If you're going to be using a masher and you prefer to not have skins in your mash, you will have to peel the potatoes yourself. But after they're boiled the skins slip off easily. Hold the hot potatoes in a clean kitchen towel-covered hand, then use a paring knife to scrape or pull off the peel.
Step 2: Cool the cooked potatoes
Only leave the cooked potatoes to cook for 5-10 seconds in a bowl of iced water. This stops the cooking process and makes them cool enough to work with. But you won't be able to peel the potatoes if they are cold. So they still have to be hot.
Start with cold water if you boil potatoes. Peel and chunk medium starch potatoes or use whole unpeeled starchy potatoes. Start with boiling water if you steam potato chunks, rinse with cold water halfway through cooking (starchy or medium starch potatoes).
Soaking potatoes in water helps remove excess starch.
It's easier to peel dry potatoes since a wet potato can be more slippery. If you have time, wash your potatoes well before peeling so they can dry first.
How long can peeled and cut potatoes sit in water before cooking, before they begin taking on too much water? A: We usually recommend no more than 24 hours. You can keep the potatoes from absorbing the water by making sure the water is not salted, and is chilled (you can even add ice to the water).
Potatoes can be peeled prepped and cut into water up to 2 days before boiling for mash.
According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, at a minimum, potatoes should be rinsed with water before cutting for cooking. Since potatoes are firm, use a clean brush to scrub them.
You should definitely clean potatoes even if you plan to peel them. Why? Dirt and contaminants. Potatoes are on the Environmental Working Group's Dirty Dozen list of produce most contaminated with pesticides, meaning it's advised you buy organic, if possible.
They just won't stand up to an overnight soak, so don't do it. The larger the potato pieces, the longer they'll last in water. If you're prepping with smaller pieces, don't soak for more than 12 hours. This trick is handy, but it'll only work for about 24 hours — so don't prep too far in advance.
Step 2: Place the Peeled Potatoes In Water
As soon as you peel the potatoes, you'll want to place them into a bowl of water so they're fully submerged, and then store the bowl of potatoes and water in the refrigerator. The water will seal off the potatoes from the air, so the chemical reaction can't occur.
Why use salt water for soaking potatoes? There's moisture naturally found in potatoes, and moisture is drawn to higher concentrations of salt. (This is a process called osmosis.) So, if you put the potatoes in a salt water bath, that will help draw out some of their moisture, resulting in crispier fries.
One of the starch molecules in potatoes is called amylose, which is responsible for making mashed potatoes "gluey" and pasty. Rinsing or soaking cut raw potatoes helps to wash away a very small amount of amylose.
One commercial method used to peel potatoes is to soak them in a NaOH solution for a short time, then remove them and spray off the peel.
Restaurants prepare the potatoes ahead by boiling and mashing just the potato, then just before serving, it is mixed into boiling cream (or milk or even broth or a combination thereof) to reheat it and make it nice and creamy.
Potatoes soak up a lot of flavor, so salting the water prior to cooking is a good idea for the best taste. And you aren't limited to plain salted water for boiling your potatoes, either.
Rinsing potatoes helps remove excess starch, so it is recommended to rinse the potatoes before cooking. To ensure even more starch is out of the way, it's recommended that they even be quickly rinsed after boiling. We recommend using hot water for rinsing after boiling and cold water prior to boiling.