Mashed Potatoes Are Gluey

824 Views 12 Replies 8 Participants Last post by retiredbaker, 1 mo ago

jimmer

Discussion Starter · 2 mo ago

I make small batches of mashed potatoes for potato pancakes from Yukon Gold potatoes. I like them with the peels, so I quarter and boil them with salt, then drain and cool them in the walk-in. To break up the skin, I process them in small batches in the food processor. We don't have a mixer, it broke and isn't fixed yet.

Sometimes this works just fine, and I get fluffy mashed potatoes. Other times, with a very short processing time, they turn gluey. Sometimes they even make a glutenous ball in the food processor, like if you were making dough.

The texture stays through cooking, so the potato pancakes taste fine but the texture is off. I'd say they are overprocessed, but the actual procewssing time is very short and other times I've processed them twice as long without a problem.

If I use hot potatoes, the gluey texture happens consistently. But I just did a batch that were in the walk-in for about three hours and it happened with them as well, even though they were pretty cool.

Any idea what's happening and how to work around it?

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phatch

· #2 · 2 mo ago (Edited)

Don't use the food processor. It breaks open the cells dumping even more starch into the mashed potatoes. Thus gluey. Food mill is the best automation for this task.

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brianshaw

· #3 · 2 mo ago

… or a ricer.

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jimmer

Discussion Starter · #4 · 2 mo ago

I'd like to avoid peeling, both for time and nutrition. Would a meat grinder do the trick? I don't have a ricer or a mill, but I do have a meat grinder.

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phatch

· #5 · 2 mo ago

Mill will catch the peels. You'll have to stop now and then to clear out built up peels.

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chrislehrer

· #6 · 2 mo ago

Note that the nutrition thing on peels is overestimated. The peels of potatoes do have more nutritional value by weight. But the peels have so little weight, and the difference is sufficiently small, that you really don't significantly alter the total nutritional value of a potato by including or removing the peel. That said, peeling is clearly a PITA in your situation.

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brianshaw

· #7 · 2 mo ago (Edited)

Ricers and food mills (and tamis or other strainers) are quite affordable, so I would hope that's not a major impediment.

A shredding disc on a food processor might be worth trying...

What kind of potato pancake are you making??? I shred mine (Yukon Gold, mostly) raw for "Jewish" latkes and shred par-boiled for "Swiss" Rosti. For the kind of potato pancake my gradmother made (refrigerator cold, day-old leftover mashed with some egg and flour coated, then fried) the potato that seems to work best is russet. It seems that the driest mashed makes the best potato pancake in that genre. If they were really creamy... not so good.

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chrislehrer

· #8 · 2 mo ago

You might get inspiration or help by looking into professional recipes for boxty.

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retiredbaker

· #9 · 2 mo ago

jimmer said:
I make small batches of mashed potatoes for potato pancakes from Yukon Gold potatoes. I like them with the peels, so I quarter and boil them with salt, then drain and cool them in the walk-in. To break up the skin, I process them in small batches in the food processor. We don't have a mixer, it broke and isn't fixed yet.

Sometimes this works just fine, and I get fluffy mashed potatoes. Other times, with a very short processing time, they turn gluey. Sometimes they even make a glutenous ball in the food processor, like if you were making dough.

The texture stays through cooking, so the potato pancakes taste fine but the texture is off. I'd say they are overprocessed, but the actual procewssing time is very short and other times I've processed them twice as long without a problem.

If I use hot potatoes, the gluey texture happens consistently. But I just did a batch that were in the walk-in for about three hours and it happened with them as well, even though they were pretty cool.

Any idea what's happening and how to work around it?

wrong spuds, use big starchy ugly ones, you can fix your gluey mess by adding potato starch or flakes.

Had a buddy who used red bliss, it made good wallpaper paste. Same fix.

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cstanford

· #10 · 2 mo ago

As others have said, use a food mill or a ricer. Anything else is going to make glue.

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keev12

· #11 · 2 mo ago

I just don't over work them

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frankie007

· #12 · 2 mo ago

Mash the potatoes before they go cold

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retiredbaker

· #13 · 1 mo ago

5 lb Idaho spuds, 1/2 lb butter, pint heavy cream, 6 eggs, salt pepper, nutmeg.

starchy as get go, keep adding cream to get to where you want it.
Shepherd pie with beef, can't find shepherds.

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