There’s a better way to make mashed potatoes, and this is it

Iwas as surprised as anyone to find myself on a Saturday afternoon in October doing a mashed potato science experiment.

The journey started just before Thanksgiving last year, when my sister and I discussed an episode of “Milk Street Kitchen” where the experts trumpeted a new, supposedly better, way to mash, with the usual ingredients (potatoes, milk, butter, salt and pepper) but a new technique. We were intrigued, but decided we better not mess with a key component of our super-traditional Thanksgiving dinner. It’s not that we thought a basic mash was unimprovable — it is improvable, which is why heretics sometimes add garlic, sour cream or Gruyere — but a last-minute switcheroo seemed like a bad idea without having tried it first.