An odd little kitchen appliance I never knew existed...

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No, not the snow cone maker, the potato steamer/masher.  Very odd.  Someone must have to really like mashed potatoes to buy one of these.  From what I could tell it had a timer to steam the spuds then it would whip them.  It was $4 but not something I'd use often or at all for that matter, big batches of potatoes go in the KA and get mashed very nicely.
 
And no doubt that it came with a recipe book to make a 1001 different variations of whipped up taters and other delectable morsels to lure everyone into thinking that they couldn't possibly live without it. ;-X
 
Oooh.. I'd have bought that!!!

And wouldn't you know it.. there's the ubiquitous red West Bend electric wok sitting there on the shelf below. There isn't a thrift store anywhere that one of those isn't there. guaranteed.
 
Interesting how diets vary. Andy says he rarely ate potato when growing up. Until I left home in 1981 I was given potatoes at home 7 times a week most weeks and typically they would be mashed 6 of those times. We often had fish and chips on a Saturday, as that was shopping day and my mother would always cook fresh fish the day it was bought. On Sunday there was sometimes a couple of small roast potatoes but that was in addition to the mash. We never had pasta or rice as part of the main course.
 
That is an interesting little appliance. Steaming potatoes to be mashed is a great way to cook them. They absorb less moisture than when boiled. This means your final, mashed product will have more potato (and butter!) flavor.

While I'd love to see the gizmo in action, it would likely do little more than take up shelf space after that, as I generally have to make mashed potatoes for a crowd.

Thanks for sharing this unique device with your AW family, Matt. I love that our members see something interesting and think, "Hey, I need to take a snap of this to post at AW!"[this post was last edited: 9/22/2013-12:10]
 
Did they put potatoes with the skin in it????? I never seen making mashed potatoes with still the skin! LOL
Anyway...I would not buy this machine, despite I make often mashed potatoes and gnocchi...what I always been told  and I could experience myself is that potatoes boiled or steamed whole with the skin taste better....I like more potatoes done that way..

So I always boil/steam them  with the  skin and remove it after and cut.... so for every use I have to do, so salads etc.. and of course mashed/whipped and for gnocchi..
Changes lke night to day doing so, and that's how real gnocchi also must be done and how old ladies down here do...it's one of the secrets....
 
Both sides of family come from the South so rice was our daily "starch" at dinner most nights. Every now and then there would be pasta or potatoes, but even my cousins and I joke you will always find rice on offer say for Thanksgiving or any other family dinner event regardless.

Mashed potatoes with skin on:

Yes, there are some who prepare their spuds that way. Growing up a friend from school did them that way and one must admit the meal was consumed because one is a get along type of person (that is what I am) just as with boxed macaroni and cheese. To my mind then it was "how lazy could some people get not to peel a bunch of potatoes"? But hey, to each his own...
 
We were also a potato household, at least 5 nights a week it was oven baked fries, mashed potatoes, or fried potatoes.
If it wasn't potatoes then either rigatoni with meat sauce was served or it was buttered egg noodles for a side
 
Different variations

Mashed--Peeled potatoes mashed with salt and butter
Smashed--Skin on potatoes smashed with salt and butter
Whipped--Peeled potatoes whipped with salt, milk or cream and butter.

For mashed and whipped we usually use spuds or white russets,
for Smashed it is usually red or gold potatoes.
 
While I usually eat the skin of a baked potato, I prefer mashed to be silky & buttery, with no trace of the skin/peel. I use a KitchenAid stand mixer; first with the paddle, then the whisk.

I've also come 'round to the notion of making mashed potatoes the day before and re-heating--in the microwave, preferably---or a slow oven. As I've gotten older, I do as much as I can the day or two before a big event. That way I'm not slammed in the kitchen on Thanksgiving or Christmas. I get to enjoy the day, too!

I always make the family's Thanksgiving meal and transport it to my nephew's house in Minneapolis. We reheat everything--turkey and all--very gently and the results are excellent. The house is perfumed with all the usual Thanksgiving cooking scents, but no one is slaving over a cooktop full of pans. It's almost like having the meal catered.

The one exception is the ham (I always serve turkey and ham on holidays), which is baked on the day of the event; although it does get sliced, panned, and glazed the day before.
 
For my mashed potatoes-the Sunbeam mixer is the mashing tool of choice.Yes I have tried the KA and the Kenwood type planetary mixers-found the twin blade Sunbeam does the best job of mashing tators.Both my Mom and Stepmom used their Sunbeams for the mashed potatoes.Another good potatoe mashing machine was the Braun combo machine I used to have-It could be a mixer,Food processor or even a blender.Did their jobs quite well.Regretably I sold the thing-now I am kicking myself for selling it-haven't found another.It made perfect mashed potatoes in the mixer mode.You would use both types of beater blades in it for the job-the regular mixer then use the wisk blades very BREIFLY to whip the potatoes.
 
Yes. I have two of these. Great vegetable steamer and,after the potato cooking time is up, the beaters ce on automatically a few minutes. Then, you AD milk,butter,salt and pepper. Then,set the timer for four minutes to turn the beaters back on to finish mashing. Great appliance!!
 

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