Brow Beat

The One Piece of Equipment You Need for Perfect Mashed Potatoes

If you’re hosting Thanksgiving, you’re looking at making eight to 12 dishes for approximately as many people. This is not a situation that allows for perfectionism. Success on Thanksgiving depends on making the turkey, stuffing, and yams efficiently—because if you devote too much attention to detail, you won’t be able to serve dinner till 11 p.m. The aphorism “Perfect is the enemy of good” is never more true than on Thanksgiving.

There’s only one exception to this general rule. Not only can you make perfect mashed potatoes on Thanksgiving, you can make perfect mashed potatoes more quickly than you’d be able to make mediocre mashed potatoes. All you need is one weird-looking, bulky piece of equipment: a ricer. Check out the video above for the details, then consider this recipe if you’re the mood for an extra-garlicky mash.