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I heard somebody mention cooking mashed potatoes in the buttermilk instead of water. Has anybody heard of this or have a link to a recipe?

Dave
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    Instead of water? As in boiling potatoes in buttermilk then discarding it, or at least most of it? Not just adding buttermilk after mashing? – Cascabel Nov 05 '14 at 04:58
  • Yes, as in boiling potatoes in buttermilk. At least, that's how I understood it. – Dave Nov 05 '14 at 05:09
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    Adding buttermilk instead of cream after the potatoes have been cooked and mashed was what my mother used to do. But cooking in buttermilk, no. – Kristof Van Landschoot Nov 07 '14 at 08:37

2 Answers2

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I would advise against it. Cooking in acid makes vegetables firm. Sometimes this is a good thing, but if you want to mash your potatoes afterwards, you want them soft. Else you'll get the wrong texture.

There are numerous recipes for adding dairy products to the mashed potatoes after they have been cooked and mashed, and they taste well. You can look for them, or experiment yourself. It's a matter of what taste/texture you like, there aren't any physics involved which you'd throw off with a "wrong" ratio.

rumtscho
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Jack Bishop of America's Test Kitchen has a recipe for cooking potatoes in buttermilk. It is correct that the acidity of buttermilk will cause the combination to cook unevenly and can be bitter, so Bishop adds a small amount of baking soda to counter the acid. Here is a link that may be helpful http://www.npr.org/blogs/thesalt/2014/10/23/358101692/test-kitchen-how-to-buy-the-safest-meat-and-make-the-juiciest-steaks

Don
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