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See why.The Best Potato Ricers
A ricer is a must-have tool for perfectly smooth and fluffy mashed potatoes.
Last Updated Nov. 21, 2022. Appears in Cook's Illustrated November/December 2012, America's Test Kitchen TV Season 14: Meat and Potatoes with Panache
We still love our winning potato ricer, the RSVP International Potato Ricer. But it’s often hard to get online, though the manufacturer assures us that it’s still being made and that there are no plans to discontinue it. We tested another promising model. If you can’t find our winner, we think that the Chef’n FreshForce Potato Ricer is a great alternative.
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What You Need To Know
For smooth and fluffy mashed potatoes, a potato ricer is the best tool. Potato ricers look and work just like giant garlic presses: You put the cooked potatoes in a hopper and squeeze the handles to force the spuds through a perforated disk. The best ricers produce a uniform texture that is not lumpy, overworked, or gummy. Several years ago, we crowned the RSVP International Potato Ricer ($13.95) our winner because of its efficient design; interchangeable fine and coarse disks; sturdy, ergonomic handles; and a pot hook to hold the ricer steady. To test it against new competition, we gathered five more brands, ranging in price from $10 to $30, and headed for the kitchen.
Every ricer got the job done; the difference was in how easy or difficult it was for the cook. Some ricers required a considerable amount of brute force, but others pressed the potatoes effortlessly. After taking a closer look, we found a few key design differences that explained why.
The number of perforations was one of the biggest factors. While all ricers had holes similar in size, having more holes on the bottom of the hopper made the job much easier, because more food could travel through, rather than being pushed back. Perforations on the sides as well as the bottom of the hopper didn’t help; instead, they usually squirted spuds out of the bowl, making a mess. The plunger’s angle of approach was also important: Most plungers hit the potatoes lopsided—making some spuds spurt up and out of the hopper—only leveling out and pressing fully and evenly when they were halfway down the hopper. Only two models sported different designs that resulted in more efficient ricing. One had a rectangular plunger that remained level with its rectangular hopper throughout the process, while a round model angled its rim to match the angle of the descending plunger. Both kept potatoes neatly under the plunger during the entire process, for more efficient ricing and easier squeezing.
Finally, some models were much easier and more intuitive to dismantle, clean, and reassemble than others. A few took real force to pull apart and the instruction manual to put back together, and one trapped dishwater in its numerous nooks and crannies. Our winner was the easiest to use and the most efficient when it comes to making fluffy mashed potatoes.
Everything We Tested
Highly Recommended
- Cleaning: 3 stars out of 3.
- Ease of Use: 3 stars out of 3.
- Performance: 3 stars out of 3.
This rectangular, highly efficient plastic model with comfortable handles was the easiest ricer to squeeze. Its interchangeable disks neatly produce a range of fine to coarse textures, and its sturdy hook rests securely on a pot rim.
- Cleaning: 3 stars out of 3.
- Ease of Use: 2.5 stars out of 3.
- Performance: 3 stars out of 3.
This potato ricer had plenty of perforations on the bottom of its hopper, making for neat, efficiently extruded potatoes. The hopper itself is large enough to accommodate big chunks of potato and is easy to clean. You can also rest the ricer on pots of different sizes while you use it. This turns out to be a good thing, since it’s otherwise fairly heavy, weighing nearly 1.5 pounds. While this ricer only extrudes potatoes at a fixed fineness, with no coarser or finer options, we think this one setting should be more than adequate for most people.
Recommended
- Cleaning: 3 stars out of 3.
- Ease of Use: 2 stars out of 3.
- Performance: 3 stars out of 3.
This new model from OXO features an innovative adjustable dial to set the size of the perforations with a twist. The ricer dismantles easily for cleaning, and we liked its sturdy pot hook and cushioned grip. However, as we squeezed the handles, potatoes came up and around the plunger. Finally, fewer perforations than our winner meant more effort to process the potatoes.
- Cleaning: 1.5 stars out of 3.
- Ease of Use: 1.5 stars out of 3.
- Performance: 3 stars out of 3.
Overall this was a solid performer, with an angled hopper that matched the angle of the plunger for neat, efficient ricing. Unfortunately, there were enough small flaws that lost it points: Complicated parts and the lack of instructions made dismantling this tool a chore. Numerous nooks and crannies collect water and make it a pain to dry.
Not Recommended
- Cleaning: 3 stars out of 3.
- Ease of Use: 1 stars out of 3.
- Performance: 1 stars out of 3.
This was one of two ricers with perforations running along the walls as well as the bottom of the hopper, causing potatoes to squirt out the sides. This no-frills gadget doesn’t have a pot hook and its plunger did not fit snugly in the hopper. What’s more, it left a ¼-inch layer of unprocessed potatoes in the hopper.
- Cleaning: 2 stars out of 3.
- Ease of Use: 1 stars out of 3.
- Performance: 2 stars out of 3.
Almost identical to the Norpro ricer in design, this product shared its problems and added a few of its own. Aside from having no pot hook, shooting potatoes out the sides, and leaving a ¼-inch layer of unprocessed potatoes in the hopper, the tool was flimsy and warped with use. The ricer required considerable force to push the potatoes through.
- Cleaning: 1 stars out of 3.
- Ease of Use: 1 stars out of 3.
- Performance: 2 stars out of 3.
The round plunger required lots of adjusting to actually squeeze into the hopper (the smallest in the lineup) and left a sizable gap between the plunger and the hopper. Also, it has no pot hook. But the worst thing about this ricer was trying to clean it: While the disk pops out easily when clean, when clogged with potatoes it takes force to remove the sharp-edged disk. Our testers ripped fingernails and cut a thumb attempting to dismantle it.
Reviews you can trust
Reviews you can trust
The mission of America’s Test Kitchen Reviews is to find the best equipment and ingredients for the home cook through rigorous, hands-on testing. We stand behind our winners so much that we even put our seal of approval on them.
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