Lumpy mash an watery chicken question

Cant help with the potato problem other than if cooking for a crowd I use a Kenwood to beat potatoes with butter and a tiny bit of milk. No lumps dare survive! Thinking about it I do struggle with lesser amounts, particularly to top a cottage pie, often gunky lately. Thought it was me . Years ago Mr C was involved in chicken production and reported back then on the water that was added to chicken in the processing. Free range seem a little better but organic is usually fine, less water that's for sure and a nicer texture. Have the same issue with bacon unless dry cured from the butcher. Progress eh?

I buy mashed potatoes and add nutmeg and more butter!

I think if you had continued cooking the oil/stock the water would have evaporated. You might have had to take the chicken out rather than moving it to the side.

My roast chicken usually ends up swimming The amount of water/fat that is left in the pan is ridiculous.
I always use Maris Piper spuds, I like my mash to have a bit of form and look like potato rather than completely smooth and creamy. I use plenty of butter and a small amount of milk. There is sometimes a lump or two but nobody complains. I must have them well trained

kitty

I think it may depend where we buy the chicken. It does say on the packaging if water has been added. Strangely I find chicken is better from one of the very cheap supermarkets because there is no added water.
In the huge chain where we buy most of our weekly shop, the chicken breasts can be sitting in a pool of water. Horrible.

A potato ricer is a useful implement, no lumps. Try Roosters, good flavour

I saw a tv prog recently, Simon Hopkinson I think. He riced the pots, weighed them and added the same quantity of butter, s. and p. of course too!!!!!!!!!!

My husband bought Vivaldi potatoes the other day. When I mashed them they went sloppy with lots of little hard grainy bits. They were not nice. The best potatoes I've had lately came from a local market stall, direct from the farm. As for the chicken, I agree with everyone else as regards the water content. I try to get my chicken from the local butcher, it seems much better.

I "dry" my potatoes out after straining , over a very low gas and shaking all the time to stop them sticking on the bottom of the pan, then add hot milk which I have melted the butter in. Never any problem.

You have to choose the right kind of potato to start with. For good mash you needs high starch ones such as Maris Piper, King Edward or Desiree.

Make sure they are almost at fall-apart level, drain well and mash with butter.

I have just realised it was watery chicken, not mash you were asking about, blame morning brain. I must say that whole chickens from Aldi are very good but cut up breasts from any where produce liquid which disappears with turning the heat up.

I'm assuming that you are cooking diced chicken. If you try and fry a whole lot at once, you will get a lot of moisture left as it lowers the temperature in the pan. If you fry it in small batches on a fairly high heat, it shouldn't happen. As for the mash, I'm not a big fan and mine is always lumpy. I find that if I use Maris Piper they "fall" while they're boiling, so I use reds. I let DH mash them. He's better at it!

For the very best mash bake your potatoes first. Scoop out the flesh and mash with salt, warmed butter and cream. A potato ricer is a really good way to do it. (Ex chef)

OH loves mash and would eat it every day if I let him, I find at different times of the year different types of potato are good for mashing at the moment we are using Aldi White potatoes un-named the Maris Piper we had been using for a while suddenly started falling apart and went very water although they had been fine for a while.

My secret to nice fluffy mash is to have the pan over a very low heat while I add the butter and milk and then mash over the heat, it dries them out and then a final whip up with a wooden spoon makes them creamy with no lumps.

I think I would have fried the onions before the chicken, then removed them from the pan with a slotted spoon, added a little more oil if it needed it, then fried the chicken in batches. Drying the chicken cubes first on kitchen paper might take off some of the water, and a higher heat might help.

As for mashed potaoes - thank goodness for Auntie Bessie.

Potato ricer is the best thing for mash, but how I hate washing it up.

"They peel them with their metal knives and then they smash them all to bits! Ha ha ha!" We are doing it all wrong! ?

Can we still buy Smash? Not that I remember it being very nice.

Like tanith I add the butter and a tiny splash of milk over a very low heat. I use a good old fashioned masher and 'think of fluffy clouds' as my grandmother used to tell me (she used a fork)because sometimes it's necessary to add a little more milk.

King Edwards and Maris Piper are the best potatoes for mashing.

I would fry the onions separately then add a little juice from the chicken for extra flavour then turn the heat up until it reduces.

I dry my potatoes over a low heat too, then add butter and milk and use a potato ricer, which I put in the dishwasher because I also hate washing it up.

If you over-process the potato it can go gloopy.

Make sure the potatoes are dried over a low heat after draining the water

My secret to nice fluffy mash is to have the pan over a very low heat while I add the butter and milk and then mash over the heat, it dries them out - I do the same tanith but then use a potato masher and/or fork.
Maris Piper are good, I do like King Edwards but sometimes they go in the water if you don't time it just right.
Our home-grown potatoes were delicious but they tended to go in the water and it was difficult to get them dry enough.

morethan2 the first time I ate with an Irish family the mother boiled the potatoes in their skins (red skinned potatoes) then put a huge bowl in the centre of the table. Everyone speared potatoes then proceeded to peel them with their knives, very rapidly.
I struggled with these hot potatoes and only managed about two small ones because they were very hot and I was fumbling. Something I've never forgotten.

Recently I've been using baking potatoes and cooking them in the microwave. after peeling them they seem to mash very nicely without going watery.

I sometimes boil sweet potatoes and white potatoes together.
They make a very nice mash, using plenty of butter and a splash of milk.

I buy frozen mash from Iceland. It comes in little 'pellets', with milk and butter already added. I keep it in a box in the freezer, and just grab a couple of handfuls. My husband says it's the best mash he's had.