Your Mashed Potatoes Deserve Multiple Rounds Of Salt

Creamy scoops of mashed potatoes can be a comforting and refined side dish to any meal, but what seems to be a simple recipe can be easily mismanaged. Salt is a common offending culprit, and bowls of undersalted potatoes fail to do much of anything for the senses. 

Sprinkling salt only one time into cooking potatoes is a rookie move but an easily understandable mistake when you're rushing to put together a satisfying meal to serve to hungry guests. In the fluffy, mashed vastness of the starchy ingredient, a few tentative sprinkles of salt can be easily lost. 

For example, the savory seasoning in whisked potatoes can become easily diluted if left unattended, especially with additional fatty ingredients like cheese or bacon. And if you fear of going the extreme and oversalting your mashed potatoes, there is one way to combat this — just taste sporadically throughout the cooking process, and salt accordingly. 

Get your kosher salt and grinder ready for action as you can add it to the water you boil your potatoes in from the start. After your potatoes have fully cooked in well-salted water (estimate about 1 tablespoon of salt per pound of spuds), be prepared to adjust your salting appropriately as you mash, stir, and blend your potatoes to a creamy, satisfying consistency.

Remember that professional chefs salt generously. So taste your dish repeatedly as you work, first after the initial salting, again towards the middle of your preparations, and right before you finish completing the dish. You should also adjust and accommodate to other ingredients such as garlic or rosemary, and if you're including cheese or richer creams into your recipe, you may need more or less salt than you think to create a batch of mashed potatoes that is well-balanced and calling for second helpings.