Wayne Boatwright wrote:

> On Thu 15 Jan 2009 05:25:22p, told us...
>
>
>>I boiled two potatoes of the same size and from the same bag in the
>>same pan. Only one was peeled.
>>
>>I put each one thru the ricer and delivered the results in separate
>>dishes to my SO. The comment was "I can't taste the difference but
>>the texture is so much fluffier on this one" and it was the spud which
>>had been boiled with skin on. The one which had been peeled was
>>wetter and not as white.
>>
>>I guess from now on, I don't peel before boiling for mashed potatoes,
>>unless I'm in a terrific rush.
>>
>
>
> If you're using a ricer to "mash" the potatoes and separate the skin, I
> doubt it would take much longer, in fact perhaps take less time than it
> would to peel them first.
>
> Thanks for the comparison. That does sound logical, since the skin is
> somewhat of a barrier to the cooking liquid.
>

You can also drive off some of the excess moisture by returning the
potatoes to the pan after draining, and shaking the pan over the burner
until the steam stops billowing. Then mash.