Kitchen Essentials: Potato Ricer

Okay, maybe you don’t need a potato ricer, as such. But once you have one, it’s a bit like having a microwave oven; you’re not sure what you did without it. If, when you’re mashing potatoes, you wonder how long it’s going to be before you end up with a repetetive strain injury, a potato ricer will be a welcome addition to your kitchen arsenal. Mine cost all of ten bucks, purchased at Target. You can also get a Potato Ricer on Amazon for the same price. The construction’s simple: picture a garlic press on steroids. And it’s easy to use, too. Boil your taters, stick ‘em in the ricer, and squeeze, and you’ve got perfectly fluffy, non-lumpy, mashed potatoes. They require less labor, and less butter and milk, than they would if you used a masher. Cleanup of the ricer pictured is easy, too, since the part that holds the potatoes removes easily for cleaning. See the next entry for a recipe to road-test your ricer.