Fixing Mashed Potatoes in the Microwave?

[Thrifty Bee]

You know those Ore-Ida Steam n’ Mash potatoes where you steam the potatoes in the bag in the microwave until they’re done and then you mash them like you would homemade potatoes? I’ve never bought them but I understand the concept and got to wondering if I could steam potatoes for mashing in the microwave the way I steam other vegetables. So I did a little searching online and found that a lot of people do it and thought I would give it a try.

I gave it a small test try this morning before fixing supper this evening and it flopped; the potatoes were too chewy like to mash. I pealed, cut them in quarters, and steamed the in a covered glass casserole dish with just a little water in the bottom to make steam. There was still water in the bottom of the dish when I took it out so the problem wasn’t that I let them go dry.

I tried it again, that time covering the potato completely with water and it worked. But basically that is the same as boiling on the stove, the water actually boiled. So if I were to fix a whole meal’s worth of potatoes I would need a much larger dish to prevent boil over and I would need to drain them. That would defeat most of the reasons I want to fix them in the microwave to begin with.

So does anyone know what I might have done wrong?

[foggierbard9]

The only successfully microwaved potato I've made was a "baked" potato. If I cut potatoes and microwave them they end up chewy/rubbery because of all the moisture being pulled out, no matter if I put water in the bowl or not...but with a baked potato and just a few holes poked in there doesn't seem to be that problem. Maybe you could cook them like you do baked potatoes in the microwave and peel afterwards, then mash.