Mashed potatoes in advance. Comments please.

[julesthegolfer]

In Saveur magazine a tip said you could peel, boil and mash potatoes the day before. It said pass the cooked potatoes through a ricer directly into a ziplock bag and refrigerate. Next day you can add your butter and cream. Has anyone tried this? Won't the potatoes turn a funny color?
Thanks

 

[msmofet]

In Saveur magazine a tip said you could peel, boil and mash potatoes the day before. It said pass the cooked potatoes through a ricer directly into a ziplock bag and refrigerate. Next day you can add your butter and cream. Has anyone tried this? Won't the potatoes turn a funny color?
Thanks

I have stored leftover mashed taters and they stayed white.

 

[Dawgluver]

Mine too.

 

[Oldvine]

I've stored left over cooked mashed taters and they stay white. Sounds like a great idea to me.

 

[Katie H]

In Saveur magazine a tip said you could peel, boil and mash potatoes the day before. It said pass the cooked potatoes through a ricer directly into a ziplock bag and refrigerate. Next day you can add your butter and cream. Has anyone tried this? Won't the potatoes turn a funny color?
Thanks

This should work well. Cooked potatoes won't discolor. Uncooked potatoes will oxidize and turn a brown or copper color, even under water.

I'd say go for it and enjoy your make ahead dish.

 

[no mayonnaise]

Mashed potatoes are one of the few foods that don' really change flavor when they are leftovers.

 

[snickerdoodle]

I'm making the mashed potatoes the night before and warming them in a crock pot in the morning. I don't see a problem with it since I've stored many o' mashed potatoes as leftovers on several occassions.

 

[ChefJune]

In Saveur magazine a tip said you could peel, boil and mash potatoes the day before. It said pass the cooked potatoes through a ricer directly into a ziplock bag and refrigerate. Next day you can add your butter and cream. Has anyone tried this? Won't the potatoes turn a funny color?
Thanks

They won't turn colors, and that is an EXCELLENT do-ahead idea! Be sure to warm the cream first in a separate pot before whipping them into the warmed up potatoes.

 

[Sir_Loin_of_Beef]

Would you be surprised to find that frozen mashed potatoes in a microwavable plastic bag are available in most supermarket frozen food sections? You nuke them, add salt, butter and milk or cream and you're good to go. If they can do it, why can't you?

 

[jennyema]

They won't turn colors, and that is an EXCELLENT do-ahead idea! Be sure to warm the cream first in a separate pot before whipping them into the warmed up potatoes.

Can you make them entirely ahead of time (potaotes, buter, cream/milk)?

Or just the potatoes?

Ive never trusted make-ahead potatoes but I have too much to do this year.

Ideally I'd like to complete them on Wednesday and reheat on Thursday.

 

[snickerdoodle]

Can you make them entirely ahead of time (potaotes, buter, cream/milk)?

Or just the potatoes?

Ive never trusted make-ahead potatoes but I have too much to do this year.

Ideally I'd like to complete them on Wednesday and reheat on Thursday.

I'm making mine entirely, with the butter and milk, the night before. I've never thought twice about it since I've successfully stored and reheated (and enjoyed!) leftover mashed potatoes many times before. To me, this is the same thing but on a bit larger scale. I think the only thing to be careful of is overworking (too much mixing) the potatoes; then they get kind of sticky.

 

[jennyema]

Tnx!

 

[Kayelle]

I always do my potatoes the night before, with all the fixins, and put them in a casserole in the fridge. I just can't imagine dealing with mashed potatoes at the last minute.
I always use a potato ricer on them, and mix in sour cream, cream cheese, melted butter and no milk or cream. In other words, they are like twice baked potatoes without the skin.
I have used non fat yogurt and non fat cream cheese to reduce the calories with little difference in flavor. I believe the trick is to not use milk to avoid that "leftover potato" flavor. My family loves my potatoes, and the gravy is optional.

 

[Sir_Loin_of_Beef]

Can you make them entirely ahead of time (potaotes, buter, cream/milk)?

Or just the potatoes?

Ive never trusted make-ahead potatoes but I have too much to do this year.

Ideally I'd like to complete them on Wednesday and reheat on Thursday.

If you go to the refrigerated section of the supermarket you swill see that Country Crock sells completely prepared mashed potatoes in a plastic tub. If they can do it, you can too!

 

[jennyema]

If you go to the refrigerated section of the supermarket you swill see that Country Crock sells completely prepared mashed potatoes in a plastic tub. If they can do it, you can too!

Dear Lord, I dont want mine to taste like theirs!

 

[Ranchwifeg]

I'm glad I found this thread because I was contemplating preparing just the potatoes ahead of time for Thanksgiving dinner. A few years back I made the potatoes early in the morning of Thanksgiving and put them in a crockpot on low. The flavor of them turned out funny - kind of sweet. I was disappointed in them. I like this idea of doing just the potatoes, then adding all the goody before serving. One question, would you heat them up in the microwave, or on the stove top, before adding the goodie? Sometimes microwaved food doesn't stay as warm as stove top food. Thanks!

 

[Rocklobster]

If you go to the refrigerated section of the supermarket you swill see that Country Crock sells completely prepared mashed potatoes in a plastic tub. If they can do it, you can too!

I have seen them in shrink wrapped bags also. Just drop in boiling water and heat.
We tried it at a restaurant I worked at once. We never had enough orders for mashed at lunch time, so we just bagged a few the previous evening. We would drop them in an insert of hot water in the steam table and they turned out fine. We cut a hole in the corner of the baggy and squeezed them out of the bag and curled them up like doggy poop. Sorry. It got pretty boring there, somedays.

 

[Kayelle]

I'm glad I found this thread because I was contemplating preparing just the potatoes ahead of time for Thanksgiving dinner. A few years back I made the potatoes early in the morning of Thanksgiving and put them in a crockpot on low. The flavor of them turned out funny - kind of sweet. I was disappointed in them. I like this idea of doing just the potatoes, then adding all the goody before serving. One question, would you heat them up in the microwave, or on the stove top, before adding the goodie? Sometimes microwaved food doesn't stay as warm as stove top food. Thanks!

I think that odd "leftover potato" flavor is from the milk or cream used........that's why I don't use it when I make them ahead.
Your crockpot should be fine, and the best way to gently warm them if you want to add the fixins' at the last minute

By the way, welcome to DC....

 

[pacanis]

Dear Lord, I dont want mine to taste like theirs!

What do theirs taste like? I've never had prepared mashed potatoes... that I know of.

 

[Girl49]

Mashed Potatoes Fluffy and Creamy

Would love to do my mashed potatoes ahead next year. Used organic Yukon Golds yesterday and didn't get them creamy or fluffy enough. Is this pretty much a function of how much butter/milk-cream is added, or whether you use a potato masher or a hand-held beater?