Chef John's Perfect Mashed Potatoes

I've always heard from other cooks to only cut the potatoes lengthwise and as few cuts as possible to keep them from getting watered down. I thought it was just a grandma says thing and I still don't know why, but Chef John does it too, so there must be something to it. Be sure to use equally sized potatoes so your halves cook evenly as some of my potatoes were bigger, and there were lumps when trying to mash them, while the smaller halves were getting a little overdone. I didn't use a masher tool as it's a pain to clean, and I'd rather just pull out the hand mixer and pop the beaters in the dishwasher with all the rest of the dishes. I only used enough cold water to cover the potatoes and 1 tsp. of salt for the water. These turned out thick and rich and once I got the salt, pepper, and butter adjusted to my liking, they were really good. I still prefer my method, and I leave a little potato water behind as the starch helps thicken the potatoes but that is how I was taught by generations before me.

Amazing the taste was smooth and very rich on flavor

These were absolutely perfect. I made as written but put the potatoes through a ricer instead of using a masher. I made these for our family holiday meal and everyone raved about how good they were. It was unanimous that these were the best mashed potatoes we'd had. I was crowned the Mash Queen and we had a wonderful day. Thanks, Chef John!