Dear Chef: Mastering Mashed Potatoes

Question:

Every Thanksgiving, I somehow mess up the mashed potatoes. They’re either lumpy, gluey or taste like they lost a fight with a stick of butter. Everyone else makes it look so easy. What’s the secret to getting them right?

Answer:

Dear Mashed, You’re not alone. As Price Beall, owner of Truffles Café and Chow Daddy’s, admits, “I mean, everyone around you seems to know how to cook, and then there’s something as simple as mashed potatoes, and even that can go wrong.” The trick, he says, is all in the temperature and texture. “If you don’t warm the milk before adding it, it totally changes the texture. I couldn’t tell you the science behind it, but something happens to the starch. Cold milk makes them kind of … off.” Beall also offers a word of caution for anyone wielding a mixer. “If you over-whip them, they turn into paste. You can rice them, mash them, whatever, but it’s funny how easy it is to mess up something that seems so basic.” His final secret? “Now we use buttermilk, and warming it makes all the difference. It just gives you that extra creamy result.” So keep it simple, treat your spuds with care, and remember: if they don’t turn out quite right, that’s what gravy is for