Chefs Share Cooking Hack To Reheat Mashed Potato

My favourite way to reuse mashed potatoes involves turning them into farls, but that’s at least partly because I can never restore them to their fluffy glory.

Every time I try to reheat them, they turn out either rubbery or dry – it doesn’t matter whether I use a microwave, hob, or oven.

Well, thankfully, no more.

In a post shared to Reddit’s r/AskCulinary – a forum in which professional cooks answer the questions of us mere mortals – site user u/Salty-Mud-4766 asked: “How do professional kitchens keep mashed potatoes smooth when reheated?”

Here are some of the best answers:

All of the pros agreed that fresh mashed potatoes are best.

But as site user u/TheFredCain suggested, if you do want to reheat mash, adding liquid is key.

“Use a pot on the stove. Add some cream and butter and bring almost to the scalding point,” they advise.

“Add your cold mash in and use a masher or heavy whisk to incorporate the hot liquid. Give it a minute or two and mash some more and repeat.”

Martha Stewart’s site reccomends a similar method, but with a slow cooker instead of a pot on the hob. Chef Kevin Dundon does the stovetop version, however.

But whether you’re steaming the mash in a double boiler or covering it with cream or milk and tinfoil before popping it in the oven (other Martha-approved methods), the Redditors agree that you’ll need either butter or liquid to prevent either glueiness or mealiness.

That option didn’t show up in the comments of the original Reddit post.

But if you do opt for the microwave, experts reccomend reheating your mash in 30-45-second increments to prevent rubberiness.

Add warm (they must be warm) butter or milk to the spuds after each of these increments until they’re done for added smoothness and creaminess.