Are You Salting Your Mashed Potatoes At The Wrong Time? Probably

Mashed potatoes are far from the most difficult thing you can whip up in the kitchen, and yet most of us have eaten both a great bowl of mash and one that's disappointingly bland. Arguably the most popular seasoning we use is salt, and mashed potatoes are a perfect fit for it. That being said, you may be adding the salt at the wrong time and in the wrong way. To find out more, we spoke to Henry Johnson, the chef de cuisine at Palladino's Steak & Seafood in Dallas, Texas.

It may be tempting to boil the potatoes, mash them up to the consistency you like, then fold the salt and other seasonings in at the end, but Johnson says salt is best added to the water the potatoes boil in right at the start. "Season the water heavily; it should taste like the ocean," Johnson advised. "This allows the potatoes to absorb the salt during the cooking process." Some people like to swap water for chicken stock in mashed potatoes for similar reasons, but in any case the guidance is clear — add salt to the liquid and don't skimp.

There are plenty of mistakes people make when cooking with salt, but don't let this be one of them. "If you season too late, it won't evenly distribute throughout the whole dish, and it will just be on the surface of the product," said Johnson. That's no good.

That's all well and good for the salt, but you can't really be expected to stand over the pot of water with a pepper grinder until it resembles the Black Sea (or some other, more peppery body of water). There are a ton of ingredients you can start adding to your mashed potatoes that help improve their taste, and for most, you'll want to mix them in with the milk and butter. 

As a reminder, the dairy should be warmed up on the stovetop first, and that's when you'll add the seasonings. If the dairy is cold when you mix it with the potatoes, it's simply going to have a hard time integrating, and the dish will suffer for it. So, put the milk, butter, and seasonings into a saucepan and warm it up. Once the potatoes are fork-tender, you'll strain them, mash them up, add the dairy mixture, and mix it all together. This way, the seasonings have the best chance of spreading throughout as opposed to clumping up near the surface. Of course, if you want to garnish with a sprinkle of herbs, you'll add that at the end before serving.

For Johnson's part, he's a fan of simplicity when it comes to mashed potatoes. When asked how he seasons this dish, he said, "Just season to taste. Plain and simple! No need to overcomplicate." The minimal fuss is one of the great things about this side dish.