We recently got one of those potato ricers, to make mashed potatoes. I had heard about them for years, but never really thought they would make much of a difference, so I never got one. Boy was I wrong. The one we have now is like an over-sized garlic press - not the ones where you have to rotate a crank horizontally. It makes the most perfect mashed potatoes. Squeeze the hot potatoes through it into a bowl of room temp milk and butter (salt and pepper) and give it a few stirs and it's all incorporated and fluffy. No lumps and no gummy mess from over mixing them. Even better, you don't even need to peel the potatoes, just throw them in whole and the skin stays behind in the ricer. If the potato is a bit too big, just cut it in half and throw the pieces in one at a time. I don't even bother with a pot of boiling water, I just toss them in the oven for an hour along side whatever else it is I'm roasting.
A cookware store like Willams Sonoma would have them. I've seen people use potato ricers on the Food Network and they look easy to use.
This is the one that we have currently: Log In I think they also make them with different hole attachments so you can control how fine the extruded stuff is. I've also seen some models with holes on the sides as well, but that seems a little clumsy to use.
I always say I am going to get one of those and then when I am out shopping I never remember to do so. I guess it's because I can actually count how many times I've made mashed potatoes at home so I haven't really needed one. The few times I've done it I had access to a tool or used something else.
Interesting, although I'm not likely to get one since outside of Thanksgiving I've seldom bothered making mashed potatoes. Speaking of which I should probably start laying in supplies... turkey, dressing (celery, chicken stock, boiled eggs, sage, butter, stock from boiling turkey pieces, green onions), mashed potatoes, yams, green beans...
I personally prefer smashed potatoes to really smooth ones. I always associate it with baby food when they are made that smooth, but that's just me. I agree that ricers are very efficient, though.
