the fridge.
Raw potatoes have lots of starches, and the cold temperatures can turn the starches into sugars. This can make your potatoes turn sweeter and darker during cooking.
Bad potatoes contain high levels of solanine and can cause solanine poisoning. Symptoms include nausea, diarrhea, stomach cramps, vomiting, headache, dizziness, among other things. Mild solanine poisoning should only last around 24 hours- but definitely seek medical help if you need it!
The lesson here is that you can keep potatoes from turning brown by storing cut potatoes in cold water to slow the oxidation process (aka the thing that makes peeled potatoes turn brown).
If you don't harvest potatoes when the plant dies back, a couple things could happen. Most likely they will rot if the soil is wet, or they'll die once the ground freezes. But if you live in a warm and dry enough climate, any tubers that survive over the winter will sprout again in the spring.
Potatoes can form rupture tears from steam buildup inside, if holes are not poked into them. This doesn't really hurt them, but the tears can be pretty unsightly when served. So folks just poke holes in them to let the steam out while they're cooking.
Fix them: Scoop the watery mashed potatoes into a pan and stir constantly over low heat to evaporate the excess liquid. If the potatoes are really watery, you can add either cornstarch or instant mashed potatoes a half teaspoon at a time to help the spuds thicken to your preferred consistency.
In general cubed or small potatoes will take about 10 to 15 minutes to boil, while larger, whole potatoes will take between 20 to 25 minutes.
Too much nitrogen results in poor root development. Leaves may roll and deform ("nutrient leaf roll"). Excess N around tuberization may delay tuber initiation and growth, and excess N during mid to late bulking can delay tuber maturity and canopy senescence.