Ricing potatoes

[amylou]

How is ricing potatoes different from mashing them? I don't have a ricer. How can I rice my potatoes without one?

 

[Andy M.]

amylou, welcome to Discuss Cooking!

A ricer pushes the cooked potato through little holes to make a lump-free finished product. It looks like a giant garlic press. If you put cooked potato through a ricer, it's just about impossible to have lumps in your mashed. Using a potato masher, you can still have lumps.

I can't think of a practical way to rice potatoes without a ricer. If you're not sure if you want one, buy a cheap one and try it out.

Some folks use an electric mixer to mash potatoes but I think that makes them gummy. I don't like that texture.

 

[jennyema]

Yes, like Andy says, it's pretty impossible to rice potatoes without a ricer.

A friend of mine tried smashing the spuds through a colander, but that was quite messy.

Cheap ricers are less than $10.

IMO, I prefer hand mashed with a little texture to them. I hardly ever use my ricer.

 

[callie]

I don't own a ricer either. I was thinking of getting one...but I like lumps (ok..."texture" maybe sounds better) in my mashed taters! Mine sure aren't pretty...I like to leave the skins on, too. I also like to boil carrots along with my potatoes and mash them, too. I like the color!

What other uses are there for a ricer?

 

[Andy M.]

Hmmmmm, I wonder....

When I was a kid, all mashed potatoes were supposed to be lumpless. If you served mashed potatoes with lumps, you were a failure.

Now, lumpy mashed potatoes have "texture". I wonder if that came into being because some restauranteur somewhere was too lazy to completely mash the potatoes so he just told people that he preferred his potatoes to have "texture"

Verrrrry Interrresting!

 

[kitchenelf]

I don't own a ricer either. I was thinking of getting one...but I like lumps (ok..."texture" maybe sounds better) in my mashed taters! Mine sure aren't pretty...I like to leave the skins on, too. I also like to boil carrots along with my potatoes and mash them, too. I like the color!

What other uses are there for a ricer?

I absolutely love to cook carrots with my potatoes - yep, the color is awesome and the flavor is even better!!!!

I like lumpy mashed potatoes too - but if you want to get them smoother, which is what ricing does - cut them in much smaller cubes.

 

[kitchenelf]

Hmmmmm, I wonder....

When I was a kid, all mashed potatoes were supposed to be lumpless. If you served mashed potatoes with lumps, you were a failure.

Now, lumpy mashed potatoes have "texture". I wonder if that came into being because some restauranteur somewhere was too lazy to completely mash the potatoes so he just told people that he preferred his potatoes to have "texture"

Verrrrry Interrresting!

Yep, and it was a cause for concern if company was over and there were lumps. The whole town would know in no longer than 9.7 hours. VERY embarassing indeed!!!!

 

[Caine]

I needed a potato ricer to make a spaghetti and meatball cake, so I just borrowed one.

 

[Heat]

Im a mixer Woman i have to admit!! But mine never has lumps and i like the texture i make mine real stiff too. Never thought of mashing carrots with em hmmmmm. Guess what im gonna do to my next batch of Mashed Taters ahhahah

 

[auntdot]

After having bent three ricers I purchased at the local stores, saw what looked like one on Ebay years ago. It was industrial size and King Kong could not bend it. (They sold it as a tomato presser, but after trying it out on two overripe tomatoes, we agreed it was indeed a ricer).

My suggestion to anyone buying a ricer is find the sturdiest one you can find.

And yes, love to make mashed potatoes mixed with mashed carrots, or parsnips, or sweet taters, or squash. Would bet with beets it would taste good also. Gotta try that in the fall.

Hope this helps.

 

[Raine]

I like mashed potatoes and sweet peas mixed together.

 

[Teanobi]

Another thing I have found about ricers (for mashing purposes at least) is that they are much more time consuming than a old fashioned masher or even a fork.


On a side note I only suggest a fork if your doing 4 or less potatos at a time. And lumps are delicious

 

[Chief Longwind Of The North]

Smashed Spuds (as I like to call them) usually have fat and milk added to them, as well as seasoning. Riced potatoes, on the other hand, are simply served as is, allowing the full flavor of the spud to come through. I have a ricer that's was sold as a Spatzle maker, and it works well for both appications.

Riced potatoes are elegant, and look very nice on the plate. If you've never served them as is, with just a dollop of butter on top, then you've cheated yourself.

You can also rice sweet spuds as well. It makes a great presentation. And If you ever get the urge to make pumpkin or winter-squash pie, after cooking the squash or pumpkin, run it through the ricer for silky smooth results.

I can't ever remember the name of the thing, but it is a conical collander, with a wire holder and comes with a pestle. You use the pestle to force soft foods, like potatoes, tomatoes, squash, etc. through the holes and into the bowl. This will also do a good job at ricing the potatoes, as will a hand cranked food mill, if you have one.

Back to the ricer, and then, there's always spaztle. Oh, and you can even use the thing to prepare potatoes for mashing

Seeeeya; Goodweed of the North

 

[callie]

Hey, thanks, Goodweed!! I've got one of those "conical collendars" complete with wire holder and pestle...I use it to make jelly. If I get the urge to try ricing my taters, I'll just use that.

 

[Andy M.]

The conical thing is a chinois or china cap.

I rice my potatoes and add butter, milk, and whatever else. It's just another way of getting large potato pieces to be small potato pieces.

The holes in my ricer are a lot smaller than the holes in my spaetzle maker...

 

[luvs]

Yep, and it was a cause for concern if company was over and there were lumps. The whole town would know in no longer than 9.7 hours. VERY embarassing indeed!!!!

i can see it now.
anne is on the phone with betty jane after dinner at phyllis and walt's.
she lowers her voice dramatically and looks around before saying in hushed tones, 'phyllis makes lumpy mashed potatoes!'
then anne calls ellen, who in turn calls mavis, who calls lois....
'did you hear about phyllis?'

 

[thier1754]

Luvs -- lol!!! We use our ricer to do potatoes and carrots together and serve the combo with baked ham. Paul's favorite. Now and then we sell the Oxo ricer on our website, but not that many people know how to use them. It's a great item, and I had one 'way before we even had a store.

People do use the chinois for various purposes, but in general it's not a big item. Trained cooks like 'em, though.

 

[kitchenelf]

luvs - do you have a tap on my phone??????

Rainee - I love that combination too - I actually did that one first and then tried the carrots when I just wanted more color on the plate. I did the peas because - what the heck, with every bite of peas you had to have a bit of mashed potatoes on the fork too!!! It was wonderful!!!!!!!!! Maybe I'll do corn next in my mashed potatoes - it's the same way with them as with the peas!

Goodweed - I believe it's a China cap

 

[auntdot]

Thanks Goodweed, for reminding me of one of my favorite ways to eat taters.

Learned to eat riced potatoes, just as they were, from my folks. They would serve it with a bit of butter, but I would often slather them with gravy. Nothing could be better.

Haven't made them that way for a while, just have not thought of it.

Sometimes foods or recipes get sort of forgotten and then someone, or something, reminds you of it.

Gotta make them again real soon.

Thanks again.

 

[buckytom]

Rainee - I love that combination too - I actually did that one first and then tried the carrots when I just wanted more color on the plate. I did the peas because - what the heck, with every bite of peas you had to have a bit of mashed potatoes on the fork too!!! It was wonderful!!!!!!!!! Maybe I'll do corn next in my mashed potatoes - it's the same way with them as with the peas!

another fan of peas and mashed. it was the only way i'd eat peas as a kid. the peas were mixed into the taters, which then formed a gravy volcano. the trick was to eat the volcano without letting the "lava" gravy flow out...