Tuesday, December 22, 2009

Gadget: Potato Ricer

photo credit: me -- money shot of the finished mashers is by my sis


I've likely been lusting after my own food mill or potato ricer since high school. I'm sure I was introduced to them through the likes of Martha Stewart and Lidia Bastianich. Who wouldn't want to make your own crushed tomatoes for a marinara sans skins or ungluey, fluffy mashed potatoes?

Traditionally, our family has used those squigley-line stick mashers, the backs of wooden spoons, or the occasional pastry cutter to take care of our potato-mashing tasks. The results have always been tasty, but I knew I could aim for perfection. I aimed to possess a potato ricer as soon as the price was right.

It wasn't until I found a clearance potato ricer from Target [I'm pretty sure it was under the Chefmate label] for about $3 that I finally made the leap. My mom was skeptical of any true usefulness of the thing, but once I made her our first batch of riced mashed potatoes did she truly believe. Sadly, the ricer was so poorly constructed that it didn't even last through a second use.

I knew I wanted to have a heavy-duty ricer in time for Thanksgiving, so after consulting Cook's Illustrated equipment reviews and spending time window shopping on the web, I had a purchasing game plan. Time passed until it was the week of Thanksgiving. I didn't want to risk an online order, so I put my walking shoes on.

Ideally, I wanted to spend under $20 and get a Cook's Illustrated Recommended model [Bethany Heavy-Duty Potato Ricer]. Fail. Not one potato ricer or food mill was to be found at my local Target store.

My search was limited to a store I could walk to on my lunch break. Crate&Barrel. Sur La Table. Williams-Sonoma.

I already knew that Williams-Sonoma had a $30+ potato ricer that seemed superbly efficient and heavy-duty. The demo video was very convincing. W-S would be my last stop.

First, I went to Crate&Barrel. It carried one model. Blah. I wasn't convinced.

Second, I headed to Sur La Table. This store had at least three different ricers and three different food mills. $20 models were not as well-designed as the W-S ricer, and the $100+ food mills were too pricey for me. No go.

Last, I walked into Williams-Sonoma. To my surprise, my dream ricer was one of the first products displayed in the store. After holding it I was convinced. It had true heft; I didn't think it would break anytime soon. The hopper also seemed larger than the other models I'd seen. It had holes on all sides of its hopper making me believe the online demo marketing buzz that it would take less effort to mash more potatoes, too.

So without any hesitation, I paid the $34 + tax and took home the Deluxe Angled Potato Ricer, a "Williams-Sonoma exclusive." It still takes some elbow grease to get the potatoes through the hopper, but since I'm short, using the ricer on a lower counter top seems to work best. I'm pleased and am completely free of buyer's remorse. After all, it's an investment.

My Thanksgiving mashers were delicious, could-like, and lump-free.

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

Great story as for me. It would be great to read a bit more about this topic. The only thing it would also be great to see here is some photos of any gadgets.
Jeff Stepman
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